People aged 17 and under arrested for drug related offences in 2022 and 2023
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.034674
I note you seek access to the following information:
The number of people aged 17 or under arrested for supplying drugs or possession with intent to supply, for the following dates: The calendar year 2022 1 January 2023 to the present date
Please provide, if possible, the figures for each age group i.e. ten, eleven, twelve etc and also broken down by gender for each of the two offences, breaking the alleged offences down by Class A and Class B drugs.
If possible, I would like those arrested to be broken down by ethnicity.
I would also like the place of each arrest to be included, broken down by the borough in which the arrest took place.
I am aware that this information has already been supplied for the calendar year 2021, so it should be possible to gain access to the above information.”
Clarification -
“My colleague that is dealing with your request is currently out of the office so I have looked at this on their behalf this morning. I note that you asked for the following information:
“The number of people aged 17 or under arrested for supplying drugs or possession with intent to supply, for the following dates: The calendar year 2022 1 January 2023 to the present date
Please provide, if possible, the figures for each age group i.e. ten, eleven, twelve etc and also broken down by gender for each of the two offences, breaking the alleged offences down by Class A and Class B drugs.
If possible, I would like those arrested to be broken down by ethnicity.
I would also like the place of each arrest to be included, broken down by the borough in which the arrest took place.”
The dataset provided includes a breakdown by year, gender and ethnicity. The breakdowns as requested by age and borough are not included the dataset. I am sorry that this information has not been extracted. We have two options at this stage. I can either return it to the analyst and ask that this data is included or consider the dataset for release as provided?
I am sorry for the delay and any inconvenience this may cause you, however I thought it best to ask you how you wish to proceed at this stage, so as to avoid any further delay to you. Please also note that I will have to consider whether release of the information may lead to identification. In its current format, my provisional assessment is that the information appears to be suitable for release.”
Clarification -
“Thanks for getting back to me with this info. While it is not important if you provide me with the borough breakdown, I would really like age to be included in the breakdown. I am aware that this is possible given that there are other publicly available FOI requests that include this information.”
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
Please find below a spreadsheet in which the located information has been provided.
DUTY TO ADVISE AND ASSIST
Under Section 16 of the Act, there is a duty to advise and assist those that have made, or intend to make, a request for information. In accordance with this duty, I can confirm that the MPS publishes information about various types of crime on its website. I have provided a link to this information below.
MPS Website: Stats and Data
It may also assist you to note that the MPS proactively publishes all disclosures made in response to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on its Publication Scheme. I have provided a link to this section of the MPS website below.
MPS Website: Publication Scheme
The MPS Publication Scheme can be searched using keywords and may accordingly hold other information that is of interest to you.