Inaccurate News Releases and Police Public Bravery Awards

The request was partially successful.

Dear Lancashire Constabulary,
I note that your website news release for October 31st 2018,regarding Police Public Bravery Awards,contains information that is both inaccurate and incomplete.
https://www.lancashire.police.uk/news/20...

The news release quotes "The National Police Public Bravery Awards recognise the assistance provided by members of the public who have intervened to foil criminal acts and come to the assistance of others. The Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities, with the kind support of our sponsors, are proud to present the awards each summer to members of the public nominated by the police officers themselves who investigated and dealt with the crimes they intervened in. This year Lancashire has 3 winners of medals".
Caroline Ridley,of Londis store Walton-Le-Dale,apparently `won`a Gold Medal and a big certificate,for chasing an armed robber on Wednesday 8 November 2017.
Debra Mary Briggs / Carol Peterson both were Silver Medal Winners,plus big certificates, for intervening and scaring off a man suffering from a paranoid schizophrenic episode who was stabbing a police officer on 2 November 2016.
The photographs show that the awards were made at a special ceremony somewhere,also attended by your Assistant Chief Constable Jo Edwards.

In comparison,West Midlands Police only announced one award `winner`,namely Robyn Birdsell, a 11-year-old girl ( who was 10 at the incident time of 20 June 2017) who chased after a fleeing burglar climbing out of her garden.Robyn received a commendation from the Police Public Bravery Awards where judges deemed her heroics worthy of national praise.The award and cheque for £181 − a share of the prize pot donated by award sponsors − was handed over to Robyn by Birmingham Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Kenny Bell, at WMP’s dog training centre in Balsall Common on Monday (26 Nov 2018).
https://west-midlands.police.uk/news/720....

FOI Q1.Who provided the false information for the website news release, stating the `award presenters`were The Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities`,as these organisations were surely disbanded many months ago and no longer exist?
FOI Q2.Who were the real presenters behind the `presentation`and where and when were the presentations held?
FOI Q3.Were any travel,accommodation, or other expenses paid from police resources to any of the Lancashire attendees,including Assistant Chief Constable Jo Edwards and,if so,how much was claimed and for what reasons?
FOIQ4.The bravery awards were made with,quote," the kind support of our sponsors" but,for some reason,the sponsors remained nameless despite being crucial to the event.The source of the funding for these presentations must be identified as they are seeking to influence police activities and,therefore,I would like to know who sponsored the event?
FOI Q5.I note that all the award winners this year from Lancashire were female, please advise who nominated them for the awards and the names of Lancashire award winners from the previous 5 years.
FOI Q6.The `Bravery Award`winners were given either Gold or Silver Medals, who were the judges who made the judgement?
FOI Q7.The West Midlands award winner,Robyn Birdsell was given,quote"The award and cheque for £181 − a share of the prize pot donated by award sponsors −", but there was no mention of any financial reward given to the Lancashire winners even though they were far braver. Why was there no mention of the prize pot share given to the Lancashire winners and,if so,how much were they given and how was the share calculated?
FOI Q8.Please disclose any correspondence between Lancashire Police and the Police Public Bravery Award organisers for 2018.

End of FOI requests.
I thank you in anticipation of completion,the reality behind the Bravery awards should be fully explained to provide credibility.

Yours faithfully,

Dennis Fallon(BSc Hons)

Information assurance unit,

If you are emailing a valid Freedom of Information request please treat
this as a formal acknowledgement.

 

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, known hereafter as ‘the Act’. You should receive a
response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined in
the Act (from when Lancashire Constabulary receive a valid request).

 

Please note that disclosure is subject to the information not being exempt
or containing a reference to a third party.

 

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.

 

Lancashire Constabulary is committed to ensuring that all services it
provides are accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. If
you find the web-site or a document difficult to access please notify us
so that we can assist.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Lancashire Constabulary.

 

Regards,

 

Compliance Team

Professional Standards Department

Information Compliance and Disclosure Section

Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters

 

Tel: 01772 413329

Email: [1][email address]

 

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Lancashire Constabulary,

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

I am writing to request an internal review of Lancashire Constabulary's handling of my FOI request 'Inaccurate News Releases and Police Public Bravery Awards'.

Your compliance team have failed to respond to my FOI request within the legally required timeframe, without providing any excuse or request for further time extention, and therefore I request that a senior named person within the department completes the request and provides words of advice to the the junior minions who have failed.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/i...

