Your email to the Merseyside Police Freedom of Information (FOI) in box is
acknowledged.

 

If it contains an initial (new) request under FOI it will be dealt with in
accordance with section 10 of the Act which means that you are entitled to
receive a response no later than 20 working days after the first working
day* on which your request is received.

 

Other arrangements may apply if a fees notice is issued or if the time
period is extended in order that public interest considerations of our
response may take place. Section 10 also allows public authorities to
apply variations to the normal 20 working day timescale in some limited
circumstances.

 

*The ‘working day’ is defined as any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday,
Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday under the
Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in any part of the United Kingdom.
The first reckonable day is the working day after the working day of
receipt.

 

============================================================
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============================================================

 

Dear  Mr Brace

 

Response Letter - FOI Application SM74/15 (please quote in all
correspondence)

 

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by Merseyside Police on  05/03/15 .  I note that you seek access to the
following information:

 

On the evening of the 4th March 2015 starting at 5.00pm there was a public
meeting of Liverpool City Council at Liverpool Town Hall.

 

Members of the public and press attending the meeting were (before
entering the council chamber) stopped and searched by the police. I
presume this is done under a power deriving from section 60 of the
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 .

 

Can you please confirm:

 

(a) whether Liverpool City councillors and officers attending the budget
meeting on the evening of the 4th March 2015 some of whom attended before
4.30pm were also stop searched and

 

(b) The stop search powers under s.60 of the Criminal Justice and Public
Order Act 1994 may only be used either if:

 

1) If a police officer of or above the rank of inspector reasonably
believes— (a)that incidents involving serious violence may take place in
any locality in his police area, and that it is expedient to give an
authorisation under this section to prevent their occurrence, or

 

(b) that persons are carrying dangerous instruments or offensive weapons
in any locality in his police area without good reason,he may give an
authorisation that the powers conferred by this section are to be
exercisable at any place within that locality for a specified period not
exceeding 24 hours.

 

or

 

(5) A constable may, in the exercise of [the powers conferred by
subsection (4) above], stop any person or vehicle and make any search he
thinks fit whether or not he has any grounds for suspecting that the
person or vehicle is carrying weapons or articles of that kind.

 

Therefore if (1) applied could you provide a copy of the authorisation
from a senior officer in response to this request or if (5) applies then
please could you state what police officers were actually searching people
for as when I asked I was told "whistles and banners" (which don't fall
under the definitions of weapons or articles of that kind specified in
s.60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1984).

 

 

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within
Merseyside Police to locate information relevant to your request.  I can
confirm that the information that you requested is held by Merseyside
Police.

 

To locate the information relevant to your request, searches were
conducted in the Liverpool North Basic Command  Unit

  Please find attached my full Response Table.

 

 

Complaint Rights

 

Your attention is drawn to the information following this response, which
details your rights of review and of complaint.            

 

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
to or e-mail me at the below address, quoting the reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Sandra Miller

Disclosure Analyst

Information Access Unit

Information Bureau

Merseyside Police

PO BOX 59

LIVERPOOL  L69  1JD

Tel: 0151 777 7019

Fax: 0151 777 7095

E-mail:  [1][Merseyside Police request email]

 

 

 

 

 

Making a complaint or appeal about your Freedom of Information response

We accept that sometimes you may not agree with the decision we’ve made
about your Freedom of Information request. If this is the case there is an
internal complaints procedure that should be followed.

You should make your complaint in writing to:

Information Access Unit

Information Bureau

Merseyside Police

PO BOX 59

LIVERPOOL

L69 1JD

It should detail:

What the original request was

The nature of the complaint

Why you feel you should have received more information

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

If you are dissatisfied with the results of your complaint 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

[2]http://www.ico.gov.uk

 

 

 

============================================================
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended 
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.

If you have received this email in error please notify the sender as soon 
as possible.

This footnote confirms that all reasonable steps have been taken to 
ensure that this email message has been swept for the presence of 
computer viruses.

The views expressed in this communication may not necessarily be the
views of Merseyside Police.

All communications, including telephone calls and electronic messages to
and from Merseyside Police may be subject to monitoring and recording.
============================================================

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Merseyside Police request email]
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/