Image-based abuse (revenge porn) offences from January 2015 to August 2022

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.026156

I note you seek access to the following information:

In conjunction with online safety specialists at the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL), we are looking at voluntary and statutory sector responses to online and technology-facilitated abuse.

As part of this research, under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) we are requesting information held by UK police forces regarding:

1. The numbers of reported incidents, charges and convictions for offences related to image-based abuse (Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Court Act 2015) across different regions of the UK.
2. The training on online and technology facilitated abuse, including but not limited to image-based abuse, received by officers and frontline staff across UK police forces within the past 5 years.

Firstly, we would like to establish how many reported
i.) incidents,
ii.) charges and
iii.) convictions for image-based abuse (Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Court Act 2015) have been recorded by your force for the years listed individually below?

This would be for the years 2015-2022:
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018
• 2019
• 2020
• 2021
• 2022

Secondly, what training have officers and frontline staff in your force received regarding online and technology facilitated abuse during the past 5 years?

Please provide,
i.) number of staff trained per year, including a breakdown by rank/category of staff receiving this training per year,
ii.) the name and content of the training course(s) provided per year.

This would be individually for the years 2018-2022:

• 2018
• 2019
• 2020
• 2021
• 2022

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

These searches successfully located the information relevant to your request. I have attached an excel spreadsheet which answers question 1 of your request. Please note there are three separate tabs within the spreadsheet, titled cover sheet, notes and table. The notes page should be read in conjunction with the data to ensure the report is interpreted correctly.

Please note, the MPS does not hold convictions data. Convictions data is held by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). CPS have their own publication scheme and you have the opportunity to submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to them directly. Please see the link The Freedom of Information Act - Crown Prosecution Service

Q2 - What training have officers and frontline staff in your force received regarding online and technology facilitated abuse during the past 5 years?

Please provide,
i.) number of staff trained per year, including a breakdown by rank/category of staff receiving this training per year,
ii.) the name and content of the training course(s) provided per year.

This would be individually for the years 2018-2022:

• 2018
• 2019
• 2020
• 2021
• 2022

Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OCSAE) Investigator

OCSAE course is for officers investigating predominantly possession of indecent images. While predominantly focusing on the offender there are elements within the course around safeguarding of children and identification of those subject of the images. The theme for this is child victims of this abuse, predominantly girls.

The total OCSAE Investigator completions
2018		0
2019		0
2020	Constable	40
2020	Detective Constable	25
2020	Detective Inspector	1
2020	Detective Sergeant	6
2020	Inspector	1
2020	Sergeant	1
2021	Constable	9
2021	Detective Constable	10
2021	Detective Sergeant	1
2022	Constable	15
2022	Detective Constable	6
2022	Detective Sergeant	3