Ex police vehicle history

The request was successful.

Adewunmi Adebowale

Dear West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner,

I write to ask for information regarding a vehicle that was registered to West Mercia Police force.
The vehicle in question is a Bmw 1 series (120D Sport) which I bought from a dealer and it is currently on finance.
Can you confirm if the vehicle with registration number V063TZK was indeed the vehicle registered to West Mercia police force?

If it was, Can you please confirm the details below:

All previous Mot certificate(Scanned copies preferably)

Mileage at the time of sale.

If the odometer was altered before or after sale- If this is known to you.

If the vehicle has ever been involved in an accident (Major preferably)

Was it an On-duty or Off duty police car.

Was it an undercover vehicle.

Any other information which might be of use.

There is some mileage discrepancy on the vehicle and was brought to my attention after taking it in for a minor repair that this information came to light.

I understand that all Police vehicles are Mot'd internally, and as such, it might not appear on the DVLA records, but any paperwork to prove this, will be highly appreciated.

If this is the wrong department, Can you kindly transfer my request to the correct department.

Yours faithfully,

Adewunmi Adebowale

OPCC, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner

Thank you for contacting the West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner. 
This is an automated message to acknowledge receipt of your email.  We
will reply to you properly in due course.

 

Please note:

 

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If you want to contact the Police rather than the Police & Crime
Commissioner, you can:

 

• Ring 101

• Contact your local policing team using the ‘Find Your Area’ section

 

You can also make a complaint about the Police by emailing
[email address]

OPCC, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner

Dear Sir/Madam,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST 2020-209 - WE2899

Having considered your request for information I regret to advise you that the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) does not hold the information you have requested.

Please note that we have forwarded your request to the Information Compliance Unit within West Mercia Police and have asked them to provide the information you have requested.

If you have any queries or should you wish to make a complaint about the manner in which your request is being dealt with then please do not hesitate to contact me at the above address in the first instance. Any complaints will be dealt with under the OPCC’s internal review procedure.
Further information about your rights under the Freedom of Information Act, is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office (0303 123 1113) or www.ico.gov.uk, and on the OPCC’s website.

Yours sincerely

Alison

Alison Rixom
FOI Officer
Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner
West Mercia

show quoted sections

Information Compliance, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner

Dear Sir or Madam

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO:  21114

 

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
on 19^th June 2020.  Your request will now be considered in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”).

 

We will aim to provide a response to your request within 20 working days
as stipulated by the Act.  Please note that there may be unavoidable
delays when making information rights requests during the COVID-19
pandemic.  We are triaging and addressing requests in the following
order:  Subject access and then FOI requests.   Every effort will be made
to meet our statutory timescales for responding.  Thank you for your
understanding.

 

There may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information you request.  If this is the case you will be informed and
the 20 working day timescale will be suspended until we receive payment
from you.  If you chose not to make payment then your request will be
withdrawn.

 

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way.  Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

 

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please
contact the Information Compliance Unit quoting the reference number
above.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Sue Cale

Information Compliance Administrator

Information Compliance Unit

 

Internal ext:  7772545

Direct Line 01905 331545

 

 

 

Information Compliance, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner

Dear Sir or Madam

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 21114

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
on 19^th June 2020. Please find below the response to your request:

 

 

I write to ask for information regarding a vehicle that was registered to
West Mercia Police force.

 

The vehicle in question is a Bmw 1 series (120D Sport) which I bought from
a dealer and it is currently on finance.

 

Can you confirm if the vehicle with registration number V063TZK was indeed
the vehicle registered to West Mercia police force?

 

If it was, Can you please confirm the details below:

 

All previous Mot certificate(Scanned copies preferably)

 

Mileage at the time of sale.

 

If the odometer was altered before or after sale- If this is known to you.

 

If the vehicle has ever been involved in an accident (Major preferably)

 

Was it an On-duty or Off duty police car.

 

Was it an undercover vehicle.

 

Any other information which might be of use.

 

             

Reply:-

 

Please see below for relevant information in respect of your request
.However, while most of the information is disclosed within this email I
am afraid that I am not required by statute to release all of the
information requested.

This letter serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act) for the parts of the reply that have not
been released.

The Freedom of Information Act places two responsibilities on public
authorities, the first of which is to confirm what information it holds
and secondly to then disclose that information, unless exemptions apply.

In this case, this letter represents a Refusal Notice for the redacted
parts of the attached document. The information is exempt by virtue of the
following exemptions

Section 31 (1) (a) (b) (Law enforcement)

In additional to the response below, West Mercia Police can neither
confirm nor deny that it holds any other information relevant to your
request.

Public Interest Test

Section 31 (1) (a) (b) – Law Enforcement

Harm

Unmarked vehicles used in certain specialised roles are non-liveried for
the purpose of remaining anonymous. Disclosing the details of these
vehicles would mean that they could then be identified. This would
compromise the effectiveness of covert operations by alerting individuals
involved in criminal activity that there is a police presence, allowing
them to take steps to avoid detection.

Factors favouring disclosure

Where public funds are being used by West Mercia Police, the public have
an interest in knowing what it is being used for. Disclosure of this
information would inform the public of precisely which vehicles their
money is being spent on, so that they can be satisfied that it is being
used efficiently.

Factors favouring non-disclosure

Disclosing the type of unmarked vehicles in certain specialised roles
would allow for the identification of those vehicles by individuals
involved in criminal activities. This would be invaluable information to
them, as they could change their behaviour to evade detection or destroy
evidence if they suspect that they are being observed. This would
compromise the tactical effectiveness of using covert vehicles and hinder
the prevention or detection of crime.

