Which UK police forces reported the highest rates of communications‑related arrests per 100,000 population in 2023, and how complete were their FOI returns?

1. The headline figures: who tops the list by rate and by volume

When raw counts are compared, the Metropolitan Police had the most arrests in 2023 for offences under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 and section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988, with 1,709 arrests reported in the dataset used by The Times ^{[1] [2]}; West Yorkshire and Thames Valley followed by absolute numbers ^[1]. But population‑adjusted rates tell a different story: Leicestershire had the highest reported rate at 83 arrests per 100,000 people, a figure emphasised in parliamentary library analysis summarising The Times data ^[1].

2. Coverage and totals: how many arrests and how many forces responded

The Times’ FOI‑based compilation found roughly 12,000 arrests across participating forces in 2023 — reported as 12,183 in some accounts — encompassing returns from 37 forces in that dataset ^{[2] [4]}. Other news organisations using different FOI exercises reported different totals and response rates; for example, the Daily Mail cited 39 of 45 forces replying and a total of about 9,700 arrests in a separate exercise ^[5]. These differences demonstrate that totals depend on which forces responded and how questions were framed ^{[2] [5]}.

3. Why the headline rate for Leicestershire needs context

Leicestershire’s 83 per 100,000 stands out, but the force itself warned that the statutory offences cover a broad range of communications and that some custody records relate to domestic‑abuse‑related matters recorded under the same legal headings ^[1]. That caveat matters because coding practices — how arrest reasons are logged — vary between forces and can inflate apparent rates when certain categories are used broadly ^{[1] [3]}.

4. Limits of FOI returns and police recording practices

FOI returns underpinning these rankings were incomplete and uneven: The Times did not obtain data from every force, and the Metropolitan Police’s own disclosure notes gaps in how arrests are coded in their systems, including “Reason for Arrest” entries that cannot be reliably disaggregated without costly manual review ^{[1] [3]}. That operational reality means the published totals and rates are best understood as indicative rather than definitive, because some arrests may be uncounted or misclassified in the datasets made public ^[3].

5. Competing narratives and possible agendas in coverage

Different outlets have emphasised different framings: some coverage highlights alarming totals and frames the phenomenon as a threat to free speech, while other reporting and force statements point to domestic‑abuse or public‑safety contexts for some arrests ^{[2] [1]}. Advocacy groups and commentators who focus on civil liberties may amplify high‑rate headlines to argue for reform, whereas police spokespeople stress legal complexity and victim protection as justification for interventions ^{[1] [2]}. Media organisations’ differing FOI methodologies and selective publication choices also shape the apparent scale.

6. Bottom line: what can be asserted with confidence

It can be asserted, on the basis of The Times’ FOI compilation and the House of Lords Library summary, that Leicestershire had the highest reported rate per 100,000 in 2023 , while the Metropolitan Police had the highest number of arrests ^{[1] [2]}. It must also be stated that FOI returns were not comprehensive across all forces and that recording limitations — including mixed Reason for Arrest codes and cost‑based refusals to manually disaggregate custody records — mean the picture is incomplete and subject to revision ^{[1] [3]}.