Racially Aggravated Offences
Dear Freedom of Information Officer,
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I am outlining my query as specifically as possible.
1) How many arrests have been made as a result of racially aggravated offences in each of the last five years (2004 to 2009)?
2) What were the reasons for these arrests and how many arrests were made for each offence?
3) How many of these arrests resulted in convictions in court?
I would be interested in any information held by your organisation regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify particular files or documents and that it is the department’s responsibility to provide the information I require.
If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to charge excessive fees.
I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing/by email that you have received this request. I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as outlined by the statute.
Regards,
Dan Perry
Your Ref:
Our Ref:F-2009-03203
24 November, 2009
Dear Mr. Perry,
Thank you for your request for Information, received at this office on
23 November, 2009, in which you requested details of the following:
Racially aggravated offences and the resultant arrests
Your request will now be considered and you will receive a response
within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act,
subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to
a third party. In some circumstances Humberside Police may be unable to
achieve this deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given
a revised time-scale at the earliest opportunity.
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 a payment then your request
will remain unanswered.
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.
We anticipate being able to provide you with the information that you
have requested on or before 21 December, 2009.
Should you need to discuss this further please do not hesitate to
contact the unit.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Waller
Information Compliance Officer
+44 (1482) 317096
Humberside Police
Corporate Development Branch
Information Compliance Unit
Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Kingston Upon Hull
HU5 5SF
Fax:+44 (1482) 317090
Your Ref:
Our Ref:F-2009-03203
21 December, 2009
Dear Mr. Perry,
Thank you for your request for information dated 23 November, 2009
concerning Racially aggravated offences and the resultant arrests.
1) How many arrests have been made as a result of racially
aggravated offences in each of the last five years (2004 to 2009)?
2) What were the reasons for these arrests and how many arrests
were made for each offence?
3) How many of these arrests resulted in convictions in court?
This is to inform you that all information relating to your request has
been collated and is attached. However after discussing your request
with the information owner at this force, I can confirm that we only
hold statistics relating to this subject from 2006 onwards.
Unfortunately question 3 would take this request over the maximum 18
hours permitted under the Act. Separate conviction data is not held by
the force, and to find out the court disposal results of 927 cases at
approximately 5 minutes per case would take over 77 hours. May I suggest
that you approach the courts with a request under the Freedom of
Information Act for those details. Please see below for details of the
appropriate exemption.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Humberside
Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the
information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:
(a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c)
states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption
applies. This letter acts as this notice for this section of your
request.
Section 12 - Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate
limit.
(1) s1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a request
for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying
with the request would exceed the 'appropriate limit' (18 - hours).
Activities that may be counted within our time estimations are:
Determining whether the information is held Locating and retrieving the
information, whatever its format and wherever it's held Once only
reading the information Extracting the information to be disclosed from
the other information Communicating the information including time taken
to write a response to the request, or to summarise, edit or redact
information; and Time spent making arrangements for an applicant to view
documents, books, videos, and electronically held information
The following have not been included within our calculations:
Our decision making process to whether the request is covered by Freedom
of Information Time taken in gaining legal advice or referral of the
request to any other department to determine whether a piece of
information is exempt Assessing the extent of the public interest test
Obtaining authorisation to send out the information Managing the fees
notice General overheads
Should any further information be requested regarding this topic, a
separate request will need to be submitted.
If I can be of any further assistance on this matter please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Waller
Information Compliance Officer
+44 (1482) 317096
Humberside Police
Corporate Development Branch
Information Compliance Unit
Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Kingston Upon Hull
HU5 5SF
Fax:+44 (1482) 317090
Humberside Police - Freedom of Information Complaints Review Procedure
Why Have A Complaints Process?
Humberside Police is committed to delivering an open and transparent
service whenever possible and it is our intention to commit to the
principles of openness embodied in the Freedom of Information Act. We
will release information to the greatest extent possible, consistent
with the public interest, however we may withhold information if we
consider its release would cause significant harm.
If information within a document is withheld, it will be clearly marked
to show where information has been removed and the legal exemption we
have used. If we decline to supply all or part of any information you
have asked for we will notify you in writing giving our reasons based
upon legal exemptions contained within the Freedom of Information Act.
If you are not satisfied about the way in which your Freedom of
Information request has been handled you have the right to appeal. This
information has been designed to help you to understand how to complain
to Humberside Police. Using this process will not affect your right to
complain directly to the Information Commissioner if you feel we have
not complied with our obligations under the Freedom of Information Act.
Who Can Complain?
Anyone who has made a Freedom of Information request in writing to the
Force can complain. If you have requested information and you are not
satisfied with the way we have dealt with it, you can use the complaints
process to have it looked at again. If someone who requested information
would like to complain but cannot do so themselves, you can complain on
their behalf but it will help us if you make it clear that you are doing
so.
What Can I Complain About?
