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Dear Ms Emerson

FOI Request Reference: 12688_16

Thank you for your request for information, received 17/11/2016

REQUEST

1. In each of the last 5 years how many cases have been made against the police?

2.How many of those were lost?

3.How many of those were won/police admitted liability?

4.How many are ongoing?

5.How many officers no longer have their job due to a case taken out against them?

6. How much money have the police paid out to successful claimants?

Apologies for the delay, I am writing to ask you to clarify your request, this is because our data supplier has asked for clarification from you in order to identify and locate the information.

Therefore I should be grateful if you would provide clarification in respect of the following questions

2. How many of those were lost?

Do you mean cases lost by the Police or the Claimant/s?

3. How many of those were won/police admitted liability?

Do you mean won by the Claimants?

Do you mean won at trial or cases where a compensation payment was made?

Or

the total amount of cases that were settled. It’s important to note that some cases may have been settled without an admission of liability.

Please note that The Freedom of Information Act applies to recorded information and therefore we are unable to supply opinions or to comment on events unless those opinions or comments are already recorded.

Please contact me if you need assistance with this.

To enable us to proceed with your request I would be grateful if you could provide the clarification outlined above. After receiving your reply, your request will be considered and you will receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, as defined by the Act, subject to the application of any statutory exemptions. If you choose not to respond then your request will remain unanswered.

For further information and data on West Midlands Police see our publication scheme and disclosure log

http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/

If you need any further information please contact me.

Yours sincerely,

Michelle Richardson
Freedom of Information Unit

show quoted sections

 

Dear  Ms Emerson

 

 

FOI Request Reference: 012688/16

 

Thank you for your request for information, received 17/11/2016

 

REQUEST

 

1.in each of the last 5 years how many cases have been made against the
police?

2.how many of those were lost?

3.how many of those were won/police admitted liability?

4. How many are ongoing?

5.how many officers no longer have their job due to a case taken out
against them?

6.how much money have the police paid out to successful claiments?

 

RESPONSE

 

Please note that researching each individual case would exceed the
appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12 (1)).

 

Our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide this
information.in relation to question 5 - information regarding any
misconduct proceedings that were linked to an incident which resulted in
compensation being paid by WMP, this would involve looking at each case
individually and cross referencing it against the Professional Standards
department system, we have estimated that this would take in excess of 111
hours to complete this question.   

 

Therefore, the cost of compliance with your request is above the amount to
which we are legally required to respond, i.e. the cost of locating and
retrieving the information would exceed the appropriate costs limit under
section 12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000. For West Midlands
Police, the appropriate limit is set at £450, as prescribed by the Freedom
of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees)
Regulations 2004, S.I. 3244.

 

A public authority which, in relation to any request for information, is
relying on a claim that section 12 or section 14 applies must, within the
time for complying with Section 1(1), give the applicant a notice stating
that fact. In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this
letter acts as a refusal notice.

 

However rather than refusing your request outright at this stage, I would
like to explore with you how West Midlands Police may best assist you to
request relevant information which we hold. Within the cost limit we could
the conduct the following searches using our joint legal services
database.

 

Joint Legal services only deal with civil claims for compensation bought
against West Midlands Police  therefore we may locate the following
information,  for ease of reference I have detailed each question and what
information we may be able to provide

 

Question 1 -

We may provide the total amount of public liability cases opened since
01/01/2012. 

 

Question 2 - how many of those were lost?  Following clarification this is
still unclear therefore we may provide the following

 

We may provide the number of Civil Litigation cases where a payment in
relation to damages was made to a Claimant.  This does not mean the case
was “lost” at trial, only that a payment of compensation was made. 

This will include claims relating to property damage. Which we are unable
to separate .

However it is important to note that these cases may have been received by
WMP prior to 01/01/2012; and it is only the payment that was made post
01/01/2012.

 

Question 3 - how many of those were won/police admitted liability?

 

There is no way of searching on our system for details of how many cases
went to trial or who won the case.  Often cases are settled without an
admission of liability and we do not record an admission of liability on
our system.

 

Question 4 how many are ongoing? 

 

We can provide a total of public liability cases open on our system.  This
figure will include dormant cases. 

 

Question 5 - how many officers no longer have their job due to a case
taken out against them? We have interpreted your question to mean that you
require

 

This information would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12
of the Freedom of information Act 2000, as explained earlier in my
response .

