CCTV control centres with a British Transport Police presence

Our Ref. 753/11

 

Dear Ms Whittle

 

Freedom of Information: Right to know request

 

 

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘the
Act’), I apologise for the delay in responding to your below request for
information.

 

I require a list of all CCTV control centres with a British Transport
Police presence and the name of the operator of the CCTV control centre in
each case.

    

Under section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 I can confirm the
British Transport Police does hold the regarding your request. British
Transport Police can advise you that it has one CCTV control centre that
it maintains for its own operational purposes. It also has a presence in a
CCTV control centre operated by a train operating company, with the person
based in the room to process CCTV downloads for evidential purposes.

 

However, we have decided to exempt the name of the non BTP operator and
locations citing under sections 31(1) (a) 31 (2) (I) and 31 (2) (j) (law
enforcement) of the Freedom of Information Act.

 

Section 31 (1) (a) exempts information if its disclosure under the Act
would likely to prejudice the prevention and detection of crime. Section
31 (2) (i) and exempts information for the purpose of securing the health
and welfare of staff at work. Section 31 (2) (j) exempts information for
the purpose of protecting persons at work against the risk of health of
safety. Sections 31 and 32 are qualified exemptions which mean that
information under the Act can only be disclosed if the public interest in
favour of withholding the information outweighs the public interest in
releasing the information.

 

The arguments in favour of disclosing the requested information under
sections 31(1)(a)  31(2)(i) and 31(2)(j) turn upon the very real public
interest that exists regarding the ability of the British Transport Police
to effectively implement its policies and bring greater scrutiny on how
British Transport Police operates. It may be argued releasing this
information promotes transparency and accountability of the British
Transport Police.

 

The arguments against disclosure for section 31 (1) (a) would likely to
undermine the prevention and detection of crime. By releasing this
information it can be argued it would lay bare the preventive measures put
in place to promote crime prevention and detection. Additionally it would
also provide unscrupulous parties involved with criminal activity
information regarding the strategic location of where these security
cameras are in use

 

The arguments against disclosure for sections 31(2)(i) and 31(2)(j) is the
real threat to employees of British Transport Police and the general
public if this information was released into the public domain. Terrorist
organisations would use this information to their advantage making these
sites prospective locations for terrorist activity. It would not be in the
public interest to release in that may be of assistance to any one
involved in terrorist or criminal activity. Therefore, the harm in
releasing this information would benefit criminals and terrorists rather
than being an operational tool for the police and thus ultimately
protecting the community.

 

Following the above public interest arguments, we conclude that the public
interest in withholding the information outweighs that favouring release
and this information is exempt from disclosure under Sections 3I (1) (a),
32(2)(i),  32(2)(j) of the Freedom of Information Act.

 

Should you have any queries or are unhappy with the decisions made in
relation to your request you have the right to request an internal
review.  Should you wish to exercise your right to an internal review,
please contact the Information Standards Manager at the address below:  

 

Information Standards Manager

British Transport Police

25 Camden Road

London

NW1 9LN

 

Tel:  020 7830 6751

 

You should state the reason for your request, for example, why you feel
you should have received more information.

 

Your request will be fully investigated and will be dealt with by a staff
member who was not involved in the original decision.  BTP will then write
to you to advise the outcome of your request.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the results of the review you have the right
to appeal to the Information Commissioner.

 

He can be contacted at:

 

The Office of the Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

More information is available from the Information Commissioner's website

[1]http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Gloria Akinyemi

 

 

Gloria Akinyemi

Information Standards Co-ordinator, Information Standards Unit

 

British Transport Police, Force Headquarters, 25 Camden Road, London, NW1
9LN

office 020 7830 6731

email [email address]

www.btp.police.uk

 

NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

 

 

 

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