FOI 0212-2025/26- Cross bow crimes
Request:
Q1. From 2019 to the most recent data available, how many crimes were logged by your police force where a bow or crossbow was recorded as being an element in the offence? Please provide a yearly breakdown in a table (Note: I would hope that this could be achieved by a computer search on the MO of crimes for the phrases “bow”, “bow and arrow”, “crossbow”, “cross bow” and “cross-bow”.
Q2. From 2019 to the most recent data available, how many crimes were logged by your police force where an air rifle, airsoft gun or bb gun was recorded as being an element in the offence? Please provide a yearly breakdown in a table (Note: I would hope that this could be achieved by a computer search on the MO of crimes for the phrases "BB Gun", "BB Pistol", "BB Rifle", "Airsoft gun", "Airsoft pistol", "air rifle", "air pistol", "air gun", "pellet rifle", "pellet pistol" and "pellet gun".
Q3. Please provide me with a table showing a breakdown of the crimes from Question 1 that are 'linked' to bows or crossbows by its mention in the MO for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Please provide this broken down by Home Office offence group and subgroup.
Q4. Please provide me with a table showing a breakdown of the crimes from Question 2 that are 'linked' to air rifles, airsoft guns or bb guns by their mention in the MO for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Please provide this broken down by Home Office offence group and subgroup.
Response:
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.
I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.
Q1. Please see the table below showing the number of crimes recorded between 01 January 2019 and 8th June 2025 where the words (bow, bow and arrow, crossbow, cross bow, cross-bow) are mentioned within the MO remarks, broken down by calendar year.
|
Years (Recorded Date) |
Count |
|
2019 |
3 |
|
2020 |
3 |
|
2021 |
4 |
|
2022 |
5 |
|
2023 |
6 |
|
2024 |
6 |
|
2025 |
5 |
|
Total |
32 |
Q2. Please see the table below showing the number of crimes recorded between 01 January 2019 and 8th June 2025 where the words (BB gun, BB pistol, BB rifle, airsoft gun, airsoft pistol, air rifle, air pistol, air gun, pellet rifle, pellet pistol, pellet gun) are mentioned within the MO remarks, broken down by calendar year.
|
Years (Recorded Date) |
Count |
|
2019 |
52 |
|
2020 |
54 |
|
2021 |
82 |
|
2022 |
79 |
|
2023 |
70 |
|
2024 |
92 |
|
2025 |
32 |
|
Total |
461 |
Q3. Please see the table below showing the number of crimes recorded between 01 January 2019 and 8th June 2025 where the words (bow, bow and arrow, crossbow, cross bow, cross-bow) are mentioned within the MO remarks, broken down by HO offence group and subgroup. I am exempting the yearly breakdown and have replaced figures below 5 with <5 of certain groups/subgroups pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please see the exemption explanation below.
|
HO offence group |
HO subgroup |
Count |
|
Arson & Criminal Damage |
4 |
|
|
Criminal Damage To A Dwelling |
<5 |
|
|
Other Criminal Damage |
<5 |
|
|
Burglary |
Burglary - Residential |
<5 |
|
Drug Offences |
Trafficking In Controlled Drugs |
<5 |
|
Misc Crimes Against Society |
Threat Or Possession With Intent To Commit Criminal Damage |
<5 |
|
Possession Of Weapons |
11 |
|
|
Possession Of Article With Blade Or Point |
<5 |
|
|
Possession Of Firearms No Intent |
<5 |
|
|
Possession Of Other Weapons |
6 |
|
|
Public Order Offences |
4 |
|
|
Other Offences Against The State Or Public Order |
<5 |
|
|
Public Fear, Alarm Or Distress |
<5 |
|
|
Violence Against The Person |
10 |
|
|
Assault With Intent To Cause Serious Harm |
<5 |
|
|
Assault Without Injury |
<5 |
|
|
Malicious Communications |
<5 |
|
|
Stalking |
<5 |
|
|
Threats To Kill |
<5 |
|
|
Total |
32 |
Q4. Please see the table below showing the number of crimes recorded between 01 January 2019 and 8th June 2025 where the words (BB gun, BB pistol, BB rifle, airsoft gun, airsoft pistol, air rifle, air pistol, air gun, pellet rifle, pellet pistol, pellet gun) are mentioned within the MO remarks, broken down by HO offence group and subgroup. I am exempting the yearly breakdown and have replaced figures below 5 with <5 of certain groups/subgroups pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please see the exemption explanation below.
|
HO offence group |
HO subgroup |
Count |
|
Arson & Criminal Damage |
169 |
|
|
Criminal Damage To A Building Other Than A Dwelling |
26 |
|
|
Criminal Damage To A Dwelling |
77 |
|
|
Criminal Damage To A Vehicle |
36 |
|
|
Other Criminal Damage |
30 |
|
|
Burglary |
21 |
|
|
Burglary – Business And Community |
7 |
|
|
Burglary - Residential |
6 |
|
|
Burglary - Residential - Home |
5 |
|
|
Burglary - Residential - Unconnected Building |
<5 |
|
|
Drug Offences |
5 |
|
|
Possession Of Controlled Drugs (cannabis) |
<5 |
|
|
Possession Of Controlled Drugs (excluding Cannabis) |
<5 |
|
|
Trafficking In Controlled Drugs |
<5 |
|
|
Fraud |
Nfib Fraud (for Recording Purposes Only) |
<5 |
|
Misc Crimes Against Society |
4 |
|
|
Other Notifiable Offences |
<5 |
|
|
Threat Or Possession With Intent To Commit Criminal Damage |
<5 |
|
|
Possession Of Weapons |
70 |
|
|
Other Firearms Offences |
<5 |
|
|
Possession Of Article With Blade Or Point |
<5 |
|
|
Possession Of Firearms No Intent |
42 |
|
|
Possession Of Firearms With Intent |
14 |
|
|
Possession Of Other Weapons |
11 |
|
|
Public Order Offences |
19 |
|
|
Other Offences Against The State Or Public Order |
<5 |
|
|
Public Fear, Alarm Or Distress |
16 |
|
|
Robbery |
Robbery Of Personal Property |
<5 |
|
Sexual Offences |
Rape Of A Female Aged 16 And Over |
<5 |
|
Theft: All Other Theft |
6 |
|
|
Other Theft |
6 |
|
|
Theft: Shoplifting |
Shoplifting |
<5 |
|
Vehicle Offences |
Theft From Vehicle |
<5 |
|
Violence Against The Person |
158 |
|
|
Assault With Injury |
60 |
|
|
Assault With Intent To Cause Serious Harm |
6 |
|
|
Assault Without Injury |
59 |
|
|
Endangering Life |
<5 |
|
|
Engage In Controlling/Coercive Behaviour In An Intimate/Family Relationship |
5 |
|
|
Harassment |
11 |
|
|
Kidnapping |
<5 |
|
|
Malicious Communications |
<5 |
|
|
Racially Or Religiously Aggravated Assault Without Injury |
<5 |
|
|
Racially Or Religiously Aggravated Harassment |
<5 |
|
|
Stalking |
<5 |
|
|
Threats To Kill |
<5 |
|
|
Total |
461 |
|
Exemption Explanation
Section 40 – Personal Information
Where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair’ to the data subject.
Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair (DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1)).
This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.
In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned.
Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights
Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your request.
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.