Police and Crime figures

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Essex Police should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Essex Police,

How many operations have firearms police been deployed on in the period of August 2016 to August 2018?

How many Firearms offences have been recorded in the period of August 2016 to August 2018?

How many Violent Offences occurred in the period of August 2016 to August 2018?

How many officer assaults have you recorded in the period of August 2016 to August 2018?

If possible, could you tell me how many of said officer assaults constituted either s20 or s18?

Yours faithfully,

Alex Manias

Data FOI Essex,

1 Attachment

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the reference 12148

Under the Freedom of Information Act we are required to reply within 20 working days. The Act does not specify a limit to the number of information requests a public authority may receive or the number of requests or questions an applicant may submit. However, there are exemptions in the Act that can apply and these include where the cost of complying with the request would extend beyond the reasonable cost limit, (currently 18 hours or £450), or if the request is otherwise manifestly unreasonable in its scope or nature.

Requests that ask a great many questions, or a number of detailed requests submitted at the same time, may make it necessary for Essex Police to refuse the requests wholly or in part. The exemption at s14 may be engaged if the burden on the authority is increased through multiple requests on differing subjects

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has responsibility for providing oversight and guidance for the legislation and they have produced advice for applicants on submitting effective requests. Further information can be found on the Commissioner’s website at www.ico.gov.uk specific information relating to submitting a request can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/offici...

While we process your request, please take the time to consider the ICO’s advice and whether you feel it may be beneficial to amend or refine your request. Our team is happy to discuss your request with you and will be able to provide advice as to what kind of information will be available from Essex Police.

Kind regards
Information Rights Team
Information Management Department
Strategic Change Directorate – Essex Police HQ
Direct Dial 01245 452647 – ext 150030

Please note, if you require further information or wish to resubmit a request please refer to the information found on the Commissioner’s website regarding submission of effective requests https://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/of...
Your right to complain
If you feel your request has not been properly handled, or you are otherwise dissatisfied with the outcome of your request you have the right to complain.
Complaints should be submitted within 20 working days from the date of this response and should be addressed to the Senior Information Officer at the above address or by email to: [Essex Police request email]
We will conduct a review to investigate your complaint and endeavour to reply within 20 working days.
Please explain which aspect of the reply you are not satisfied with, and if your complaint concerns the decision to apply an exemption it would assist the review if you would outline why you believe the exemption does not apply.
If you are still dissatisfied following our review, you have the right under section 50 of the Act to complain directly to the Information Commissioner. Before considering your complaint, the Information Commissioner would normally expect you to have exhausted the complaints procedures provided by Essex Police
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or via https://ico.org.uk/

show quoted sections

Dear Data FOI Essex,

You are currently in violation of FOI law. Please respond to my request immediately.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Manias

Data FOI Essex,

1 Attachment

Thank you for your enquiry which has been logged under the above
reference.

 

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) places two duties
on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section
1(1)(a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a
request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1)(b) is to disclose
information that has been confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are
relied upon Section 17 of FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with
a notice which: a) states that fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in
question and c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the
exemption applies.

In respect of your enquiry:

 

How many operations have firearms police been deployed on in the period of
August 2016 to August 2018?

 

How many Firearms offences have been recorded in the period of August 2016
to August 2018?

 

How many Violent Offences occurred in the period of August 2016 to August
2018?

 

How many officer assaults have you recorded in the period of August 2016
to August 2018?

 

If possible, could you tell me how many of said officer assaults
constituted either s20 or s18?

 

Having completed our enquiries We am able to respond as follows:

 

With regards to your first question, In respect of Sec1(1)(a) Essex Police
does hold information regarding firearms and roles. However Sec 21 removes
the obligation under Sec1(1)(b to provide data as the information in
regard to the number of Firearms Operations is available via the
following link. Again formally for the purpose of section 17 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), this part of my response serves as
a notification of refusal of your request for question 1 on the basis that
the exemption given at section 21 of the FOIA applies (Information
accessible by other means).

 

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/sy...

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/sy...

 

Information regarding your further questions are enclosed below.

