Dear Sir or Madam,

I would like to know how many times the use of the following have
been used in arrests in the years 2007/2008/2009 by the metrpolitan
police.

1. The use of Baton's on suspects.
2. The use of CS Gas on suspects.
3. The use of Taser's [Tazer's] on suspects who were unarmed.

Yours faithfully,

Andrew B

Dear Mr. Andrew B.

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2009040005410
I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 20/04/2009. I note you seek
access to the following information:

* "I would like to know how many times the use of the following have
been used in arrests in the years 2007/2008/2009 by the metropolitan
police.
* 1. The use of Batons on suspects.
* 2. The use of CS Gas on suspects.
* 3. The use of Tasers [Tazers] on suspects who were unarmed. "

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act). 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 the MPS 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.

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.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet, which details your
right of complaint.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please
contact Rozmarie Loizou at the above e-mail address, quoting the
reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Rozmarie Loizou
Administrative Support Officer
COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think
the decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the case officer that dealt with your
request.

Ask to have the decision looked at again ***

The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is
to telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of your
decision letter.

That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues
and assist with any problems.

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision
of the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act)
regarding access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS
to have the decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 40 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied
with the decision you may make application to the Information
Commissioner for a decision on whether the request for information has
been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information
Commissioner please visit their website at
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk. Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

By LAW you were required to respond to this freedom of information
request and have failed to do so, along with my other request re:
War Crimes not being taken seriously by the police force in this
country.

Please respond when you recieve this notice.

Yours sincerely,

Andrew B

Dear Andrew,

RE: Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2009040005410

I hope you're well. I contacted the case owner regarding the above request. He should be contacting you sometime today.

with kind regards,
Rozmarie.

show quoted sections

Case reference: 2009040005410

Dear Mr Andrew B,

I am writing with regards to your request for the following information.

I would like to know how many times the use of the following have been
used in arrests in the years 2007/2008/2009 by the metropolitan police.
1. The use of Baton's on suspects. 2. The use of CS Gas on suspects. 3.
The use of Taser's [Tazer's] on suspects who were unarmed.

I am in the process of gathering information from several people based at
five separate locations. I have chased this requests several times and I
am now confident I will be able to give you a formal response within one
week.

Yours Sincerely

[email address]

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

Still waiting on this FOI, I cant help but wonder why these
requests are not being dealt with in a timely manner. Will i be
getting a response to my FOI anytime soon?

Yours sincerely,

Andrew B

Andrea, FYI

Paul

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

I'm still awaiting an answer to my FOI, I've lost count how long it
has been, and am rather surprised that even though by law this
information must be made public as per the FOI Act once requested,
we are still waiting. I understand it may take a little time to get
this information together, any idea when this info will be made
available?

Yours faithfully,

Andrew B

Dear Mr Andrew B.

Freedom of Information Act Request Reference No: 2009040005410
I write in connection with your request for information dated which was
received by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 20/04/2009, and which
seeks access to the following information:

I would like to know how many times the use of the following have been
used in arrests in the years 2007/2008/2009 by the metrpolitan police.
1. The use of Baton's on suspects.
2. The use of CS Gas on suspects.
3. The use of Taser's [Tazer's] on suspects who were unarmed.

First of all, I must apologise for the delay in responding to your
request, and also that you have not been kept appraised of developments
throughout the processing of your request. I have now taken over the
management of your request and I am able to confirm the following:

My own and previous enquiries have established that records are not kept
centrally for the use of batons and the use of CS gas. While their use
will be recorded by the officer concerned (for example, in the relevant
Report Book), these records will be held locally by each borough or unit.
To review each book of this type across the MPS to determine whether it
holds the requested information would exceed the cost threshold of
**450/18 hours stated in the FOI and DPA Fees Regulations 2004; however,
before issuing a refusal for the entire request on cost grounds, I hope to
assist by proposing that it would be possible to bring the request within
the threshold by focusing on question 3 (the use of Tasers on suspects who
were unarmed). This information can be retrieved for the MPS as a whole
within the cost threshold. Would be able to confirm whether this is
acceptable to you? If so, I will ensure that your request is progressed as
a matter of urgency and I will then issue a formal response to you.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet which details your right of
complaint.

If you wish to discuss this matter further, please write or contact Louise
Lander on telephone number 0207 0915565 quoting the reference number
above. Once again, I apologise for the delay in responding to you.

Yours sincerely,

Louise Lander
Higher Information Manager
COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the case officer that dealt with your request.

