Dear Mr Darby
 
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: RFI6724/1
 
I write in connection with your request for information dated 1st
November  2015 which was received on 2nd November  2015.
 
Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act).  You will receive a response within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to
the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party.  In some circumstances West Mercia Police may be unable to achieve
this deadline.  If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.
 
There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request.  If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you. If you chose not to make payment then your request will remain
unanswered.
 
Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.
 
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or telephone the Information Compliance Unit quoting the reference number
above.
 
Yours sincerely
 
 
Sue Cale
Information Compliance Assistant
Information Compliance Unit
Warwickshire Police & West Mercia Police
P O Box 55
Hindlip  WR3 8SP
 
DD 01905 331545 (Ext. 2545)
[email address]
 
 

View our new Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police websites at:
[1]www.warwickshire.police.uk and [2]www.westmercia.police.uk

[3]Join the Special Constabulary and Make the Difference Make the
difference
For more information about becoming a Special Constable,
please visit,

Warwickshire Police: [4]www.warwickshire.police.uk/specialconstables
West Mercia Police: [5]www.westmercia.police.uk/specialconstables

References

Visible links
1. http://www.warwickshire.police.uk/
http://www.warwickshire.police.uk/
2. http://www.westmercia.police.uk/
http://www.westmercia.police.uk/
4. file:///tmp/www.warwickshire.police.uk/specialconstables
5. file:///tmp/www.westmercia.police.uk/specialconstables

Dear Mr Darby
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: RFI 6724/15
I write in connection with your request for information which was received
on 2 November 2015.  Please find below the response to your request:
1)      Number of incidents reported as 'domestic dispute' , specifying
the number of and being gender specific for 2014 – 2015
2)      Number of incidents reported as VAP, specifying the number of and
being gender specific for 2014 – 2015.
3)      Number of VAP crimes that have been flagged with a 'domestic'
marker', specifying the number of and being gender specific for 2014 –
2015.
4)      Arrest figures for VAP with the domestic marker flagged,
specifying the gender numbers for 2014 – 2015.
 
REPLY: Please be advised that all the information that you have requested
is not available in a readily retrievable format. Information regarding
the gender of nominals for incidents is not held in an electronically
retrievable format, for Question 2, and it would require a manual review
of all incident records in order for us to identify the relevant
information for your request. Therefore the cost of providing you with the
information is above the amount to which we are legally required to
respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds
the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and
Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
 
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts
as a Refusal Notice for this part of the request and if one part of a
request exceeds the fees limit then S12 of the Act applies to the whole
request.
However, In accordance with Section 16 of the Act I have a duty to provide
advice and assistance in relation to your request and have provided all
other information that can be retrieved, as this was retrieved during our
initial research. This should not be taken as a precedent that additional
information would be supplied outside of the time/fees legislation for any
subsequent requests.
 
Regarding questions 1, 3 and 4 – all incidents have been retrieved which
either had an aggravating factor of domestic abuse or had a final class of
Public Safety/Welfare - Domestic Incident (non-notifiable crime). These
two types of incidents combined provide the overall number of domestic
abuse incidents for 2014-15.
 
For question 3 a search was conducted for all Violence against the Person
Offences under the Home Office Crimetree which had a event aggravating
factor of 'Domestic Violence - No SOCAP Condition to Arrest', 'Domestic
Violence - SOCAP Condition to Arrest, Arrest Made' , 'Domestic Violence -
SOCAP Condition to Arrest, No Arrest Made', 'Domestic' or 'Domestic
Abuse'. These offences can be split by gender of the victim and therefore
a count of the number victims has been provided. Please note though that
not all offences will have a named victim and some offences may have more
than one victim. Hence the total number of victims does not match the
total number of offences.
With regards to question 4, West Mercia Police has no links between our
custody and offence recording systems therefore are unable to provide the
number of arrests for these offences as requested but as a proxy for this
the outcomes of the offences has been provided. Outcomes which are blank
typically would be filed i.e. where a named suspect is identified and
prosecution is prevented or where there is evidential difficulties, where
the prosecution time limit has expired or where no suspect is
identified.  
 
