FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

REQUEST NUMBER: F-2009- 03268

REQUEST DETAILS:

“Please can you supply me with the percentage of false positive

incidents involving sniffer dog searches over as long a time span

as possible, broken down by year and location.

If calculating the percent is not possible, please can you provide

any relevant databases (with sensitive information removed) for me

to calculate the percent myself.

Can I also have information on what is done to prevent these false

positives.

I am defining a false positive as a case when a dog identifies

nothing is found.”

RESPONSE:

Please see table below, which provides percentages for the number of positive, latent and negative searches carried out by dogs.

Please note that the table above is an accurate account of our records however, can not be considered totally accurate as an individuals reply in relation to drugs can not always be substantiated.

Suffolk Constabulary do not record data relating to `false positives'. This is because our dogs are rewarded with training when it locates a substance it is searching for. If the dogs indicate on areas or persons where there is no known substance then the dog would be removed from operational work and his operational licence revoked, following which a period of training would be put into place to eliminate the fault. If the dog continually gives false indications, then he would be retired from the Police Force because of his unreliability and would not obtain a further licence.

With regards the location of such searches it is estimated that to attempt to retrieve this would take 5 minutes per operation involving over 20 hours work, which would exceed 18 hours. This would exceed the appropriate limit for dealing with Freedom of Information requests, in terms of costs and therefore Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies.

Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 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.” The Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations, defines the `appropriate limit' for the Suffolk Constabulary as £450 and specifies that this sum equates to 18 hours work at a standard rate of £25 per hour.

In accordance with Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter serves as a refusal notice for this part of your request.

The Suffolk Constabulary in complying with their statutory duty under sections 1 and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed information will not breach the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. However, the rights of the copyright owner of the enclosed information will continue to be protected by law.  Applications for the copyright owner's written permission to reproduce any part of the attached information should be addressed to the Information Compliance Manager, Suffolk Constabulary Headquarters, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, IP5 3QS.

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