FOI 448807
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 448807
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 22nd December 2025. Please find below the response to your request:
- Theft of parcels
For the most recent 24-month period for which data is available, please provide the total number of recorded crimes involving the theft of delivered parcels from:
- Residential doorsteps
- Designated "safe places" (e.g. porches, sheds, bins, garages).
Please include:
- A monthly breakdown (month and year)
- The crime classification or offence code used to record these incidents.
- Criminal Damage Associated With Deliveries
For the same 24-month period, please provide the total number of recorded incidents of criminal damage to residential property where:
- The damage was recorded as being caused by delivery personnel
- The damage occurred during or immediately following a delivery.
Please include:
- A monthly breakdown (month and year)
- The crime classification or offence code used.
Additional Information
If the term "porch piracy" is not used by your force, please interpret this request using the closest equivalent offence categories (for example, theft from outside a dwelling).
Reply
Your request for information has been considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”), and I am not obliged to provide the information requested.
S.12(1) of the Act states that a public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”. For police forces in England and Wales, the "appropriate limit" is £450 or 18 hours of work as set by the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
The information you have requested is not available in a readily retrievable format. There are over 1201 records. In order to ascertain whether the information you have requested is held would take in excess of 60 hours as each record would have to be checked individually.
In accordance with s.17(5) of the Act, this acts as a Refusal Notice.
Under s.16 of the Act I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to your request.
Unfortunately, due to the volume of records that would need to be reviewed I am unable to identify information that could be supplied within the fees limit.