Did Police Silence Strawberry Fair Facebook Protest?

Dear Richard

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 0162/2010

We acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information (FOI) request which
was received by Cambridgeshire Constabulary on 01/04/2010

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. You will receive a response within the statutory
timescale of twenty working days as defined by the Act. In some
circumstances, we may be unable to achieve this deadline. If this is the
case, you will be informed and given a revised time-scale at the earliest
opportunity.

If we require any further clarification regarding this request, you will
be notified.

We would advise you that the nature of certain requests may involve
payment of a fee. If this is the case, you will be notified.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please
telephone on 0345 456 456 4 asking for the Information Access Office or
email [Cambridgeshire Constabulary request email]

Regards

Alec Taylor
Information Access Office
Cambridgeshire Constabulary

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Dear Richard

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 0162/2010

In reply to your request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, dated 31/03/2010.

Your request was received as:
It is being reported today that a Facebook group which was being used to
organise a protest against the cancellation of Cambridge's Strawberry fair
has been taken down.

[1]http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Str...

Could you please let me know if Cambridgeshire Police had any involvement
in the removal of this material from the web. If Cambridgeshire police
wrote directly to Facebook asking for it to be taken down could you please
release a copy of that exchange of correspondence to me.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (The Act) requires us to handle all
requests in a manner that is blind to the identity of the requestor. Any
information released in response to a request is regarded as being
published, and therefore in the public domain without caveat.

We have completed all searches within Cambridgeshire Constabulary and
hereby enclose your response.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties
on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at s1(1)(a)
is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is
held. The second duty at s1(1)(b) is to disclose information that has been
confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are relied upon s17 of FOIA
requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which: a) states that
fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and c) states (if that
would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.

The Cambridgeshire Constabulary can neither confirm nor deny that it holds
the information you requested as the duty in s1(1)(a) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 does not apply, by virtue of the following
exemptions:

Section 31(3) Law Enforcement
Section 30(3) Investigations

Cambridgeshire Constabulary is unable to confirm nor deny whether it holds
any information in regard to any investigation(s) it may or may not have
carried out and which has not been made public. For the Constabulary to do
so has great potential to undermine any such investigation by alerting
those who are suspected of criminal activity and may also create
difficulty in progressing any investigation. There is the potential that
such information may reveal a tactic used or alert others that they are
under investigation enabling them to take steps to evade detection.

Before refusing to comply with the provisions of S1(1)(a) of the Freedom
of Information Act, the force also has to analyse any public interest
factors in neither confirming nor denying that information is or is not
held and if any of the exemptions cited are qualified in nature. Both S30
and S31 are, so the following public interest factors are relevant.

S30(3) Investigations

For Confirming or Denying

Accountability: To confirm that the Constabulary have conducted this type
of investigation would demonstrate it's willingness to operate in an open
manner.

Against Confirming/Denying

Investigations: An investigation, if unknown, may realistically be
compromised and releasing such information could hinder the prevention or
detection of crime. It is not in the public interest to release
information which would contradict our duty to conduct investigations
effectively.

S31(3) Law Enforcement

For confirmation or denial:

Accountability: Releasing information that confirms or denies what action
was taken will not harm any law enforcement procedures.

Against confirmation or denial: Releasing information that shows who we do
or not communicate with may well compromise Law enforcement tactics. For
example if we confirmed that we had liaised with Facebook and a later
request confirmed we did not contact MSN that may encourage people to use
MSN as they know we do not contact them.

Balance Test

I have reviewed the details above and have formed an opinion. As such it
is my decision that the potential harm to both current and future
investigations and a possible compromising of law enforcement techniques
by revealing who we communicate with under various conditions will
outweigh any public benefit in being made aware of information we hold in
relation to this request.

This response should not be taken as an inference that the force does, or
does not hold any further information in relation to your request.

If you are unhappy with this response, please see the attachment below,
which sets out your rights to appeal.
(See attached file: Complaint Rights new.nov - 09.pdf)

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please
contact the Information Access Office via email, or on telephone number
0345 456 456 4 extension 8163.

Regards

Alec Taylor
Information Access Office
Cambridgeshire Constabulary

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References

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1. http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Str...