 

Question 6 how much money have the police paid out to successful
claimants?

 

We may provide a total paid to Claimants since 01/01/2012 in relation to
public liability cases.  This includes property damage cases.  However it
is important to note that these cases may have been received by WMP prior
to 01/01/2012; and it is only the payment that was made post 01/01/2012.

 

Please note that any located information might be subject to the
application of exemptions under the Act

 

To enable us to proceed with your request I would be grateful if you could
confirm whether you wish us to provide the information outlined above.
After receiving your reply, your request will be considered and you will
receive a response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days, as
defined by the Act, subject to the application of any statutory
exemptions. If you chose not to respond then your request will remain
unanswered.

 

For further information and data on West Midlands Police see our
publication scheme and disclosure log

 

[1]http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/

 

Your attention is drawn to your right to request a re-examination of your
case under West Midlands Police review procedure, which can be found at:

 

[2]http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/revie...

 

Please note that such an appeal must be received within 20 working days of
the date of this correspondence. Any such request received after this time
will only be considered at the discretion of the FOI Unit.

 

If you require any further information, then please do not hesitate to
contact me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Michelle Richardson

Freedom of Information Unit

 

This email is intended for the addressee only and may contain privileged
or confidential information. If received in error, please notify the
originator immediately. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or
alteration of this email is strictly forbidden. Views or opinions
expressed in this email do not necessarily represent those of West
Midlands Police. All West Midlands Police email activity is monitored for
virus, racist, obscene, or otherwise inappropriate activity. No
responsibility is accepted by West Midlands Police for any loss or damage
arising in any way from the receipt or use of this email.

References

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2. http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/revie...

Dear Ms Emerson

 

FOI Request Reference: 014117/16

 

Thank you for your request for information, received 22/12/2016

 

REQUEST

 

Question 1 -

The total of amount of public liability cases opened since 01/01/2012. 

 

Question 2 - how many of those were lost?  We offered to provide the
number of Civil Litigation cases where a payment in relation to damages
was made to a Claimant.  This does not mean the case was “lost” at trial,
only that a payment of compensation was made. 

This will include claims relating to property damage. Which we are unable
to separate.

However it is important to note that these cases may have been received by
WMP prior to 01/01/2012; and it is only the payment that was made post
01/01/2012.

 

Question 3 - how many of those were won/police admitted liability?

 

Question 4 how many are ongoing? 

 

Question 5 - How many officers no longer have their job due to a case
taken out against them? We have interpreted your question to mean that you
require

 

Question 6 how much money have the police paid out to successful
claimants?

We may provide a total paid to Claimants since 01/01/2012 in relation to
public liability cases.  This includes property damage cases. 

 

RESPONSE

 

Please find enclosed our response.

I have kept your original questions in the response for ease of reference.
However I note you have accepted an amendment to what information could be
provided. I have reference this in my response, please see attached.

 

Please note that these data should be interpreted with caution.

 

Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and
complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been
extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police
purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request is
subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.
As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes
and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when interpreting
those data.

 

The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of
data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of
figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be taken
into account when those data are used.

 

As recommended as good practice by the Information Commissioner’s Office a
version of this response may be published on the West Midlands Police
website.

 

For further information and data on West Midlands Police see our
publication scheme and disclosure log

 

[1]http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/

 

Your attention is drawn to your right to request a re-examination of your
case under West Midlands Police review procedure, which can be found at:

 

[2]http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/revie...

 

Please note that such an appeal must be received within 20 working days of
the date of this correspondence. Any such request received after this time
will only be considered at the discretion of the FOI Unit.

 

If you require any further information, then please do not hesitate to
contact me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

Michelle Richardson

Freedom of Information Unit

 

 

This email is intended for the addressee only and may contain privileged
or confidential information. If received in error, please notify the
originator immediately. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or
alteration of this email is strictly forbidden. Views or opinions
expressed in this email do not necessarily represent those of West
Midlands Police. All West Midlands Police email activity is monitored for
virus, racist, obscene, or otherwise inappropriate activity. No
responsibility is accepted by West Midlands Police for any loss or damage
arising in any way from the receipt or use of this email.

References

Visible links
1. http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/
2. http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/revie...