FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 0582 ...

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 0582/2012
In reply to your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, dated 01/11/2012
Q1. The number of arrests on school or college grounds for offences involving the possession or use of a weapon.
:: The type of school involved, for example nursery, primary, secondary, sixth form or further education college.
:: The type of weapon involved
:: The age of the person/people arrested.
:: Any other details relating to these areas.
Q2. The number of times police officers have been called to a school or college due to reports of an offence
involving the possession or use of weapon.
:: The type of school involved, for example nursery, primary, secondary, sixth form or further education college.
:: The type of weapon involved
:: The age of the person/people involved.
:: Any other details relating to these areas.
CLARIFICATION received on 02/11/2012
In the past 12 months, two years and five years.
Further clarification received by telephone on 05/11/2012, information requested for years: 2008; 2009; 2010;
2011 and 2012
Response
I have added numbers to the two sections of your request for clarity in our response.
Response Q2.
Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act states that a public authority is not obliged to comply with
a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would
exceed the “appropriate limit”. For Police forces in the UK, the "appropriate limit" is considered to be up
to 18 hours of work on one request. This information is given in the Freedom of Information (Fees and
Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
It is estimated that it will take 112 hours to provide an answer to this request.
Our systems have in excess of 800 locations which mention the word school/college etc.
For the month of September 2012, a free text search of incidents for use of the word 'weapon' revealed
1776 incidents. A manual check of those incidents would have to be carried out, of the location, to see if it
conforms to the request. Once relevant incidents are identified, each would have to be read in full to
validate it against the request.
To search 1776 incidents takes 15 minutes to check the location (31 schools/college locations were found
for September). To read each incident takes an average of 3 minutes.
Therefore each monthly search takes 4 minutes for initial results + 15 minutes to check the list then 3
mins per incident (31 for the month of September 2012). We would need 4 + 15 + (31 x 3) mins = 112
mins per monthly check.
To provide information for each year would be 112(mins) x 12(months) = 1344mins (=22.4 hours).
(Five years would be 112 hours.)
Response Q1. We are unable to provide information for 'use of a weapon' for similar reasons.

I am unable to suggest a method by which your request could be pared down to comply with cost limits.
Although excess cost removes the force’s obligation under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture
of goodwill, I have supplied information, relative to your request, that was retrieved or available before it
was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded. 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.
Response Q1. The following table shows there were nine arrests for offences relating to the 'possession
of weapon' on school premises.
CJ88137 Possess offensive weapon on school premises
2010 One record
2011 One record
CJ88145 Possess article with blade / sharply pointed article on school premises
2008 One record
2009 Four records
2010 One record
CJ88136 Possess article with blade / point on school premises
2008 One record