Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')
As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.
You asked:
1. Has the instant messaging app "Kik" ever featured in investigations carried out by your force into online Child Exploitation/Grooming/Child abuse imagery?
2. How often has Kik appeared in such investigations in the last year (or most recent period available)?
3. How often has Kik appeared in such investigations in the last 5 years?
In Response:
We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I provide a response for your attention.
Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the Corporate Development Department of Northumbria Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by Northumbria Police.
I am able to disclose the located information to you as follows.
All sexual offences and rape offences were downloaded from the Central database where the word 'Kik' featured in the MO. These offences were then looked at so that only child sexual offences of the types mentioned were included.
To capture the ‘child abuse imagery’ the crime of ‘Take, permit to be taken or to make distribute or publish indecent photographs or pseudo - photographs of children’ was used.
The results of that research is as below
- Yes
- 9
- 15
