Transgender Crimes and Searching (73A/21)
Request
I am contacting you to request some insight into any protocols that West Midlands Police has in place for staff handling cases involving transgender victims or perpetrators, particularly when sexual offences are suspected. For example, are there any set procedures in terms of gender related issues such as full body searches and how are staff trained to approach the use of correct pronouns, as well as whether there is an option to tick ‘transgender’ on person records? The aim of my project is to analyse the effectiveness of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, as well as the UK’s legal system, for transgender individuals. Therefore, it is important to examine the policies in place and how this effects legal proceedings. If possible, could I request access to any policy documents that would be relevant to this topic?
I would also like to enquire as to whether it is possible to have access to crime stats so that I can analyse how many of the reported sexual related offences cases involving transgender individuals are charged and convicted.
I would like to request statistics on:
- How many sexual related offences cases involving transgender victims were reported each year between 01/11/2009 and 01/11/2020.
- How many sexual related offences cases involving transgender victims were charged each year between 01/11/2009 and 01/11/2020.
- How many sexual related offences cases involving transgender victims were convicted each year between 01/11/2009 and 01/11/2020.
- How many sexual related offences cases involving transgender suspects were reported each year between 01/11/2009 and 01/11/2020.
- How many sexual related offences cases involving transgender suspects were charged each year between 01/11/2009 and 01/11/2020.
- How many sexual related offences cases involving transgender suspects were convicted each year between 01/11/2009 and 01/11/2020.
I will use these statistics to find the average per year between 01/11/2009 and 01/11/2019 and compare to the results for this past year, 01/11/2019 – 01/11/2020.
Response
Our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide this information within the appropriate (cost) limit within the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (see ‘Reason for Decision’ below).
Although excess cost removes the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded (see attached). I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations for the remainder of the request.
REASON FOR DECISION
Please note that researching each individual case would exceed the appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12). The TRANS Hate Strand was only introduced in 2014 therefore anything prior to that date would require a manual search which would exceed the FOI time limit.
In relation to questions 4-6 we don’t have a category of ‘Transgender’ on our systems for the gender of Suspects, so again to locate and retrieve this information would exceed the FOI time limit.
The cost of compliance with the whole of your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond, i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12(1) of the FOI Act 2000. For West Midlands Police, the appropriate limit is set at £450, as prescribed by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, S.I. 3244.