Yours faithfully,

Dennis Fallon(BScHons)

Information assurance unit,

If you are emailing a valid Freedom of Information request please treat
this as a formal acknowledgement.

 

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, known hereafter as ‘the Act’. You should receive a
response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined in
the Act (from when Lancashire Constabulary receive a valid request).

 

Please note that disclosure is subject to the information not being exempt
or containing a reference to a third party.

 

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.

 

Lancashire Constabulary is committed to ensuring that all services it
provides are accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. If
you find the web-site or a document difficult to access please notify us
so that we can assist.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Lancashire Constabulary.

 

Regards,

 

Compliance Team

Professional Standards Department

Information Compliance and Disclosure Section

Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters

 

Tel: 01772 413329

Email: [1][email address]

 

 

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear Information assurance unit,
I wish to confirm that you appear to be totally inefficient and therefore not fit for purpose.You have broken the law by failing to respond to my FOI request, and have subsequently failed to acknowledge my appeal request.
Being a reasonable person I shall allow until 28th February 2019 for completion, otherwise I shall seek to progress this matter elsewhere.
Yours sincerely,

Dennis Fallon(BScHons)

Information assurance unit,

If you are emailing a valid Freedom of Information request please treat
this as a formal acknowledgement.

 

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, known hereafter as ‘the Act’. You should receive a
response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined in
the Act (from when Lancashire Constabulary receive a valid request).

 

Please note that disclosure is subject to the information not being exempt
or containing a reference to a third party.

 

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.

 

Lancashire Constabulary is committed to ensuring that all services it
provides are accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. If
you find the web-site or a document difficult to access please notify us
so that we can assist.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Lancashire Constabulary.

 

Regards,

 

Compliance Team

Professional Standards Department

Information Compliance and Disclosure Section

Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters

 

Tel: 01772 413329

Email: [1][email address]

 

 

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Good Afternoon,

 

Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding to your Freedom of
Information Request. We are currently experiencing unprecedented high
volumes of work and as such responses can, at times, be delayed.

 

I am sorry if this has caused you any inconvenience.

 

Please be assured that we are aware of your request and are in the process
of formulating a response.

 

Your request for an Internal Review was booked on under the reference
number 532/19 and is currently work in progress. You should receive a
response from us in due course.

 

Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to get back in
touch.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Olivia

 

 

Compliance Team - Data Protection Office

HQ - Legal Services

Information Compliance and Disclosure Section

Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters

 

Tel: 01772 413203

Email: [1][email address]

 

 

 

 

 

show quoted sections

3 Attachments

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 4406/19

Please find attached Lancashire Constabulary’s response to your recent
request for information made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Lancashire Constabulary.

Data Protection Office

Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters

Tel: 01772 413203

Email: [1][email address]

 

[2]Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
Description: Description: Description: Description: Description:
Description: cid:image001.jpg@01D4BEC3.E9F38DA0 

 

Personal Data Matters – Let’s Get it Right!

 

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]

Dear FOI,
Thank you for completing my FOI request,the key points being that South Yorkshire Police organised the `awards`at some venu and that Lancashire police paid £316.00 for an ACC to travel and stay overnight,and £572.60 for the `winners and companions`to travel to the event, the source of the out of date information explaining about the event is unknown,and the sponsors were mentioned as the Goldsmiths`Company,although this appears to be an inappropriate use of their charity status as they are supposed to support `deprived people`and show demonstratable results rather than supporting non-essential events and fine dining, but of course that is up to the Charities Commission to decide.

Thank you for completion,
Yours sincerely,

Dennis Fallon(BScHons)

1 Attachment

If you are emailing a valid Freedom of Information request please treat
this as a formal acknowledgement.

 

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, known hereafter as ‘the Act’. You should receive a
response within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined in
the Act (from when Lancashire Constabulary receive a valid request).

 

Please note that disclosure is subject to the information not being exempt
or containing a reference to a third party.

 

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.

 

Lancashire Constabulary is committed to ensuring that all services it
provides are accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. If
you find the web-site or a document difficult to access please notify us
so that we can assist.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in
Lancashire Constabulary.

 

Regards,

 

Compliance Team

Professional Standards Department

Information Compliance and Disclosure Section

Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters

 

Tel: 01772 413203

Email: [1][email address]

 

show quoted sections

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]