Antisemitic incidents reported from October 2023 to February 2024

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035384

I note you seek access to the following information:

I would like information on:

1. Number of antisemitic offences and number of antisemitic incidents reported between 1 October 2023 and 24 January (or the nearest date you have data for).
2. Please provide a full list of the specific reports of antisemitic offences and incidents.
   If you are unable to provide the full list (in anonymised form), please state your reasons, including reference to the section of the Freedom of Information Act that applies.
3. What is the total number of people reporting antisemitic offences and incidents?
4. Of these reported offences and incidents, how many were considered violent? Please define your use of the term 'violent'.
5. Of these reported offences and incidents, how many have resulted in charges?
6. Of these reported offences and incidents, how many are still under investigation?
7. Of these reported offences and incidents, how many were supported by physical, video or other tangible evidence?

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 40(2)&(3) - Personal Information
Section 40(5)(b)(i) - Personal Data (NCND) (Neither Confirm Nor Deny)

Reason for decision

Before I explain the decisions that I have made in relation to your request, I thought that it would be helpful to outline the parameters set out by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act), within which a request for information can be answered. The Act creates a statutory right of access to information held by public authorities. A public authority in respect of a request must, if permitted, state under Section 1(a) of the Act, whether it holds the requested information and, if held, then communicate that information to the applicant under Section 1(b) of the Act.

The right of access to information is not without exception and is subject to a number of exemptions which are designed to enable public authorities to withhold information that is unsuitable for release. Importantly, 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.

Under Section 40(2) and (3) of the Act, public authorities are able to withhold information where its release would identify any living individual and breach the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). I have claimed this exemption because if we were to disclose some of the information pertaining to Question 2

(Please provide a full list of the specific reports of antisemitic offences and incidents).

The original data received in Table 2 included: Recorded date, Borough, Major Crime Category, Minor Crime Category, Classification and Total for each row.

To disclose the data in its entirety over a short period of time as requested would present a strong risk of identification of individuals because of the low count, which would breach the right to privacy afforded to persons under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The victims of these offences would not reasonably expect this information to be published by the MPS and I have found that as no prior consent has been given to release this personal data any release would accordingly be unfair. In the case of legitimate processing, it is therefore not appropriate to release this information.

Section 40(5) – Personal Information (NCND)

Sexual offences

The MPS can neither confirm nor deny whether any information is held relating to sexual offences, this is due to the sensitivity of the offence, the short timeframe requested and if held, the increased potential to identify individual victims.

This notice accordingly, neither confirms nor denies whether the requested information is held.

Disclosure

Please find below a spreadsheet for Q1 – Q6.

Q2 - As the data returned low figures that could identify individuals, I have removed the Recorded Dates and provided you with data broken down by Borough, Major Crime Category, Minor Crime Category, Classification and Total for each row.

DUTY TO ADVISE AND ASSIST

The MPS publishes data on hate crime that includes breakdown of antisemitic crime. Please visit the following link –

MPS Crime Dashboard - Monthly Crime Data