Spiking (1806A/21)
Request
- The number of incidents of spiking with a needle reported to the force since 01/09/21, presented via a month by month breakdown.
- The outcome of each of these reports (for example, the number of arrests in connection with reports, the number of people charged in connection with reports, the number of cases under investigation and the number of cases no longer under investigation).
- The number of incidents involving a needle (such as assault or possession) reported to the force since 01/09/21, presented via a month by month breakdown.
- The outcome of each of these reports.
Response
Please find attached our response and note the following:
The information for questions 1 & 2 has been retrieved using a search criteria and formula that has been developed within the Force.
The information for questions 3 & 4 has been retrieved using a keyword search for the word ‘needle’.
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when interpreting those data.
The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be taken into account when those data are used.
If you decide to write an article / use the enclosed data we would ask you to take into consideration the factors highlighted in this document so as to not mislead members of the public or official bodies, or misrepresent the relevance of the whole or any part of this disclosed material.