ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) Camera Stats

Your Ref:
Our Ref:F-2009-02262

07 September, 2009

Dear Mr. Crookes,

Thank you for your request for Information, received at this office on
19 August, 2009, in which you requested details of the following:

Questions regarding ANPR

Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response
within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act,
subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to
a third party. In some circumstances may be unable to achieve this
deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request. If this is the case you will be informed
and the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive
payment from you. If you chose not to make a payment then your request
will remain unanswered.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

We anticipate being able to provide you with the information that you
have requested on or before 17 September, 2009.

Should you need to discuss this further please do not hesitate to
contact the unit.

Yours sincerely,

James Green
Information Compliance Officer
+44 (1482) 317099

Corporate Development Branch
Information Compliance Unit
Priory Road
Kingston Upon Hull
HU5 5SF
Fax:+44 (1482) 317090

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Dear Mr Crookes,

Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing you with a
response. Unfortunately due to extended annual leave of the information
owners the retrieval of relevant information has been delayed. I will
endeavour to provide you with a response on or before Friday 25th of
September.

With Regards,

James Green
Information Compliance Officer
Information Compliance Section

Data Protection & Freedom of Information

* Humberside Police HQ, Priory Road, Hull, HU5 5SF
( Phone: 01482 317099 (ext 1399)
: E-mail: [email address]
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Your Ref:

Our Ref:F-2009-02262

30 September, 2009

Dear Mr. Crookes,

Thank you for your request for information dated 19 August, 2009. Please
accept my apologies for the delay in providing your response.

This is to inform you that all information relating to your request has
been researched and is communicated below in response to:

1) How many ANPR cameras were in use in i)2007? ii)2008? iii)2009? (so
far) iv)2010? (predicted)

It has been deemed this information is exempt by virtue of Section
31(1)(a)(b)(c) Law Enforcement and Section 24(1) National Security.

Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Humberside
Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information
is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:

(a) states that fact;

(b) specifies the exemption in question and

(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption
applies.

Section 31 and Section 24 being prejudice based require the harm
to illustrated. In addition there is a requirement to conduct a Public
Interest Test to establish whether there is a strong enough public
interest in maintaining the exemption versus a wider public benefit
favouring disclosure.

Harm

Disclosure of site specific information in relation to ANPR e.g location
and numbers is harmful because identification of these sites would be
useful intelligence to criminals and terrorist elements which would in
turn impede the police forces effectiveness at preventing and detecting
serious and organised crime and terrorism. In effect a criminal and
terrorist elements would be able to map the locations of the ANPR cameras
and plot routes which were not covered in order to continue to carry out
their criminal activities.

Public Interest Test

Factors Favouring Disclosure

Accountability - The Police Service should be accountable and disclosure
of ANPR camera locations would strengthen this as it would show it open to
inspection in that site locations are lawful and within guidelines.

Public Awareness - Disclosure of the use of ANPR may strengthen the
public's knowledge allowing them to assess the effectiveness of ANPR and
allowing accurate public debate which corrects rumour, speculation and
falsehood can remove the need to take unnecessary actions, reduce the fear
of crime and improve the quality of life.

Factors Favouring Non Disclosure

Efficient and Effective Conduct of the Force - Disclosure would undermine
present or future law enforcement capabilities of the force by providing
information to criminal elements which would allow them to circumnavigate
legitimate crime prevention and detection techniques (ANPR). The
confidentiality of site specific information remains ANPR's most useful
asset in order to maximise its law enforcement capabilities and anything
which would erode this would render the use of ANPR defunct.

Investigations - Any disclosure which will undermine a present or future
investigation will have serious prejudicial effects. Investigations,
including those into serious, organised and terrorist criminality receive
vital support from ANPR data. These investigations would be seriously
impeded or compromised were the locations of ANPR cameras were made
readily available.

Public Safety - Where a law enforcement technique that works well at
preventing and monitoring serious and organised crime and terrorist
elements is made defunct the knock on effect to public safety is
increased. Where criminal elements determined to cause harm and
disruption are allowed to carry out their objectives with impunity the
risk to the public is greatly increased.

Balancing Test

It would appear there are some benefits which favour disclosure such as
accountability and public awareness and anything which would strengthen
openness is positive. However those positive benefits are greatly
outweighed by the negative effect disclosure would have on law enforcement
and the Services core responsibility to prevent and detect crime and the
apprehension and prosecution of offenders coupled with the prejudicial
effect on investigations and risk to the public. The use of ANPR by
forces is within strict guidelines and compliant with Data Protection
legislation. For these reasons, on balance the Public Interest Test does
not favour disclosure.

2) How many images (number plate + location info) were captured in
i)2007? ii)2008? iii)2009? (so far)

2007 11,787,387

2008 18,153,558

2009 11,250468 (01/01/09 - 31/08/09)

3) How many arrests are made as a result of this information i)2007?
ii)2008? iii)2009? (so far)

This information is exempt by virtue of Section 12. This is because it
would require a manual inspection of all crimes reports for the periods
mentioned and contacting the OIC and determine if the arrest was due to an
ANPR hit. As you will appreciate there are thousands of crime reports
generated each year and to manually inspect each one would greatly exceed
the appropriate limit (18 hrs) or as a cost equivalent £25 per hour
equating to £450.

Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Humberside
Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information
is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:

(a) states that fact;

(b) specifies the exemption in question and

(c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption
applies.

Section 12 * Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate
limit.

(1) s1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request for
information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the
request would exceed the *appropriate limit* (18 * hours).

Activities that may be counted within our time estimations are:

Determining whether the information is held Locating and retrieving the
information, whatever its format and wherever it*s held Once only reading
the information Extracting the information to be disclosed from the other
information Communicating the information including time taken to write a
response to the request, or to summarise, edit or redact information; and
Time spent making arrangements for an applicant to view documents, books,
videos, and electronically held information

The following have not been included within our calculations:

Our decision making process to whether the request is covered by Freedom
of Information Time taken in gaining legal advice or referral of the
request to any other department to determine whether a piece of
information is exempt Assessing the extent of the public interest test
Obtaining authorisation to send out the information Managing the fees
notice General overheads

4) How long is the data kept on the police database?

ANPR is utilised with all intelligence databases that Humberside Police
operates and also PNC/DVLA. The databases are the responsibility of the
Chief Constable who is the data controller under the Data Protection Act.
The databases are run in accordance with the principles of the Data
Protection Act.

5) What is the cost of running the ANPR operation in (i)2007? (ii)2008
(iii)2009 (so far) (iv)2010 (predicted)

2007 - Salary £536,490 Non Pay £76,060

2008 - Salary £556,735 Non Pay £90,260

2009 - Salary £262,840 Non Pay £32,210

2010 - Salary £569,486 Non Pay £83,000 Projected only

Should any further information be requested regarding this topic, a
separate request will need to be submitted.

Should you need to discuss this further please contact James Green, on +44
(1482) 317099.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Humberside Police.

Yours sincerely,

James Green

Information Compliance Officer

+44 (1482) 317099

Corporate Development Branch

Information Compliance Unit

Priory Road

Kingston Upon Hull

HU5 5SF

Fax:+44 (1482) 317090

Humberside Police * Freedom of Information Complaints Review Procedure

Why Have A Complaints Process?

Humberside Police is committed to delivering an open and transparent
service whenever possible and it is our intention to commit to the
principles of openness embodied in the Freedom of Information Act. We will
release information to the greatest extent possible, consistent with the
public interest, however we may withhold information if we consider its
release would cause significant harm.

If information within a document is withheld, it will be clearly marked to
show where information has been removed and the legal exemption we have
used. If we decline to supply all or part of any information you have
asked for we will notify you in writing giving our reasons based upon
legal exemptions contained within the Freedom of Information Act.

If you are not satisfied about the way in which your Freedom of
Information request has been handled you have the right to appeal. This
information has been designed to help you to understand how to complain to
Humberside Police. Using this process will not affect your right to
complain directly to the Information Commissioner if you feel we have not
complied with our obligations under the Freedom of Information Act.

Who Can Complain?

Anyone who has made a Freedom of Information request in writing to the
Force can complain. If you have requested information and you are not
satisfied with the way we have dealt with it, you can use the complaints
process to have it looked at again. If someone who requested information
would like to complain but cannot do so themselves, you can complain on
their behalf but it will help us if you make it clear that you are doing
so.

What Can I Complain About?

If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your request, with
the fee we have charged, or with the reasons we have given for refusing to
provide information, you have the right to appeal. You can complain about
the range, amount and format of information we have sent following a
request. You can also complain about the way a request was handled, for
example, the time it took to respond.

How Do I Complain?

To deal with your complaint as quickly as possible, it will help if you
can give us as much information as you can about the original request made
and the reason for your complaint. Please put your complaint in writing
and address it to:

FOI Appeals

Humberside Police Information Compliance Unit

Police Headquarters

Priory Road

Hull HU5 5SF

What Happens To My Complaint?

Once we have enough details to identify the request, we will begin the
review. The Head of The Information Compliance Unit will normally review
your complaint. In the more complex cases a review panel consisting of a
number of senior personnel from the Force will re-examine your complaint.
We aim to complete the review process within three months of receiving
your complaint. Upon completion we will send you the findings.

How Will I Be Notified?

Where we have not followed procedures or have failed to provide acceptable
quality of service, we will apologise and explain what we will do to
ensure this doesn't happen again. If our original decision to withhold
information is over-turned on appeal we will send you the additional
information immediately. If we believe that our original response was
correct we will let you know, and inform you of your options (see below).

What If I'm Still Not Satisfied?

If we have been unable to resolve your complaint and you are not satisfied
you can approach the office of the Information Commissioner, who may
investigate the matter on your behalf. This option is open to you at all
times, but we will endeavour to address your complaint initially, as this
may lead to a speedier resolution. It is the Information Commissioner who
decides whether to investigate or not. We will co-operate fully with the
Information Commissioner.

If you have any further questions about the complaints process, please
contact the Information Compliance Unit on 01482 578313 or alternatively
you can write to:

Head of Information Compliance Unit

Humberside Police Headquarters

Priory Road

Hull HU5 5SF

Email: [email address]

Requests for a review by the Information Commissioner should be made in
writing directly to:

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Phone: 01625 545 700

[1]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

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References

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