Dear Sir or Madam,

Please supply (under the Freedom of Information Act) a copy of any
internal briefing material relating to the policing of
demonstrations at any of the Church of Scientology's buildings.

Yours faithfully,

Ganesh Sittampalam

Dear Mr/s Sittampalam

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION REF: COL/08/204

I write in connection with your request for information dated 21st May 2008, which was received by the Information Access Office on 21st May 2008. I note that you seek access to the following information:

Please supply (under the Freedom of Information Act) a copy of any internal briefing material relating to the policing of demonstrations at any of the Church of Scientology's buildings.

Your request will be considered in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 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 we 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.

We normally provide information free of charge but there may be occasions when it would be appropriate to charge a fee where our costs are excessive. In such cases we will advice you prior to processing your request.

In some cases it may be necessary to transfer your request either in full or in part to another public authority in order to answer you request as comprehensively as possible. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

Should you have any further questions regarding your request, please contact me via email, letter or telephone, quoting the reference number above.

Yours Sincerely

Laura Goddard
Information Access Officer
Information Management Services
Ext: 0207 601 2272
Fax: 0207 601 2088

Please consider the environment before printing my email

show quoted sections

This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared
by MailMarshal
#####################################################################################

Dear Mr Sittampalam

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION REF: COL/08/204

I write in connection with your request for information dated 21 May 2008 in which you seek access to the following information:

1. A copy of any internal briefing material relating to the policing of demonstrations at any of the Church of Scientology's buildings.

I confirm that we hold briefing material relating to the policing of demonstrations at the Church of Scientology.

I have today decided that this information is subject to an exemption in accordance with section 31 of the Freedom of Information Act - Law Enforcement.

Information is exempt under section 31 where its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, or the administration of justice. This is a prejudice-based exemption subject to a harm test, which is detailed below. It is also a qualified exemption subject to the public interest test and the factors favouring disclosure and non-disclosure are listed below.

Evidence of harm

The briefing material contains strategic and tactical information relating to the method of policing the demonstrations at the Church of Scientology. Placing this information in the public domain would compromise the effectiveness of future operations and the safety of the public.

The Public Interest Test

Factors Favouring Disclosure

Accountability - when information disclosed relates directly to the efficiency and effectiveness of the force or its officers. The purpose of the Act is to make public authorities more accountable and this factor, therefore, may be applied to a wide range of scenarios, from how an individual or the force fulfils their role or function, to policy decisions that have been taken in relation to investigations or general policy issues. In this instance, disclosure would enable individuals to understand the manner in which such demonstrations are policed.

Public Awareness and Debate - where disclosure can assist individuals by raising awareness of issues, which may be of relevance to them. In this instance, there has been significant public interest regarding the Church of Scientology and disclosure of this information would contribute to a more accurate public debate.

Factors Favouring Non-Disclosure

Efficient and effective conduct of the service - where the current or future law enforcement role of the force may be compromised by the release of information. In this case, demonstrations continue to take place in the vicinity of the Church of Scientology and disclosure of independent legal advice could adversely impact on the policing of future operations. Additionally, disclosure of legal advice has the potential to damage the relationship between a lawyer and his or her client. Confidentiality promotes respect for the rule of law by encouraging clients to seek legal advice and allowing a full and frank exchange of information. Without confidentiality, clients may fear that anything they say to their lawyers, however sensitive or potentially damaging, may be revealed later and discourage the individuals from seeking advice in the future. The legal advice provided to the City of London Police remains current and may be relied upon in future investigations.

Public safety - There may be occasions where the release of information relating to public safety may not be in the public interest. Public safety is of paramount importance to the policing purpose and must be considered in respect of every release. In this case, disclosure would have a direct impact on future operations and could compromise public safety.

Balancing Test

Whilst accountability is a strong factor, disclosure is likely to adversely impact on future policing operations and public safety and the public interest test does not therefore favour disclosure at this time.

Should you have any further questions regarding your request, please contact me via e-mail, letter or telephone, quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Inspector Dave Lockyear
Information Access Manager

<<Ganesh Sittampalam Reply.pdf>> <<Further Information Letter.pdf>>

Please consider the environment before printing my email

show quoted sections

This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared
by MailMarshal
#####################################################################################

Dear Inspector Lockyear,

I request an internal review of this decision.

Please take the following into ac count in this review:

- You can redact sensitive information from the briefing material.
In particular I am most interested in any advice to officers on the
ground about what behaviour is and isn't a crime, rather than the
strategic and tactical operational information you refer to as a
reason not to release this material.

- It is of great value to the public to know what behaviour is
likely to leave them subject to police action, and to be able to
assess the police's view of the law and challenge it if necessary.

- There are considerable public interest factors involved in this
material over and above the standard ones of public scrutiny of the
police:

- According to press reports, you recently served someone (a minor)
with a warrant and confiscated their property because they called
the Scientologists a cult at a demonstration. The warrant was
subsequently withdrawn, which suggests that the confiscation of
their property was illegal or at least an unjustified restraint of
freedom of speech.

- This policy is apparently at odds with that of the Metropolitan
police force.

- There have been many suggestions in the press and elsewhere of
undue influence by the Scientologists on the City of London force,
backed up by the records showing significant hospitality received
by officers in the City of London force.

Yours sincerely,

Ganesh Sittampalam