Balance Test

For a public interest test, issues that favour disclosure need to be
measured against issues that favour non-disclosure. The public interest is
not what interests the public, or a particular individual, but what will
be the greater good, if released, to the community as a whole.

In considering the public interest in relation to this request, I must
balance the factor in relation to transparency and accountability, against
the public interest in ensuring that West Mercia Police are able to
appropriately enforce the law.

Releasing specific details of unmarked vehicles would allow criminals to
be able to identify these vehicles, thus undermining covert operations and
compromising law enforcement tactics, meaning that the police service is
less effective.

West Mercia Police has a duty to deliver effective law enforcement,
ensuring the prevention and detection of crime, and the apprehension of
offenders.

Therefore it is my opinion that the public interest in maintaining the
exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
West Mercia Police will not disclose information that would compromise the
future law enforcement role of the force.

Harm in complying with Section 1(1)(a) – to confirm or Deny  whether
information is held

Any release under FOIA is a disclosure to the world, not just to the
individual making the request.  To confirm or not that information is held
in relation to this request would reveal whether or not West Mercia Police
has any other specialised vehicles.  Such awareness would reveal tactical
capability and is likely to influence the criminals, which may include
terrorists or terrorist organisations.

The prevention and detection of crime is the foundation upon which
policing is built and the police have a clear responsibility to prevent
crime, arrest those responsible for committing crime or those that plan to
commit crime.  However, there is also a duty of care to the public at
large.  The UK Police Service has a positive undertaking to protect the
public from harm and that duty of care to all involved must be the
overriding consideration.

Public Interest Considerations 

Section 31 (1) (a) (b) – Law Enforcement

Factors favouring complying with Section 1(1)(a)

There is a public interest in the community being made aware of all the
facts relating to vehicles in order to ensure complete openness and
transparency.  In this case revealing whether or not West Mercia Police
own any other specialised vehicles would provide transparency and may
enhance public debate into policing.

Factors against complying with Section 1(1)(a)

West Mercia Police has a duty of care to the community at large and public
safety is of paramount importance.  If an FOI disclosure revealed
information to the world (by citing an exemption or stating no information
held) that would undermine the security of the National Infrastructure,
offenders, including terrorist organisations, could use this to their
advantage which would compromise public safety and more worryingly
encourage offenders to carry our further crimes.

The risk to public safety cannot be ignored and West Mercia Police has a
responsibility to ensure safety of individuals is protected at all times,
as detailed within the harm.

Balancing Test

Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of policing
resources for specialist departments and providing reassurance that the
Police Service is appropriately and effectively placing resources, there
is a strong public interest in knowing that policing activity with regard
to the delivery of law enforcement is appropriate and balanced, this will
only be overridden in exceptional circumstances.

Public safety is of paramount importance and any information which would
place individuals at risk and compromise law enforcement, no matter how
generic, is not in the public interest.  The effective delivery of
operational law enforcement is crucial and of a fundamental duty to West
Mercia Police.  Any disclosure which reveals tactically capability would
have a negative impact on law enforcement.

As much as there is a public interest in knowing that the delivery of law
enforcement is appropriate and balanced, this will only be overridden in
exceptional circumstances.  Therefore it is my opinion that for these
issues the balance test outweighs the need to neither confirm information
is held and falls in favour of issuing a neither confirming nor deny
refusal.

No inference can be taken from this refusal that information does or does
not exist.

Please see the information below that can be released to you:

 

o VO63TZK was registered to West Mercia Police.

 

o West Mercia Police do not have previous MOT certificates for the car
as we exercise an MOT exemption on all of our fleet.

 

o Last recorded mileage was 107,959 miles

 

o No odometer alterations, and no recorded accidents.

 

o Service history will have been provided to the purchaser at time of
disposal via auction.

 

 

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as
accurate as possible

Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of
complaint.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or telephone the Information Compliance Unit quoting the reference number
above.

Yours sincerely

 

Ms V Lewis

Information Compliance Unit
West Mercia Police

PO Box 55

Hindlip

Worcester

WR3 8SP

01905 331545 / 331565

 

 

West Mercia Police in complying with their statutory duty under sections 1
and 11 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed
information will not breach the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
However, the rights of the copyright owner of the enclosed information
will continue to be protected by law. Applications for the copyright
owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of the attached
information should be addressed to The Force Solicitor, West Mercia Police
Headquarters, PO Box 55, Hindlip, Worcester, WR3 8SP.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require West Mercia Police (WMP) to review their
decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the person that dealt with your request.

Ask to have the decision looked at again -

The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to
contact the person named at the end of your decision letter.

That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and
assist with any problems.

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
WMP made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information, you can lodge a complaint with WMP to have the
decision reviewed. WMP must be notified of your intention to complain
within 20 working days of the date of its response to your Freedom of
Information request. Complaints should be made in writing and addressed
to:

West Mercia Police Headquarters

Information Compliance Unit

Hindlip Hall

Hindlip

PO Box 55

Worcester

WR3 8SP

or

Email:  [email address]

In all possible circumstances, WMP will aim to respond to your complaint
within 20 working days.

The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with WMP if you are still dissatisfied with the
decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for a
decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at https://ico.org.uk/ Alternatively phone or
write to:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Phone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545745 if you prefer to use a
national rate number

Fax:    01625 524 510