Ask to have the decision looked at again ***

The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to
telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of your decision
letter.

That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and
assist with any problems.

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 40 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied with
the decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for
a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

That is acceptable, thank you

Yours faithfully,

Andrew B

Dear Mr Andrew B.

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2009040005410

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 20/04/2009. I note you seek
access to the following information:

* I would like to know how many times the use of the following have
been used in arrests in the years 2007/2008/2009 by the metrpolitan
police.
* 1. The use of Baton's on suspects.
* 2. The use of CS Gas on suspects.
* 3. The use of Taser's [Tazer's] on suspects who were unarmed. .

As I mentioned in my previous email, it has not been possible to respond
to your request in full within the cost threshold. Full details of this,
along with the relevant sections of the FOIA, are given below in the Legal
Appendix section. As agreed in our previous correspondence, this response
therefore focuses on question 3 of your original request and relates
solely to the use of Taser.

Please find attached the statistics for MPS Taser use in relation to
suspects who were unarmed. An explanantion of the different terms for
Taser use are given in the document. Please note that these figures
include those instances where more than one Taser may have been used at
the same incident - for this reason the individual figures may not
correspond exactly to the total numbers of incidents and may differ from
published Home Office statistics. The objective of any Taser deployment is
to minimise the risk of serious injury to the subject and Police officers
alike.Taser is recommended for use as a ***Less Lethal*** option by
Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). This is in line with the
legal obligations on police to restrain violent or armed individuals using
only that force which is reasonable, necessary and proportionate, whilst
protecting members of the public and ensuring officer safety. Guidance
states that Tasers can only be used where officers would be facing
violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to
use force to protect the public, themselves and/or the subject. Further
details of the available guidance can be found by following the links
below.

You may also be interested in the following statement on the use of taser,
which was recently released by ACPO. ***Taser provides officers with an
additional option to resolve high risk situations involving extreme
violence or the threat of such violence, protecting the public and
officers from serious harm. In certain circumstances, its use is more
appropriate than conventional firearms in resolving dangerous situations
safely and without the risk of serious injury. In approximately half of
all cases involving Taser, the mere threat of its use has been enough to
deter assailants and ensure a peaceful resolution of the incident." Derek
Talbot, T/Deputy Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police and ACPO
spokesperson on Taser.

The full statement can be found on the following link -
http://www.acpo.police.uk/pressrelease.a...{1DD28D46-42A7-4933-8AA7-C7E8BC7BC285}

Further information relating to taser use, and published ACPO guidance,
can be found by accessing the following links:

http://www.westmercia.police.uk/publicat...

ACPO Policy and Operational Use of Taser by Authorised Firearms Officers
http://www.westmercia.police.uk/images/T...

ACPO Policy and Operational Use of Taser by Specially Trained Units
http://www.westmercia.police.uk/images/T...

Independent Evaluation of the Operational Trial of Taser - Final Report -
May 2004
http://www.westmercia.police.uk/images/m...

Evaluation of Taser - Digest of Public Opinion Survey
http://www.westmercia.police.uk/images/m...

http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/operatio...

LEGAL APPENDIX

As I mentioned in my previous email, records are not kept centrally for
the use of batons and the use of CS gas. While their use will be recorded
by the officer concerned (for example, in the relevant Report Book), these
records will be held locally by each borough or unit. To locate and
manually review each book of this type across the whole of the MPS, to
determine whether each holds the requested information, would exceed the
cost threshold of **450/18 hours stated in the FOI and DPA Fees
Regulations 2004.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts
as a Refusal Notice for questions 1, 2 and 3 in full.

Section 17(5) of the Act provides:

(5) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information,
is relying on a claim that section 12 or 14 applies must, within the time
for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice stating that
fact.

Section 12 of the Act provides:

(1) Section 1(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.

Under Section 16 (duty to assist), I contacted you to explain this, and
suggested that it would be possible to proceed by retrieving and providing
information in response to question 3 only, as this information could be
retieved within the cost threshold - you confirmed by email that this
would be acceptable. The response to this redefined request is given
above.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet which details your right of
complaint.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact Louise Lander on telephone number 0207 0915565 quoting the
reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Louise Lander
Higher Information Manager

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the case officer that dealt with your request.

Ask to have the decision looked at again ***

The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to
telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of your decision
letter.

That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and
assist with any problems.

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1TR

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 40 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied with
the decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for
a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700

show quoted sections