Arrests For 12 Years And Under (1337A/21)
Request
I would like to be provided with:
A list of arrests for children aged 12 and under since the start of 2016 to now.
I would like to know the reason for their arrest and the outcome of their case (were they charged and convicted at court, released, no further action etc) and the area they were arrested (town/city is fine if it cannot be narrowed down further).
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.
Please note: Due to recording errors on our systems concerning dates of birth, some ages may be incorrect, but the data provided is as it is recorded on our systems.
REASON FOR DECISION
Please note that researching each individual case would exceed the appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12). In order to provide arrest location we would need to conduct a manual search of all relevant records which would exceed the FOI time limit. When someone is arrested they are taken to the nearest custody block that has availability which may not be in the area that they were arrested. We do not hold conviction data but have provided arrests by outcome.
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.