 

FIREARMS AND VIOLENCE AGAINST THE
PERSON OFFENCES RECORDED 1ST
AUGUST 2016 TO 31ST AUGUST 2018
Period
Recorded
1st
Offence August
Category 2016 to
31st
August
2018
Firearms
Offences* 2038
Death or
Serious Injury
Caused by
Illegal
Violence Driving 79
against Homicide 40
the Stalking and
Person Harassment 23728
Violence with
injury 28168
Violence
without injury 34746
Total 86761
Assault Police
- Assault
occasioning
actual bodily
harm (ABH)
(S.47) 284
Assault Police
- Cause GBH
with intent to
resist/prevent
arrest. (S.18) 2
Assault Police
- GBH serious
wound without
intent (s20) 3
Assault Police
- Minor wound
without intent
(s20) 1
Assault Police
- Wounding
with intent to
resist/prevent
arrest (S.18) 4
Assault Police
-Wounding with
intent to do
grievous
bodily harm
(Indictable)
(S.18) 2
Assault
without Injury
on a Constable
- Assaults a
designated
Assault person or his
on Police assistant in
the exercise
of a relevant
power 4
Assault
without Injury
on a Constable
- Vagrant
violently
resisting a
constable 1
Assault
without injury
on a constable
(Police Act
offence) 1155
Attempted -
Assault Police
- Assault
occasioning
actual bodily
harm (ABH)
(S.47) 1
Attempted -
Assault Police
-Wounding with
intent to do
grievous
bodily harm
(Indictable)
(S.18) 13
Attempted -
Assault
without injury
on a constable
(Police Act
offence) 1
Total 1471
CLARIFICATION
This category relates
to offences where a
Firearms firearm has been used
Offences* in the commission of a
crime, where it has
been found in the
possession of a
defendant, where a
firearm has been stolen
from a victim or where
a firearm has been
intercepted by Border
Force officers when an
attempt
has been made
to import a
firearm.
Breakdown is
as per the
current Home
Office
Violence Counting
against Rules, HMIC
the Crime Tree
Person Three.
Breakdown is
Assault by offence
on Police description.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I trust that the information I have provided is of assistance. Thank you
for your interest in Essex Police.

 

Kind Regards

Information Rights Team

Information Management Department

Strategic Change Directorate

E-Mail:[email address]

[3]cid:image001.png@01D3E908.EC4D1080

 

Please note, if you require further information or wish to resubmit a
request please refer to the information found on the Commissioner’s
website regarding submission of effective requests
[4]https://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/of...

 

Your right to complain

 

If you feel your request has not been properly handled, or you are
otherwise dissatisfied with the outcome of your request you have the right
to complain.

 

Complaints should be submitted within 20 working days from the date of
this response and should be addressed to the Senior Information Officer at
the above address or by email to:  [5][Essex Police request email]

 

We will conduct a review to investigate your complaint and endeavour to
reply within 20 working days.

 

Please explain which aspect of the reply you are not satisfied with, and
if your complaint concerns the decision to apply an exemption it would
assist the review if you would outline why you believe the exemption does
not apply.

           

If you are still dissatisfied following our review, you have the right
under Section 50 of the Act to complain directly to the Information
Commissioner. Before considering your complaint, the Information
Commissioner would normally expect you to have exhausted the complaints
procedures provided by Essex Police

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF or via [6]https://ico.org.uk/

 

 

This email and any other accompanying document(s) contain information from
Kent Police and/or Essex Police, which is confidential or privileged. The
information is intended to be for the exclusive use of the individual(s)
or bodies to whom it is addressed. The content, including any subsequent
replies, could be disclosable if relating to a criminal investigation or
civil proceedings. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that
any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this
information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
Police on 01622 690690 or Essex Police on 01245 491491, as appropriate.
For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
personal data please go to
https://www.kent.police.uk/policy/privac... or
https://www.essex.police.uk/copyright-pr...

