Cannabis factories

Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference.

Under the Freedom of Information Act we are required to reply within 20
working days but given the current very high number of requests being
received this may not be possible.

We will reply as soon as possible and please accept our apologies for the
inconvenience any delay may cause.

Steve Grayton
Information Officer
Data Protection & Freedom of Information
Information Management
Strategic Change Management Department
Essex Police Headquarters
PO Box 2, Springfield, Chelmsford, CM2 6DA
Tel: 0300 333 4444 Ext 54551
Fax: 01245 452256
Email : data[Essex Police request email]
Personal email: [email address]
Website: www.essex.police.uk
Hours of work : Mon - Thurs 7:30 to 15:30
Fri 7:30 to 15:00

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Classification: NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference. Having completed my enquiries I am able to respond as follows:

Under the Freedom of Information Act - I would like to know the following:

1. The number of cannabis farms/factories discovered in Essex in 2010 and
2011 and details of each of these discoveries: number of plants, dates,
details of equipment found, any arrests made, and the addresses of these
dens.

2. Out of these discoveries I would like to know whether any of the
arrests were of Vietnamese nationals, including details of related
factories, dates, and names if possible.

We have difficulty in answering your request accurately as the Crime
Recording System used by Essex Police records the number of offences in
accordance with The Home Office Counting Rules
[1]http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/countru... rather than a central
record of "Cannabis Factories" discovered.

We should be able to provided the numbers of offences of "Cultivation of
Cannabis" but I am not sure if that is much use to you.

It is also likely that s12 FOIA, Excess costs would apply as it would
require a manual review of files to extract the level of detail requested,
if held and we would not however be able, under FOI, to release details of
names, addresses or locations as that could allow individuals to be
identified and the exemption at s40 Personal Data would apply.

To clarify, to provide information which constitutes an individual's
personal data (information that identified them as a living individual)
would be in contravention of that individual's rights under the data
Protection Act 1998.

Disclosure of this information will breach principles 1 and 2 of the Data
Protection Act. These principles require personal data to be: 1) processed
(defined to include 'obtained') fairly and lawfully and 2) obtained only
for specified and lawful purposes and not processed incompatibly with the
specified purposes.

'Data subjects' are provided with certain legally enforceable rights under
the Data Protection Act 1998. The fact that the information is held for
lawful policing purposes, disclosing it onwards would breach the
principles, and would be incompatible with the data subject's right that
their data is held securely. By disclosing this information, the force
could be subject to enforcement proceedings under the Act if it breaches
any of those principles. For example, the 'fairness' of any disclosure of
personal data would be whether the disclosure would cause unnecessary or
unjustified distress or damage to the person whom the information is
about.

As cases are resulted in Court, Essex Police Press Office do often publish
details i.e. under the heading "Brought to Justice" on the Essex Police
website and an example is as follows:
[2]http://www.essex.police.uk/news_features...

It is considered that this information is in the public domain at that
time, but publication after a period of time such as in FOI requests which
relate to historic cases would be a breach of the DPA as mentioned
earlier.

If you are not already registered with the Press Office it may be worth
contacting them to receive details of press releases. Contact details can
be found at: [3]http://www.essex.police.uk/contact_us/me...

You may also be interested to know that the Home Office publish data on
drug seizures and their latest report can be found at:

[4]http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/...

If you would like us to provide details of offences as mentioned earlier
please let me know.

Steve Grayton
Information Officer
Data Protection & Freedom of Information
Information Management
Strategic Change Management Department
Essex Police Headquarters
PO Box 2, Springfield, Chelmsford, CM2 6DA
Tel: 0300 333 4444 Ext 54551
Fax: 01245 452256
Email : [5]data[Essex Police request email]
Personal email: [6][email address]
Website: [7]www.essex.police.uk
Hours of work : Mon - Thurs 7:30 to 15:30
Fri 7:30 to 15:00

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your FOI request, you have
the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should
be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to
your original request and should be addressed to the Senior Information
Officer at the above address.

If you complaint refers to a decision to apply an exemption it would
assist the review if you would outline the reasons why you feel the
exemption does not apply.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/countru...
2. http://www.essex.police.uk/news_features...
3. http://www.essex.police.uk/contact_us/me...
4. http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/...
5. mailto:data[Essex Police request email]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. http://www.essex.police.uk/
8. mailto:[FOI #63335 email]
9. http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offic...
10. http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/contact