FOI 1028-2023/24 Sexual Misconduct Complaints

Request
Q1. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I am requesting statistics on the number of complaints and disciplinary investigations/outcomes on any Sexual Harassment/Sexual Misconduct (Abuse of position of trust of a sexual nature) complaint against a Police Officer in your force between 2020 to 2023.

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 located information to you

Q1. Between 2020 and 2023 there have been 4 complaints recorded against a police officer. These figures have been collated using a search of the complaint records for the following complaint categories as detailed in the link below G2, J2 & J3:

Guidance-on-capturing-data-police-complaints-Feb-2024.pdf (policeconduct.gov.uk)

In relation to disciplinary investigations/outcomes on any Sexual Harassment/Sexual Misconduct part of your request. The information you have requested is published on the North Yorkshire Police website under the following link

FOI 0572-2023/24- Officer sexual misconducts | North Yorkshire Police

I have therefore decided to exempt providing you with a partial response to question 1 pursuant to Section 21 Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

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 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means
Section 21 is an absolute class based exemption and I am not required to consider the harm or public interest when applying this exemption.

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response 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.