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/sy...
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/sy...
4. https://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/of...
5. https://mail.internal.essex.police.cjx.g... address]/redir.aspx?C=8gENag1_zE-ijtqEIGBzfstmvBaehtIIbneVEImq8T0MaXeeygeoVWnfQQapCpSqvjIkKjdN7YM.&URL=mailto%3adatafoi%40essex.pnn.police.uk
6. https://ico.org.uk/

Dear Data FOI Essex,

The link you provided me in relation to the number of firearms operations is not what I requested. I requested the number of Essex firearms police operations in the period of AUGUST 2016 to AUGUST 2018. The link you provided me with uses the time scale March 2016 to March 2018. This is not what was requested. In addition can you please provide me with a clearer answer to my other three questions relating to officer assaults, violent offences and firearms offences. The format in which you sent these responses is proving difficult to decipher. I do not require a breakdown of the individual violent offences, just the total number committed.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Manias

Data FOI Essex,

3 Attachments

Good Morning,

 

With regards to your email dated 28th November 2018,  the links we
provided to you are for the Home Office website who supply statistics with
regards to your enquiry.  These run from March to March and we have no
control over that.  I have provided a link to the year before which should
cover August 2017.  As for August 2018, I’m afraid this data will not be
released by the Home Office until Jul/Aug 2019. Again we have no control
over this.

 

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...

 

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics  (Enter Firearms Operations
into the search engine this will allow you to search all the dates
required)

 

As for the your other questions, these were answered in a data table,
however on looking at your email the data appears to have come out in a
different format.  I will add the said data table as an attachment in the
hope it remains as it should.

 

 

Kind Regards

Information Rights Team

Information Management Department

Strategic Change Directorate

E-Mail:[email address]

[3]cid:image001.png@01D3E908.EC4D1080

 

Please note, if you require further information or wish to resubmit a
request please refer to the information found on the Commissioner’s
website regarding submission of effective requests
[4]https://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/of...

 

Your right to complain

 

If you feel your request has not been properly handled, or you are
otherwise dissatisfied with the outcome of your request you have the right
to complain.

 

Complaints should be submitted within 20 working days from the date of
this response and should be addressed to the Senior Information Officer at
the above address or by email to:  [5][Essex Police request email]

 

We will conduct a review to investigate your complaint and endeavour to
reply within 20 working days.

 

Please explain which aspect of the reply you are not satisfied with, and
if your complaint concerns the decision to apply an exemption it would
assist the review if you would outline why you believe the exemption does
not apply.

           

If you are still dissatisfied following our review, you have the right
under Section 50 of the Act to complain directly to the Information
Commissioner. Before considering your complaint, the Information
Commissioner would normally expect you to have exhausted the complaints
procedures provided by Essex Police

 

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF or via [6]https://ico.org.uk/

 

 

This email and any other accompanying document(s) contain information from
Kent Police and/or Essex Police, which is confidential or privileged. The
information is intended to be for the exclusive use of the individual(s)
or bodies to whom it is addressed. The content, including any subsequent
replies, could be disclosable if relating to a criminal investigation or
civil proceedings. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that
any disclosure, copying, distribution or other use of the contents of this
information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error,
please notify us immediately by contacting the sender or telephoning Kent
Police on 01622 690690 or Essex Police on 01245 491491, as appropriate.
For further information regarding Kent Police’s or Essex Police’s use of
personal data please go to
https://www.kent.police.uk/policy/privac... or
https://www.essex.police.uk/copyright-pr...

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics
4. https://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/of...
5. https://mail.internal.essex.police.cjx.g... address]/redir.aspx?C=8gENag1_zE-ijtqEIGBzfstmvBaehtIIbneVEImq8T0MaXeeygeoVWnfQQapCpSqvjIkKjdN7YM.&URL=mailto%3adatafoi%40essex.pnn.police.uk
6. https://ico.org.uk/

Dear Data FOI Essex,

Thank you for the clarification. However I still do not have the full data for firearms operations in the time scale I requested.

I understand the data isn't published by the Home office until 2019. However I was enquiring as to wether Essex police stored (and could easily access) the relevant data concerning how many fireams operations Essex police carried out between AUGUST 2016 and AUGUST 2018.

Yours sincerely,

Alex Manias