FOI 1069-2024/25 Knife Crime in Schools
Request
For the academic year 2023, so from September 1, 2023 to July 31, 2024;
Q1. Number of people aged 18 and under reported to be in possession of a knife on school/college premises (bladed article or pointed weapon), with a breakdown by district.
Q2. Please can we have a breakdown of the offenders age at the time the offence was committed, either suspect or accused.
Q3. Number of crimes reported related to knives on school/college grounds involving an offender aged 18 or under and a breakdown of each by description of crime, by district.
Q4. Number of assaults or injuries involving an offender aged 18 or under reported on schools/college grounds related to knives by district.
Please detail number of incidents on school/college premises where a weapon was seized, including a description of weapon, ie such as bottles of acid discovered or assault by blunt weapon.
Please could these also be broken down into;
- To date from September 1, 2024 to February 6, 2025;
- For the academic year 2022, and 2018
It would be helpful if you were to provide any brief notes which might be necessary to understand the context of the information provided, although I recognise that you are not obliged to do this. If for any reason you feel this request is unclear, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.
I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.
Q1. Please see the table below showing the number of crimes of 'Possession Of Article With Blade Or Point' with an offender aged 18 or under and on school/college grounds, broken down by Safer Neighbourhood Command (SNC) area.
|
SNC |
Total |
|
Craven SNC |
2 |
|
Hambleton & Richmondshire SNC |
3 |
|
Harrogate SNC |
1 |
|
Scarborough & Ryedale SNC |
3 |
|
Selby SNC |
1 |
|
Total |
10 |
Q2. Please see the table below showing the number of offenders aged 18 and under reported to be in the ‘Possession of Article with Blade or Point’ broken down by the age of the offender.
|
Age of Offender |
Total |
|
12 |
1 |
|
13 |
3 |
|
14 |
3 |
|
15 |
2 |
|
16 |
1 |
|
Total |
10 |
Q3. Please see the table below showing the number of crimes involving a ‘bladed implement’ on education premises, broken down by SNC.
|
SNC |
Total |
|
Craven SNC |
1 |
|
Hambleton & Richmondshire SNC |
2 |
|
Harrogate SNC |
2 |
|
Scarborough & Ryedale SNC |
3 |
|
York SNC |
1 |
|
Total |
9 |
Q4. Please see the table below showing the number of crimes of assault with or without injury reported on education premises, using a bladed implement. Please note that the weapon type is not a mandatorily recorded field and therefore, however, where this is completed we have provided the data below.
|
Type of Weapon Used |
Total |
|
Bladed implement |
1 |
Please see the below table showing the number of assaults with or without injury on education premises where a weapon was seized, including the type of weapon.
|
Type of Weapon Used |
Total |
|
Not recorded/Unknown |
2 |
|
Non bladed implement |
1 |
|
Total |
3 |
I have disassociated the tables and exempted the calendar years the crimes took place pursuant to
Section 40(2) – Personal Information. This is to refrain from particular incidents becoming identifiable and consequently the personal details of any persons involved being disclosed. Please see the below exemption explanation.
Exemption Explanation
Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
Section 40(2) – Personal Information
Where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair’ to the data subject.
Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair (DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1)).
This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.
In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned.
Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your request.
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.