1) How many offences have been committed in Dundee schools in 2011 and 2010?

I would advise you that the number of crimes as recorded on our crime recording system where the locus was a school in Dundee (see attached list of premises included) during the year 2011 (up to and including 14/10/11) was 118 and during the year 2010 the number recorded was 203.

In relation to the above figures, the following factors should be taken into consideration:

1   Some incidents may well have occurred outwith normal school hours or during weekends or holidays when the premises are empty.

2   Some incidents may be described and therefore reported as taking place at a school when they may in fact be completely unrelated to the organisation - for example a disturbance outside the premises.

Please note that the information provided is accurate at the time of retrieval and may differ marginally from any information previously published.  Please note that the data provided is dynamic as it has been retrieved from a live data recording system, and may change as future information may come to light and amendments applied accordingly.  

Furthermore, please note that Police forces in theUnited Kingdomare routinely required to provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally.  However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the crime data.  It should be noted that, for these reasons, the information provided should not be used for comparison purposes with any other similar information provided by any other Force.

For each offence, I would like to know:

a) The school  in question.

b) The offence committed.

c) The date of the offence.

d) The age of the offender.

I regret to advise you that I have decided to refuse to provide you with the breakdown of each offence as I consider this level of detail to be exempt from disclosure.

In terms of Section 16 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, this represents a refusal notice in relation to the information requested.  Section 16 requires Tayside Police, when refusing to provide you with such information, to provide you with a notice which (a) states that it holds the information, (b) states that it is claiming an exemption, (c) specifies the exemption in question, and (d) states, if not apparent, why the exemption applies.

I confirm that Tayside Police does hold the information you have requested and that the exemptions which I consider to be applicable are as follows:

Section 34(1)(a)&(b) (Exempt Information – Investigations by Scottish Public Authorities and Proceedings arising out of such Investigations)

Information is exempt information if it has at any time been held by a Scottish Public Authority for the purposes of an investigation which the authority has a duty to conduct to ascertain whether a person should be prosecuted for an offence, or which may lead to a decision by the authority to make a report to the Procurator Fiscal to enable it to be determined whether criminal proceedings should be instituted.

I consider that the information requested by you falls within this class-based exemption.  The release of such low level crime data has the potential to compromise an investigation as Tayside Police would be declaring to the world that specific incidents at specific locations were under investigation.

Section 34 is also a non-absolute exemption which requires me to conduct a Public Interest Test to identify the public interest in the release of the information (see below).

Section 39(1) (Exempt Information – Health, Safety and the Environment)

Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to endanger the physical or mental health or the safety of an individual.  I consider that the information requested by you falls within this class-based exemption.  Clearly, the release of crime data for each of the educational establishments recorded as being the loci in these crimes, would produce a “league table”.  This in turn would result in pupils, their families and also residents in the vicinity of those establishments where the most crime had been recorded, living in a misguided fear of perceived crime.

Section 39 is also a non-absolute exemption which requires me to conduct a Public Interest Test to identify the public interest in the release of the information (see below).

Section 38(1)(b) (Exempt Information - Personal Information). 

Under this Section of the Act, information is exempt from disclosure if it is personal data which relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data. To provide the information requested for each separate offence would clearly fall under the foregoing definition and, therefore, it claims absolute exemption under the Act.  

It is incumbent upon the Chief Constable to process data held by him in accordance with the principles set out in the Data Protection Act 1998.  The release of this information to a third party would breach the requirement that exists to process personal data fairly. This would be in direct contravention of the first data protection principle in Schedule 1 in that legislation.

Public Interest Test

The exemptions contained in Sections 34 and 39 above are subject to a Public Interest Test as outlined in Section 2 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.  The key test when considering the public interest is to establish whether, in all the circumstances of the request, the public interest in disclosing the information is not outweighed by that in maintaining the exemption(s).  The following outlines the public interest considerations I have included in arriving at my decision to refuse access to the information requested.

Supporting Disclosure:

Public Awareness

There is a public interest in disclosing information which highlights problem areas in places where members of the public live, work and visit.

Public Safety

There is a public interest in disclosing information which allows members of the public to make an informed decision on their own personal safety with regard to premises where they may work, visit or live near to.

Against Disclosure:

Interests of Third Parties

There is no public interest in the release of data which could be interpreted, or misinterpreted, in such a manner that would unjustifiably tarnish the reputation of any listed educational establishment.

Public Safety

There is no public interest in the release of data which would result in certain members of the public living in a misguided fear of perceived crime which, in turn, would impact adversely upon their own sense of security and vulnerability, particularly where such crime may not be directly linked with the establishment itself.

Criminal Investigations

As many of the crimes recorded during this recent period either are or will be the subject of criminal investigations or proceedings, there is no public interest in the release of any data which could compromise such investigations, particularly due to the low numbers involved for a number of establishments.

Balance Test

In balancing these competing factors, I consider that the decision must fall in favour of protecting ongoing criminal investigations, justifiably protecting the reputations of the establishments concerned and safeguarding the health and safety of the public.  I assess these factors to carry more weight than that of public awareness. Accordingly, I have decided to maintain the exemptions and refuse to provide you with information which details the crimes broken down to the level of detail requested.

To be of assistance, however, I am pleased to be able to provide the attached documents which contain a breakdown of the crime types committed across all schools on a monthly basis and also a breakdown of the age of all persons identified as being the perpetrators in detected crimes.