Armed Response Unit call outs in Humberside

Your Ref:
Our Ref:F-2009-02994

06 November, 2009

Dear Mr. Blackburne,

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

Information concerning Armed Response Unit

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 02 December, 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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Your Ref:

Our Ref:F-2009-02994

30 November, 2009

Dear Mr. Blackburne,

Thank you for your request for information dated 04 November, 2009.

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

I would like to know the following:

oHow many times has the Humberside Police Force's Armed Response

Unit been called out each year, over the past five years

(2004-2009).

2004: 216 176

2005: 202 144

2006: 226 136

2007: 209 164

2008: 130 97

Please note the first line represents the total number of authorised
firearms deployments. The second line represents the number of times the
Armed Response Vehicles have been deployed.

oOn how many of these occasions has a member of the Armed Response

Unit actually fired their weapons, if at all?

This information is exempt by virtue of Section 21 of the Act.

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 21 - Information reasonably Accessible by other means

(1) Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise
than under S1 is exempt information.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)-

(a) Information may be reasonably accessible to the applicant even though
it is accessible only on payment, and

(b) Information is to be taken to be reasonably accessible to the
applicant if it is information which the public authority or any other
person is obliged by or under any enactment to communicate (otherwise than
by making the information available for inspection) to members of the
public on request, whether free of charge or on payment.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1), information which is held by a
public authority and does not fall within subsection (2)(b) is not to be
regarded as reasonably accessible to the applicant merely because the
information is available from the public authority itself on request,
unless the information is made available in accordance with the
authority's publication scheme and any payment required is specified in,
or determined in accordance with, the scheme.

Under Section 16 of the Act to provide advice and assistance I provide the
following link which provides the details on the occasion Humberside
Police has discharged a firearm.

[1]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...

oHow many Armed Response Officers does the Humberside Police Force

employ?

As force wide statistics Humberside Police have 75 Authorised Firearms
Officers (AFO's).

oHow much does it cost to send out an Armed Response Unit? (If

possible, could I have a breakdown of the cost?)

This information is exempt by virtue of Section 12 of the Act.

It has been determined in order to retrieve the information requested
would require a manual inspection of all records for AFO's on shift in any
particular day and cross reference this data with their HR file in order
to determine their specific salary scale and divide that by shift hours
(some officers may be on overtime). This is in addition to other
variables such as the cost to fuel vehicles per shift, the physical cost
per vehicle, the cost of the firearms, body armour and any other
associated costs which would greatly exceed the 18 hour limit.

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 - Fees Regulations

(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 if the information is held;

*Locating the information, or a document containing it;

*Retrieving the information, or a document containing it; and

*Extracting the information from a document containing it.

The following have not been included within our calculations:

* The time spent identifying information to be exempted and the time
dedicated to the process of redaction.

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

If I can be of any further assistance on this matter please do not
hesitate to contact me.

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

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

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References

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1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...
2. file:///tmp/outbind:/37/www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk