Staff with Criminal Convictions

The request was refused by Northumbria Police.

Charlie McNeive

Dear Northumbria Police,

1. How many people does your force have in each of the following roles:
a. Police Officer (Detective or Constable, including Specials)
b. PCSO
c. Other Police staff

2. How many staff have criminal convictions?
a. How many are Police Officers (Detective or Constable, including Specials)?
b. How many are PCSOs?
c. How many are other Police staff?

3. Please provide the following information for each conviction:
a. The person's role and/or rank
b. The offence
c. Whether the person received a custodial sentence (suspended or otherwise)
d. Whether the person was convicted before they joined the police

Yours faithfully,

Charlie McNeive

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Northumbria Police

1 Attachment

Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')

 

Thank you for your e mail dated 12 June 2019 in which you made a request
for access to certain information which may be held by Northumbria Police.

 

As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of
access to information held at the time of a request, by a Public Authority
(including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.

 

You asked:

 

1. How many people does your force have in each of the following roles:

a. Police Officer (Detective or Constable, including Specials) b. PCSO c.
Other Police staff

 

2. How many staff have criminal convictions?

a. How many are Police Officers (Detective or Constable, including
Specials)?

b. How many are PCSOs?

c. How many are other Police staff?

 

3. Please provide the following information for each conviction:

a. The person's role and/or rank

b. The offence

c. Whether the person received a custodial sentence (suspended or
otherwise)

d. Whether the person was convicted before they joined the police

 

 

We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I
provide a response for your attention.

 

Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the
Professional Standards Department of Northumbria Police. I can confirm
that the information you have requested is held in part by Northumbria
Police, however cannot be disclosed for the following reasons. The
information requested is not held in a format that allows its extraction,
down to the level of detail you are asking for, within the permitted time
constraints.  This is particularly relevant at point 3d.  To establish
whether a person had ever been convicted before joining Northumbria
Police  would require significant research to locate, extract and compile
a response, and consequently has been  assessed as exceeding the 18 hour
time constraints, and therefore Section 12(1) of the Freedom of
Information Act would apply. This section does not oblige a public
authority to comply with a request for information if the authority
estimated that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the
appropriate limit of 18 hours, equating to £450.00

You should consider this to be a refusal notice under Section 17 of the
Act for your request.

 

When applying Section 12 exemption our duty to assist under As part of
your request would exceed the prescribed limit, as defined by the Act,
there is no requirement for Northumbria Police to provide a response to
the remaining parts of your request. However, in order to provide you with
some assistance, under Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000,
an initial assessment of the information that may be provided within the
time constraints would be the information of convictions whilst serving
with Northumbria for a two year period, however you should note that
exemptions would be considered and applied where deemed appropriate.

If this would be useful, you may wish to refine and resubmit your request
accordingly.

 

I draw your attention to the below in order to provide something that may
be of interest to you regarding convictions.

The policecouldyou.co.uk website  highlights that  individuals may still
be eligible to join the police service if they have minor
convictions/cautions, see below link:

 

[1]http://www.policecouldyou.co.uk/police-o...

 

 

Due to the different methods of recording information across 43 forces, a
specific response from one constabulary should not be seen as an
indication of what information could be supplied (within cost) by another.
Systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the
procedures used locally in capturing the data. For this reason responses
between forces may differ, and should not be used for comparative
purposes.

 

The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual
property rights of Northumbria Police. Your use of the information must be
strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as
amended) or such other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not
re-use this information for any commercial purpose.

 

You may be interested to know that Northumbria Police routinely publish
information via the Disclosure Log. The aim of the Disclosure Log is to
promote openness and transparency by voluntarily placing information into
the public arena.

 

The Disclosure Log contains copies of some of the information that has
been disclosed by Northumbria Police in response to requests made under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

Whilst it is not possible to publish all responses we will endeavour to
publish those where we feel that the information disclosed is in the wider
public interest.

 

The Disclosure Log will be updated once responses have been sent to the
requester.

 

I have provided the relevant link below.

 

[2]https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/about...

 

 

How to complain

If you are unhappy with our decision or do not consider that we have
handled your request properly and we are unable to resolve this issue
informally, you are entitled to make a formal complaint to us under our
complaints procedure, attached.

 

If you are still unhappy after we have investigated your complaint and
reported to you the outcome, you may complain directly to the Information
Commissioner’s Office and request that they investigate to ascertain
whether we have dealt with your request in accordance with the Act.

Yours sincerely

 

Michael Cleugh

Data Protection and Disclosure Advisor

 

[NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED]

 

'Northumbria Police will be outstanding in the service we provide'

'We will do this through protecting the Vulnerable, delivering quality
Investigations and applying Problem solving to everything we do to protect
the communities we serve.'

 

 

 

 

NORTHUMBRIA POLICE PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information
contained in this message and any attachment(s) is confidential and
intended only for the attention of the named organisation or individual to
whom it is addressed. The message may contain information that is covered
by legal, professional or other privilege. No mistake in transmission is
intended to waive or compromise any such privilege. This message has been
sent over public networks and the sender cannot be held responsible for
its integrity. If you are not the intended recipient be aware that any
disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken in reliance of the
information contained herein is strictly prohibited, and is contrary to
the provisions of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988 and of the
Data Protection Act, 2018. Any views expressed are those of the sender
and, unless specifically stated, do not necessarily represent the view of
Northumbria Police. We cannot accept any liability for any loss or damage
sustained as a result of software viruses. It is your responsibility to
carry out such virus checking as is necessary. If you have received this
message in error, please notify the sender by e-mail at once and delete
the message immediately. For more information about Northumbria Police
please visit our website - http://www.northumbria.police.uk

References

Visible links
1. http://www.policecouldyou.co.uk/police-o...
2. https://beta.northumbria.police.uk/about...

