Norma Graham QPM
Chief Constable

Dear Mr Archibald,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

Further to your email dated 28 June 2010 requesting information under the terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I can advise you as follows.

Fife Constabulary utilise a command and control system called STORM that is managed exclusively by staff within the Force Contact Centre (FCC). A STORM call card is created for each incident or telephone call received and records the type of call, i.e. whether it is a 999 call, a personal caller attending at a station, a routine telephone call, etc. A summary or brief content is added with details of the incident or call and a result is added in the form of abbreviated disposal codes, which indicate what the call involved and how the issue was treated or addressed. 'Hoax call' can be selected as a disposal code, this code can be utilised in situations when a call is made maliciously.

Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties associated with an upgrade of the STORM system I am unable to provide the detail you require for 2004/5 and 2006/7. This information is not readily accessible, easily identifiable or held in a retrievable format and the research required to establish it would impact significantly on staff time and resources. Therefore an exemption under Section 12 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Excessive cost of compliance applies.

The table below provides details of the number of hoax calls recorded by Fife Constabulary for the years indicated:

Again during 2009/2010, 98 call cards were disposed of as 'malicious'.

'Hoax call' disposal has in some situations been used as a disposal for a silent 999 call.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further assistance.

If you are not satisfied with the way in which I have dealt with your request, you are entitled, in the first instance, to request a review of the decision made by the Force. Should you wish to request such a review, please write to me within 40 working days of receiving this letter. If, after having been informed of the review panel's decision, you are still not satisfied, you are then entitled to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS, telephone 01334 464610.

Yours sincerely,

Scott Johnston

Police Sergeant.

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