Theft of multiple items from the British Museum
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.032209
I note you seek access to the following information:
BBC NEWS is looking into the alleged theft of multiple items from the British Museum first reported by UK media 16/8/2023
The release of information in this case is firmly in the UK public interest given it involves a British cultural institution that is globally-renowned, overseen by the UK government including for its insurance, and it is the keeper of precious global cultural heritage that in essence protected for and belongs to the wider public. This will be the first of multiple FOIs.
1) Can we please find out the specific date and
2) Time that the Met Police was contacted by the British Museum about the thefts
3) Can we please be provided the full inventory list provided by the British Museum containing the objects they believe to be allegedly stolen.
4) Will the British Museum inventory list mentioned in question 2 fall under Art theft and
5) How will the data/number compare to the 2021 figure of 348 cases (via an FOI response on your website)
Clarification - you kindly refined Questions Five (5) to give clarity as follows;
5) How will the data/number compare to the 2021 figure of 348 cases (via an FOI response on your website)
My question number 5 is linked to the Met Police answers from the British Museum police report (as per Q1, 2, 3, 4 in my FOI) At the time I submitted the FOI, we did not know how many objects/items were allegedly taken from the British Museum or reported as missing/lost, stolen or damaged.
So the question is focused on the exact number of objects/items reported by the British Museum to the Met Police – and how that figure compares to 348 in 2021. Is it higher or lower?
If the British Museum thefts reported earlier this year (2023) fall under Met Police classification of ART THEFT (as per question 4) we now understand that around 2,000 items were taken over a significant period of time. That figure and timeframe was shared by British Museum chair George Osborne in a recent interview with BBC News. Do you have the same figure? Or a more exact one?
I’d like to refer to you back to reference no: 01.FOI.22.022919 that is published on the Met Police website with the Excel sheet (also attached) showing that in 2021 there were 348 items under Number of Property Screens entered for Stolen Items of Art Property, across the MPS (Definition: Number of Items of Art Property Stolen across the MPS)
Having the data allows us to create a comparison in the numbers of thefts reported over a multi-year period (2023 compared to 2022 compared to 2021 and so forth) to show how big this particular theft at the British Museum is in a historical context. This is believed to by some to possibly be the biggest UK museum theft – sadly with little chance of recovering the items (as per Times reporting) but we would like to scrutinise official data to see if this factually correct or not based on records.
6) Can we please get the Art & Antiques theft figures for 2022 and 1st half of 2023.
Clarification - On 31/8/23 you kindly refined Questions Six (6) to give clarity as follows;
6) Can we please get the Art & Antiques theft figures for 2022 and 1st half of 2023.
I’d like to refer to you back to reference no: 01.FOI.22.022919 that is published on the Met Police website with the Excel sheet (also attached) showing 348 items under Number of Property Screens entered for Stolen Items of Art Property, across the MPS (Definition: Number of Items of Art Property Stolen across the MPS)
The question listed in no: 01.FOI.22.022919 was: For the entire year of 2021, how many offenses relating to art theft were recorded across the MPS?
My question number 6 is the same – how many offenses relating to art theft were recorded across the MPS for the entire year of 2022 (full year) and first half of 2023.
7) How many thefts at the British Museum have been reported between 2013-2023 (10- year period).
8) The Metropolitan Police/Scotland Yard arts & antiques crime unit headed by Sophie Hayes - can you confirm the full number of permanent and temporary staff investigating UK cultural heritage/art/antiquities crimes in 2023?
9) Is it possible to gain access to the London stolen arts database, which stores information and images of 54,000 items of stolen property.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 30(1)(a)(i) – Investigations
Reason for decision
The MPS able to disclose the answer to Question One (1), Six (6) and Question Eight (8).
Question Two (2), Question Three (3), Four (4), Five (5) (in terms of providing the exact number of objects/items reported by the British Museum to the Met Police) for 2022/2023, Seven (7) and Nine (9) is exempt by virtue of Section 30(1)(a)(i) – Investigations
Section 30(1)(a)(i) (Investigation) - As with any FOIA request that relates to an incident or investigation, it is of paramount importance that the response does not disrupt or have any negative impact the prevention or detection of crime. The MPS is concerned that the public disclosure of the requested report may be used by those with the necessary intent to undermine and frustrate any possible future investigations by disclosing information regarding this incidents in connection the Museum and so gain a deeper understanding of the resources and capabilities available (or possibly not available) to the MPS at any given time. This would be likely to detrimentally impact MPS law enforcement capabilities in the future.
The strongest reason favouring disclosure is to allow the public to get a sense of crime levels on a comparative level. The strongest reason favouring non-disclosure is to ensure the capabilities of the MPS are not undermined by adverse disclosure that leads the public to have less confidence in the professionalism of handling information held for law enforcing purposes, which could lead to underreporting of crime and a detrimental effect on preventing and detecting crime.
The argument in favour of non-disclosure is significant as ultimately it is not in the best interests of the public to disclose any information that could in any way prejudice internal MPS processes in place to ensure the prevention and detection of crime, which in turn could be used by those with the necessary intent to assist offenders or increase the risk of further offences being committed.
I appreciate this may not be the decision you would have liked. However, the decision on disclosure has been made based on the understanding that the public interest is not what interests the public, but is what would be of greater good to the public as a whole, if the information were disclosed, and we hope that decision is appreciated in that context.
Disclosure
Q1 - BBC NEWS is looking into the alleged theft of multiple items from the British Museum first reported by UK media 16/8/2023
Can we please find out the specific date that the Met Police was contacted by the British Museum about the thefts
As has been previously confirmed by the MPS to the media, where it was stated a report was made to police on Monday, 9 January 2023 and a criminal investigation was then launched.
Q6 - Can we please get the Art & Antiques theft figures for 2022 and 1st half of 2023.
You have referred to 2021 previously disclosd FOIA data where it was disclosed that there were 348 items under Number of Property Screens entered for Stolen Items of Art Property, across the MPS. It appears you are asking for the up to date data for Art Propeties Stolen. On that basis, I am able to provde you with the following figures:
| Table 1: Art Properties stolen from 01/01/2022 to 30/06/2023. | |
| 2022 | 300 |
| 2023 (up to 30th June) | 195 |
Notes for the above dataset:
Source System
The data in this report was extracted from the live CRIS SAP BI system on 20/09/2023.
Date Range
The Recorded Date was set between 01/01/2013 and 31/08/2023.
Definition
This report present the following:
Table 1 shows the number of art properties stolen, for any of the following three Property Types:
HB - Ornaments/objects d'art
PF - Art/Draw Materials
HH - Paintings/drawing/tapestry/embroidered wallhangings etc..
Please note that like the previous 348 FOIA data provided which was a MPS wide figure (not museum specific), so too is the figures provided above.
Q8 - The Metropolitan Police/Scotland Yard arts & antiques crime unit headed by [REDACTED] - can you confirm the full number of permanent and temporary staff investigating UK cultural heritage/art/antiquities crimes in 2023?
There is one Detective Sergeant, three full time Detective Constables and one full time London stolen Arts Base Co-ordinator in this unit.