Vans reported broken in to and/or stolen from May 2018 to May 2022

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.025022

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please could you send me the following data available in your area on the following points, with figures be broken down by month and to cover the period May 2018 to May 2022 inclusive.

1. Please could you provide statistics for the number of vans reported broken in to and/or stolen (or had items stolen)

2. Any specific locations (streets / postcodes) where the most van related crimes or offences have been reported 

3. Please could you then provide the makes/models of vans most targeted by thieves

4. Please then provide statistics for the number of vans and/or items that were stolen that were later recovered (nice to have only - if these make the request unfeasible then please ignore)

5. Please then provide statistics for the number of cases where a suspect is convicted (nice to have only - if these make the request unfeasible then please ignore)

Decision

Having located and considered the relevant information. I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some information has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Partial Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(2)(3) - Personal information

Reason for decision

When a request is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act), a public authority must inform you, when permitted, whether the information requested is held. It must then communicate that information to you. If a public authority decides that it is cannot comply with all or part of a request, it must cite the appropriate section or exemption of the Act and provide you with a suitable explanation. It is important to note that the Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received.

I have considered the information:

• Locations (Streets / Postcodes) where Theft of Van Offences have been reported.
• Locations (Streets / Postcodes) where Theft from Van Offences have been reported.

The above requests for information is exempt under Section 40(2)(3) - Personal information of the FOIA.

If the MPS disclosed the information requested (locations of theft of van offences / location of theft from van offences) broken down by months, it would be possible for an individual to be identified linked to contact with police, due to the relatively low number of crime records associated with a location, as specified within the scope of your request. It would be possible to use the specifics of this data to narrow down individuals. The risk of disclosure of personal information is heightened because you have asked for information relating to a location and for a relatively recent time period.

The definition of 'personal data' is far wider than simply the name or address of a living individual. 'Personal data' is defined in section 1(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998, as data that relates to a living individual who can be identified from those data or from those data and other information that is in the possession of, or likely to come into the possession of, the data controller.

Where the request is seeking access to third party personal data the section 40(2) exemption may be engaged.

In order to apply the Section 40(2) exemption, the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3A, 3B and 4A of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as amended by Section 58 of the Data Protection Act 2018).

The first condition ensures that the exemption would apply in circumstances where the disclosure of the information would breach any of the Data Protection Act 2018 principles.

There are six Data Protection principles set out in the 2018 Act and these can be found at section 34.

In this instance I have decided that the disclosure of the Personal Data would be incompatible with the first Data Protection principle which states that the processing (in this case the disclosure) of the data must be both lawful and fair.

Disclosure

I have disclosed the following information:

• Van Model related to Theft of Vehicles
• The Number of Vans Stolen
• The Status of Vans Stolen
• The Number of Thefts from a Van
• Van Make Related to Thefts from a Van
• Number of Property Stolen from Vans
• The Count and Type of Property Stolen from a Van and Status
• People Proceeded Against in Relation to Theft of Vehicle
• People Proceeded Against in Relation to Theft from a Vehicle

During the period of 1 May 2018 to 31 May 2022.

IMPORTANT:
• Please ensure that the note section within the spreadsheet is read in conjunction with the data in this report to ensure that it is interpreted correctly.