FOI 199/26 Spiking

Enquiry Reference:199 -26                                                                           

I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request.  Your request is below with our response.

Data about the number of spiking incidents since 2016, with each year of data in its own separate column.

- Please provide this data in an excel .csv format.

 - Please indicate which area the case was from within your remit.

- Please indicate where possible if a case became active.

All cased are investigated.

- Please indicate if a prosecution occurred.

It the duty of Cleveland Police to identify, apprehend suspects, decisions regarding prosecutions are the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service and Convictions is that of HM Courts Service therefore Conviction data is held by HM Courts.

 - Please indicate the type of spiking offence e.g. needle spiking, drink spiking, food       spiking etc. 

The type of spiking is taken from the MO.

 - Please indicate why data was missing if it cannot be found.

N/A

Having made enquiries within the Force above is all the information we hold however please note that there is no specific crime type of spiking to search for. To find spiking crimes the analyst searched for crime types of violence, robbery or sexual offence where spiking has been used – either as the principal crime or in order to commit another offence as per Operation Lester recording.

The records available for spiking are from the end of 2022 when recording for Operation Lester began. Operation Lester is the co-ordinated policing response to the increase in reports of spiking seen by Forces.

Please note that all statistical data supplied in relation to Freedom of Information requests is a snapshot of data held at the time the request was received by the Freedom of Information office and is subject to constant change/updates.

The Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and it should be noted that Police Forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures to capture and record data therefore responses from Cleveland Police should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The Freedom of Information Code of Practice (see below link) states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response or 40 working days if extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced. Public authorities are not obliged to accept internal reviews after this date.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-code-of-practice

Yours sincerely

Information Rights Decision Maker