FOI 1652-25 Grindr crime

Request:

1. The volume of crimes recorded and validated in the last five years which included ‘Grindr’ in the MO comments. 2019/20, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25
2. What was the crime type for those recorded in 2019/20, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25*
3. What was the outcome of the crimes recorded in 2019/20, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25*

Response:

Crime searched for all occurrences that include the mention of 'Grindr' searched for keywords ‘GRINDR’ and ‘GRINDER’ in the MO Free Text. Crime type broken down by Crime Type/Stats Classification Code for years 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 to give the last 5 years.

As with any keyword search, the search will only return exact matches within the Incident Description or Crime MO. This does not account for differences in terminology and/or spelling used. Keyword searches are problematic and in no way provide accurate results or figures. If the selected key words have not been mentioned the data will not be returned.

With regards to ongoing investigations, Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Northamptonshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:

• states that fact,
• specifies the exemption in question and
• states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies The exemption applicable to the information is:

Section 30(1) Investigations and Proceedings Conducted by Public Authorities

Section 30 is a qualified class-based exemption and therefore I am required to consider the public interest test. This covers information held at any time for the purposes of a specific investigation, criminal or otherwise. The information is collected and collated as part of an investigation carried out by Northamptonshire Police. Legislators, therefore, have accepted that the release of any information in this class may be harmful. However, since the exemption is qualified, I am required to apply the public interest test.

Factors favouring disclosure

There is legitimate public interest in knowing that offences are investigated giving the public the satisfaction of knowing that crimes are investigated properly and that the use of public funds is being spent wisely.

Factors favouring non-disclosure

Information relating to an investigation will rarely be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act and only where there is a strong public interest consideration favouring disclosure. Disclosing sensitive information would suggest that Northamptonshire Police take their responsibility to appropriately handle and manage information held as part of investigations flippantly. This would therefore undermine the relationship and confidence between the Force and the public or others involved in the investigation. Releasing information could affect the forces future law enforcement capabilities which would hinder the prevention and detection of crime.

Balance test

There is a strong public interest in the disclosure of information especially within the local communities to reassure them that Northamptonshire Police effectively conduct investigations. However, this must be weighed against the factors favouring non-disclosure. In this case disclosure would diminish the effectiveness of investigations and potentially undermine any future proceedings. This would in turn lead to a reduction in public confidence, reducing the reports made to Northamptonshire Police, potentially placing the local communities at increased risk. Therefore, it is for this reason I believe balance lies in favour of non-disclosure of the information.

The numerical data presented in this response is an un-audited snapshot of un-published data sourced from "live" systems and is subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data.

Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data has 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 the 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 the data is 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.