briefing material for Scientology demonstrations

Dear Mr/s Sittampalam

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION REF: COL/08/204

I write in connection with your request for information dated 21^st May
2008, which was received by the Information Access Office on 21^st 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

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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>>

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Dear Mr Sittampalam

I refer to your request for an Internal Review in respect of your original request and confirm that this is currently being considered. In order to ensure the correct decision is reached, legal advice has been sought and I anticipate a substantive response will be provided within the next ten days. Please accept my apologies for the delay which is a result of an exceptional volume of requests for information being made.

Please feel free to contact me via telephone if you wish to discuss your request.

Yours faithfully,

Inspector Dave Lockyear
Information Access Manager

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Dear Mr Sittampalam

Legal Advice was received from our legal advisor this morning and your Internal Review was conducted this afternoon by Commander Rice, who was not involved in the original decision making process. You will receive a substantive response from Commander Rice by Friday 7th November.

Once again, please accept my apologies for the delay in replying to your request.

Yours sincerely,

Inspector Dave Lockyear
Information Access Manager

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RESTRICTED

Dear Mr Sittampalam,

Request for information reference COL/08/204

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

A copy of an internal briefing material relating to the policing of
demonstrations at any of The Church of Scientology buildings.

It has been confirmed that The City of London Police holds briefing
material relating to the policing of demonstrations at the Church of
Scientology but an exemption was applied and the material was not
disclosed.

You have subsequently requested an internal review of the decision to
apply an exemption and you have made the following observations in support
of your request.

- 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.

The internal review was conducted by myself on 5th November 2008 after
receiving legal advice and I confirm I was not involved in the original
decision making process. Two documents were identified which contain
specific references to briefing - GOLD STRATEGY VERSION 1 and GOLD
STRATEGY VERSION 2. The part of each document relating to each briefing
contains identical text, which is of a strategic nature, and I find that
the Section 31 exemption was correctly applied to these two documents.

You have indicated that you are particularly interested in information
relating to what does and does not constitute an offence and I confirm
that the above two documents do not contain any relevant information.
However, we have received relevant advice from CPS and I would expect this
information to have been passed on to officers involved in policing
demonstrations at The Church of Scientology headquarters. I believe that
it is in the public interest to make this information available and a copy
is attached.

Please accept my apologies in the delay in replying to your request by
an internal review to be conducted. Should you have any further questions
please contact my Information Access Manager via email, letter or
telephone quoting the reference number above.

Your Sincerely,

Commander Patrick Rice

<<Advice.doc>>

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