Freedom of Information: time held in custody

The request was partially successful.

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Sarah and I am using a WhatDoTheyKnowAccount shared with my colleagues Harriet Clugston and Claire Wilde. I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information:

For the calendar years of 2019 and 2020, I would like you to provide me with the number of people booked into the force’s custody suites following an arrest, broken down by month. I would like you to provide me with the age, sex and ethnicity of each detainee as well as the crime or power under which they were detained.

For each detainee, I would like you to provide me with the time of arrival at the designated custody facility and the time of their custody record’s closure, regardless of whether the outcome was bail, RUI, a charge or any other outcome. I am seeking only the time arriving in and leaving custody detention so please do not include days on bail etc.

For each detainee, please provide the total number of time spent in police custody in minutes

I would appreciate the information in spreadsheet format if possible. If there is any way in which you would like me to refine or explain my request further, please let me know.

Yours Sincerely,

Sarah Wilson

Information Compliance, West Mercia Police

Dear Ms Wilson

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 
87279                                                      

 

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
on 4^th June 2021.  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withdrawn.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 Assistant | Information Compliance Unit  | West
Mercia Police

Hindlip Hall Police Headquarters, Hindlip Hall, Worcester, WR3 8SP
Direct Dial: Working from Home Ext. Working from Home

Team email: [1][email address]

 

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References

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1. mailto:[email address]

Information Compliance, West Mercia Police

1 Attachment

Dear Ms Wilson

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 87279

 

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
on 4^th June 2021. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding
below is the response to your request:

 

 

For the calendar years of 2019 and 2020, I would like you to provide me
with the number of people booked into the force’s custody suites following
an arrest, broken down by month. I would like you to provide me with the
age, sex and ethnicity of each detainee as well as the crime or power
under which they were detained. For each detainee, I would like you to
provide me with the time of arrival at the designated custody facility and
the time of their custody record’s closure, regardless of whether the
outcome was bail, RUI, a charge or any other outcome. I am seeking only
the time arriving in and leaving custody detention so please do not
include days on bail etc. For each detainee, please provide the total
number of time spent in police custody in minutes

 

Reply:-

 

Details have been provided in the attached tables in such a way as to
ensure that individuals cannot be identified, as provided in Section 40 of
the Freedom of Information Act.

 

S.40(2) is an absolute exemption which does not require me to evidence the
harm that disclosure would cause and does not require consideration of a
public interest test in justification of its use.

 

This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information relates to
personal data of a third party or could lead to the identification of an
individual, either from that information alone or combined with other
information from within the Police Service or public domain.  In this
case, the information you are requesting could identify an individual.

 

Such a disclosure would breach an individual’s rights under the Data
Protection Act 2018, in particular Article 5(1) of the GDPR which states
that personal data shall be processed lawfully, fairly and in a
transparent manner in relation to the data subject.  Such a disclosure
would also be likely to breach s.8 Human Rights Act 1998 which states that
everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his
home and his correspondence.

 

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 T Williams

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.

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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:  [West Mercia Police request email]

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

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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

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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

 

 

 

This email and any attachments may contain information that is
confidential, privileged, sensitive, or otherwise protected from
disclosure. Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not
permitted. If received in error, please destroy all copies and notify the
sender immediately by return email. Internet email is not a secure medium
of communication. Any views or opinions expressed in this email do not
necessarily represent those of West Mercia Police. All email activity may
be may be monitored, recorded and retained by West Mercia Police in
accordance with relevant legislation.

 

Please be aware that all information provided to West Mercia Police will
be held and treated in confidence in accordance with the Data Protection
Act 2018. It may be shared with other Force departments. Personal
information may also be used for statistical purposes, for fraud and crime
prevention and may be checked with/disclosed to regulatory bodies. The
information provided may be held electronically and/or in paper form and
will be kept secure at all times. Your personal data will be processed for
the performance of tasks carried out in the public interest or in the
exercise of the Police’s official authority and to comply with legal
obligations. 

Good afternoon

I hope this email finds you well. Many thanks for returning the data as requested. However, in my initial FOI request, I was hoping for the data on the detainee's characteristics (i.e. age, ethnicity etc.) to be correlated with the time spent in custody.

I was wondering whether you could please return the data to me correlated in this way? If, however, this would trigger an FOI exemption based on identity, then I would instead like ethnicity alone correlated with the time spent in custody.

Do let me know whether this is possible, and when I might expect to receive anything back. Many thanks!

Best

Sarah

Information Compliance, West Mercia Police

2 Attachments

Dear Sarah

Thank you for your email dated 25th August 2021, I apologise for the delay in responding. I have considered your request below and refer you to my original response detailing that the reason the figures were uncorrelated was to avoid a section 40 exemption. I have however decided to provide the times in custody alongside ethnicity, a large proportion of these are unrecorded as detailed in my first response so this should be considered when analysing the data.

Kind Regards

Ms T Williams
Information Compliance Officer
Information Compliance Unit,
Audit, Risk and Compliance,
West Mercia Police, Hindlip, Worcestershire WR3 8SP.
[West Mercia Police request email]
www.westmercia.police.uk

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