 
5)      What supporting tools, procedures that are put into place for the
victims of the crime and also for the perpetrator?
 
REPLY: Victims are assessed in terms of their risk levels. This is from
utilising a national risk assessment named Domestic Abuse Stalking and
Harassment. DASH.
Based on the outcome of the face to face assessment of the victim, the
overall risk is assessed and coupled with experienced professional
judgement.
The outcome will be denoted as Standard, Medium or High.
This outcome may result in a referral to safeguarding partners, for
example where children are also exposed to risk within DA settings. Or to
support and counselling partners for the onward recovery and protection of
the victim.
Police will consider if a response to risk plan is necessary which will be
themed around activity based on the RARACC model.
Remove
Avoid
Reduce
Accept
Children
Communication
High risk victims will also be referred to MARAC- Multi-Agency Risk
Assessment conference, where monthly, all high risk victims cases are
updated and actioned across a broad range of partners to promote reporting
and to make them safer.
 
Perpetrators are currently identified in to three categories.
1) Respect
2) Serial
3) Occurrence
Repeat and serial will attract a higher level of attention in order to
target their criminality and to disrupt, deter and dismantle their
offending. This may be more than DA offending alone, in which case they
may be regarded as an IOM nominal (Integrated Offender) or they may be
MAPPA eligible - which relates to Multi Agency Public Protection
Arrangements. Another forum that is statutory and have a duty to cooperate
agreement between agencies. This again seeks to manage and lessen the risk
they pose.
A range of laws are utilised to inform the victim of risks and previous
partnerships where DA may have occurred and also to prevent the attendance
of the perpetrator, by such measures as restraining orders, non
molestation orders or DVPN's for example.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as
accurate as possible
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of
complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or telephone the Information Compliance Unit quoting the reference number
above.
Yours sincerely
Mrs R Williams
Information Compliance Unit
Warwickshire Police & West Mercia Police
PO Box 55
Hindlip
Worcester
WR3 8SP
01905 331545 / 331565
West Mercia Police in complying with their statutory duty under sections 1
and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed
information will not breach the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
However, the rights of the copyright owner of the enclosed information
will continue to be protected by law. Applications for the copyright
owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of the attached
information should be addressed to The Force Solicitor, West Mercia Police
Headquarters, PO Box 55, Hindlip, Worcester, WR3 8SP.
COMPLAINT RIGHTS
Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?
You have the right to require West Mercia Police (WMP) to review their
decision.
Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the person that dealt with your request.
Ask to have the decision looked at again -
The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to
telephone the person named at the end of your decision letter.
That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and
assist with any problems.
Complaint
If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
WMP made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information, you can lodge a complaint with WMP to have the
decision reviewed. WMP must be notified of your intention to complain
within 2 months of the date of its response to your Freedom of Information
request. Complaints should be made in writing and addressed to:
West Mercia Police Headquarters
Information Compliance Unit
Hindlip Hall
Hindlip
PO Box 55
Worcester
WR3 8SP
In all possible circumstances, WMP will aim to respond to your complaint
within 2 months.
The Information Commissioner
After lodging a complaint with WMP if you are still dissatisfied with the
decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for a
decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.
For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at [1]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Alternatively, phone or write to:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545700
 
 
 
 

View our new Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police websites at:
[2]www.warwickshire.police.uk and [3]www.westmercia.police.uk

[4]Join the Special Constabulary and Make the Difference Make the
difference
For more information about becoming a Special Constable,
please visit,

Warwickshire Police: [5]www.warwickshire.police.uk/specialconstables
West Mercia Police: [6]www.westmercia.police.uk/specialconstables

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
2. http://www.warwickshire.police.uk/
http://www.warwickshire.police.uk/
3. http://www.westmercia.police.uk/
http://www.westmercia.police.uk/
5. file:///tmp/www.warwickshire.police.uk/specialconstables
6. file:///tmp/www.westmercia.police.uk/specialconstables