Charlie McNeive

Dear Freedom of Information Mailbox,

Thank you for your response, I will refine my request as follows.

1. How many people does your force have in each of the following roles:
a. Police Officer (Detective or Constable, including Specials)
b. PCSO
c. Other Police staff

2. How many staff have criminal convictions?
a. How many are Police Officers (Detective or Constable, including Specials)?
b. How many are PCSOs?
c. How many are other Police staff?

3. Please provide the following information for each conviction:
a. The person's role and/or rank
b. The offence

Yours sincerely,

Charlie McNeive

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Northumbria Police

Charlie

 

Unfortunately your new submission will also be refused, as its almost
identical to your original, for the reasons we have already outlined.

You may wish to ask specifically for what we advised we could provide you
with in your response - I have set this out below to avoid doubt.

You will also need to specify a two year time period - ie last 2 calendar
years/financial years/other.

 

Please provide the information below regarding information of convictions
received whilst serving  with Northumbria for a two year period ( time
period to be advised by you )

 

1. How many people does your force have in each of the following roles:

a. Police Officer (Detective or Constable, including Specials)

b. PCSO

c. Other Police staff

 

2. How many staff have criminal convictions received whilst working for
the force?

a. How many are Police Officers (Detective or Constable, including
Specials)?

b. How many are PCSOs?

c. How many are other Police staff?

 

3. Please provide the following information for each conviction:

a. The person's role and/or rank

b. The offence

 

once this is clear we can progress accordingly

 

'Northumbria Police will be outstanding in the service we provide'

 

'We will do this through protecting the Vulnerable, delivering quality
Investigations and applying Problem solving to everything we do to protect
the communities we serve.'

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear Northumbria Police,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Northumbria Police's handling of my FOI request 'Staff with Criminal Convictions'. The request was amended as requested but then refused.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/s...

Yours faithfully,

Charlie McNeive

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Northumbria Police

Dear Charlie

 

Your request for an internal review is noted.  A response will be sent to
you as soon as the internal review has been conducted.

 

Regards

 

FOI Team

[1]www.northumbria.police.uk

'Northumbria Police will be outstanding in the service we provide'

'We will do this through protecting the Vulnerable, delivering quality
Investigations and applying Problem solving to everything we do to protect
the communities we serve.'

NORTHUMBRIA POLICE PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE The information
contained in this message and any attachment(s) is confidential and
intended only for the attention of the named organisation or individual to
whom it is addressed. The message may contain information that is covered
by legal, professional or other privilege. No mistake in transmission is
intended to waive or compromise any such privilege. This message has been
sent over public networks and the sender cannot be held responsible for
its integrity. If you are not the intended recipient be aware that any
disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken in reliance of the
information contained herein is strictly prohibited, and is contrary to
the provisions of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988 and of the
Data Protection Act, 2018. Any views expressed are those of the sender
and, unless specifically stated, do not necessarily represent the view of
Northumbria Police. We cannot accept any liability for any loss or damage
sustained as a result of software viruses. It is your responsibility to
carry out such virus checking as is necessary. If you have received this
message in error, please notify the sender by e-mail at once and delete
the message immediately. For more information about Northumbria Police
please visit our website - http://www.northumbria.police.uk

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.northumbria.police.uk

Freedom of Information Mailbox, Northumbria Police

Dear Charlie

 

Your original request was logged on 12 June 2019 and you were provided
with a response on 24 June 2019, which was refused under Section 12 of the
FOI Act.  In that response you were advised what information we may be
able to supply based on a refined request.  Your refined request, which
was not based on what we advised may be supplied, was received on 25 June
2019 and you were again advised that as that revised request was very
similar to your original request it too would be refused under Section 12
for the same reasons previously supplied to you.  Under Section 16 of the
Act we have a duty to assist you in refining your request – we did this in
both of our responses, specifically with regards to you refined request –
we outlined each question but asked you to specify “…a two year time
period - ie last 2 calendar years/financial years/other” so that we could
conduct our searches.  However, from our systems we have no record of you
supplying us with a two year time period in order for us to conduct the
research, therefore we were unable to provide a positive response.

 

With regards to your request for an Internal Review of our response to
your refined request. It should be noted that ICO Guidance - Time Limits
Internal Reviews stated that “under EIR it is stipulated that an applicant
has 40 working days to request a review from receipt of the response.  The
ICO supports this approach for FOI requests.  However ICO guidance in
relation to writing a refusal notice states that you must include details
of your complaints process including timescales and contact details.”

 

The timescale for requesting a review of your response was outlined in the
document entitled “FOI Complaint Rights”, which was attached to our
response and stipulates that “If you are dissatisfied with the handling
procedures or the decision of Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding access to information you can
lodge a complaint with Northumbria Police to have the decision reviewed.

 

This must be submitted within 40 working days of receipt of your
response.”

 

Clearly your request for an internal review has been received outside of
this timescale, therefore we will not be conducting an internal review of
your response.

 

Again, should you wish to submit a further request (under a new
“Whatdotheyknow” reference), based on the information we advised that we
may be able to supply for a two year period only (period to be specified
by yourself) then we would be happy to process your new request.

 

Kind regards

 

Helen

FOI Team

[1]www.northumbria.police.uk

'Northumbria Police will be outstanding in the service we provide'

'We will do this through protecting the Vulnerable, delivering quality
Investigations and applying Problem solving to everything we do to protect
the communities we serve.'

 

show quoted sections