Statistics For Police Activations Of Speed, Red Light and Bus Lane Cameras

Dear Mr Mclane,

Enquiry Ref : 2008/1033

I acknowledge receipt of your enquiry of the 7th March 2008
requesting information concerning Police Vehicle Camera Activations.

As set out by the Freedom of Information Act it will be our aim to respond to your request by 04 April 2008. In some cases, however, we may be unable to achieve this deadline. If this occurs we will advise you of the likely timescale within which the response will be provided.

If you have any questions regarding your request please contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Jim Conlin
FOI Decision Maker
Public Information Unit
Tel 01642 306825

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Dear Mr Mclane,

Enquiry Ref : 2008/1033

I write in connection with your request for information dated 07 March 2008 concerning Enforcement activations by Cleveland Police Vehicles.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing a response to your request; I hope this has not been of inconvenience to you in relation to the below request:

I would like to request statistics of all enforcement camera (redlight, speed, bus lane) activations by Cleveland Police vehicles for the previous 3 years.

Furthermore, for the year 2007 alone, if possible, break them down into activations when on an emergency call and those when not on an emergency call.

I would also like to request reasons given for the camera activations when not on an emergency call.

Below are the details that we have been able to recover for you.
Please note that the figures provided are for the Police vehicle enforcement activations where a "blue light" was not displayed/captured at the time of the activation, the details/figures for all the activations by Cleveland Police vehicles is not recorded on a searchable database. The only possible form of recovery would be by the manual search of in the region of 1000 deployment sheets containing between 13000 and 20000 records per year. On this basis to examine all records then collate and record the information requested would require in excess of the appropriate time stipulated by the Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Lord Falconer on the 18th Of October 2004, that is, eighteen hours. This falls under the exemption of 'Compliance exceeding the appropriate limit' covered by Section 12 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and as such this work could not be undertaken.
From April 2007 the logging of emergency vehicles showing a blue light was commenced. From April to December in 2007 the total was 420 vehicles however this includes all blue light emergency vehicles, Ambulance, Fire, Police etc. and again the database does not differentiate between the service causing the activation and would again involve the manual searching as detailed above again being covered by the section 12 (1) exemption.

Therefore:
For 2005 - 48 vehicles activated the cameras without the appearance of "blue lights"

For 2006 - 53 vehicles activated the cameras without the appearance of "blue lights"

For 2007 - 64 vehicles activated the cameras without the appearance of "blue lights"
Of these 13 complied with the requirements of the Fixed penalty system i.e. paid the fine and received points. 50 were withdrawn on the authorisation of a superintendent due to operational/emergency/training and one requested a court hearing.

In relation to the last part of your request as to the reasons given for when not on an emergency call as you will see from the above in case such as these fixed penalty tickets are issued and reasons may well not be given, the police driver may have been on a training exercise or the driver may be electing court in which case any details provided will be subject of Section 32 Freedom of Information act 2000 exemption - Court Records which is a class based and absolute exemption and requires no further justification for refusal.

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request you have the right to request that we review your case under our review procedure. If you decide to request that such a review is undertaken and following this process you are still dissatisfied you then have the right to direct your complaint to the Information Commissioner for consideration.

If you would like to discus this reply or if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me by E mail or phone.

Yours sincerely,

Jim Conlin
FOI Decision Maker
Public Information Unit
Tel 01642 306825

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