Theft of parcels (FOI ref: 1242A/24)

Request

 

Q1 How many instances of parcel theft (i.e. parcels stolen from somebody’s doorstep, or other cases where thieves steal a package, for example by impersonating a delivery person or homeowner) were reported between the following dates? (NOTE: If the request will be too time-consuming, please share the most recent cases first) - 01/08/2023 – 31/07/2024

 

Q2 If possible, can you share the number of reported instances of parcel theft (i.e. parcels stolen from somebody’s doorstep, or other cases where thieves steal a package, for example by impersonating a delivery person or homeowner) by month for each of the date ranges provided in question one or, if this is not possible, any data that would make it possible to calculate this?

 

Q3 If possible, can you share either the total reported value of stolen parcels for the date ranges provided in question one or, if this is not possible, any data that would make it possible to calculate this?

Q4 If possible, can you share the most common time of day when parcels were stolen (using the date ranges provided in question one) in the following format, or, if not possible, any data that would make it possible to calculate this?

- A - 09.01 – 17.00

- B - 17.01 – 22.00

- C - 22.01 – 09.00

Q5 If possible, can you share the most common age of the people reporting theft (for the date ranges provided in question one) in the following format, or any data that would make it possible to calculate this?

- A - 21 and under

- B - 22-34

- C - 35-44

- D - 45-54

- E - 55-64

- F - 65 and over

 

Q6 If possible, can you estimate how long (hours per month) in total that your employees spent on any work relating to reported theft of parcels?

Q7 If possible, can you share the number of reports you received split by type of dwelling/address where the reported incident took place?

-Detached house or bungalow

-Semi-detached or terraced house

-Apartment/flat

-Office/business

-Any other

We sent you a cost offer on 14^th August and you responded on 30^th August. Your new request reads:

 

 For the time period 1 Aug 2023 to 31 July 2024 please provide:

 

All recorded crime – theft of mail offences followed by a keyword search for “Parcel” and “delivery”

 

Please provide detail of the age of the victim as below:

 

- A - 21 and under

- B - 22-34

- C - 35-44

- D - 45-54

- E - 55-64

- F - 65 and over

 

Response

 

Please find enclosed our response:

This data is based on the offence “Theft of mail”.

The keywords searched for are “parcel” and “delivery”.  The data below includes the keywords searched for. Please note that we are unable to split these key words as most of the incident summaries contain both words e.g. ‘parcel delivered’, ‘parcel delivery van’, ‘parcel delivery driver’.

 

Keyword searches are notoriously unreliable, the reasons why searches using this method are not reliable include (but are not limited to) the following: -

1. a) Searches rely on the keywords being spelt correctly with no grammatical errors
2. b) Searches rely on the keywords actually being mentioned in the summary description of the record – if they are mentioned anywhere else within the record but not in the summary, then they will not feature in any results

 

 

Age group	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul
21 & Under	4	9	4	8	7	7	5	4	5	5	3	5
22-34	11	7	11	10	20	9	8	10	11	6	7	7
35-44		2	2	4	4				2	2	3
45-54		3	8	12	13	4	2	2	4	1	5	2
55-64	1		6	2	4	5	1	4	2	1	1	2
65 & Over	3	2	1	4	4				1	1	3
Not Recorded	8	2	4	8	7	5	7	7	4	3	4	7
Grand Total	27	25	36	48	59	30	23	27	29	19	26	23

 

Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have 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 considered when interpreting those 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 considered when those data are 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.