If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your request, with
the fee we have charged, or with the reasons we have given for refusing
to provide information, you have the right to appeal. You can complain
about the range, amount and format of information we have sent following
a request. You can also complain about the way a request was handled,
for example, the time it took to respond.
How Do I Complain?
To deal with your complaint as quickly as possible, it will help if you
can give us as much information as you can about the original request
made and the reason for your complaint. Please put your complaint in
writing and address it to:
FOI Appeals
Humberside Police Information Compliance Unit
Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Hull HU5 5SF
What Happens To My Complaint?
Once we have enough details to identify the request, we will begin the
review. The Head of The Information Compliance Unit will normally review
your complaint. In the more complex cases a review panel consisting of a
number of senior personnel from the Force will re-examine your
complaint. We aim to complete the review process within three months of
receiving your complaint. Upon completion we will send you the findings.
How Will I Be Notified?
Where we have not followed procedures or have failed to provide
acceptable quality of service, we will apologise and explain what we
will do to ensure this doesn't happen again. If our original decision to
withhold information is over-turned on appeal we will send you the
additional information immediately. If we believe that our original
response was correct we will let you know, and inform you of your
options (see below).
What If I'm Still Not Satisfied?
If we have been unable to resolve your complaint and you are not
satisfied you can approach the office of the Information Commissioner,
who may investigate the matter on your behalf. This option is open to
you at all times, but we will endeavour to address your complaint
initially, as this may lead to a speedier resolution. It is the
Information Commissioner who decides whether to investigate or not. We
will co-operate fully with the Information Commissioner.
If you have any further questions about the complaints process, please
contact the Information Compliance Unit on 01482 578313 or alternatively
you can write to:
Head of Information Compliance Unit
Humberside Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Hull HU5 5SF
Email: [email address]
Requests for a review by the Information Commissioner should be made in
writing directly to:
The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Your Ref:
Our Ref:F-2009-03202
17 December, 2009
Dear Mr. Perry,
Thank you for your request for information dated 23 November, 2009
concerning Members of Humberside Police Force that have been arrested..
This is to inform you that all information relating to your request has
been collated and is attached.
1) How many members of your Police Force have been arrested in the
last year? Preferably, I would like the statistics of arrests made
from October 2008 to October 2009. If this is not possible, then I
would like you to give me the latest statistics you can i.e. August
2008 to August 2009.
There have been 4 arrests for the year October 2008 to
October 2009 including both Officers and support staff.
2) What were the reasons for these arrests and how many members of
your police force were arrested for each offence?
In each case 1 individual was arrested for offences
including Dangerous Driving, Commom assault, Drugs, and
Possession of indecent images of children.
3) How many of these arrests led to convictions in court?
Three arrests led to a conviction in court, and one was
no further action.
However there are a number of cases were investigations are
still ongoing, and as a consequence are exempt under section 30 of the
Freedom of Information Act. Please see below.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires
Humberside Police, when refusing to provide such information
(because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a
notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in
question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be
apparent) why the exemption applies. This letter acts as this notice for
this section of your request
Section 30 Investigations and Proceedings Conducted by Public
Authorities
(1)Information held by a public authority is exempt information
if it has at any time been held by the authority for the purposes of -
(a) Any investigation which the public authority has a duty to
conduct with a view to it being ascertained (i) whether a person
should be charged with an offence, or (ii)whether a person charges with
an offence is guilty of it,
(b)Any investigation which is conducted by the authority and in
the circumstancesmay lead to decisionby the authority to institute
criminal proceedings which the authority had the power to conduct, or
(c)Any criminal proceedings, which the authority has the power
to conduct.
Section 30 is a qualified class based exemption, this means it
is not necessary to identify some harm or prejudice that may arise as a
result of disclosure. In this case it may be prudent to illustrate the
harm. As Section 30 it is a qualified exemption, therefore even though
the information may be exempt we must consider the public interest in
disclosure.
Public Interest Test
Factors Favouring disclosure
Accountability - When information disclosed relates to the efficiency
and effectiveness of the force or its officers. Police Staff and
Officers are expected to act with honesty and integrity whilst in the
employ and 'office of constable'/ Humberside Police especially as they
are public servants. Therefore any potential criminal conduct by any
member of staff/police officer should be investigated and the offenders
should be held accountable for their actions, and the public have a
right to know that the staff in their force are transparent and are
dealt with accordingly for any such action.
Factors Favouring non disclosure
Investigations - It is rare that details of an investigation will be
disclosed as to do so will invariably release personal information, law
enforcement techniques and in the case in the of uncompleted cases
potentially damage the criminal justice process. Disclosing information
concerning current investigations, which in effect is placed into the
public domain, could lead to the identification of the police officer
who is being investigated which may prejudice the investigation. This
may unfairly lead to the perception that the officer is guilty or they
have done something wrong when it may be proven further down the line
they have not. Anything which would prejudice or disrupt the normal
course of an investigation would be detrimental.
Flow of Information to the Service - Where releasing information would
act as a deterrent to the public to provide information to the force.
If disclosure lead to identification of an officer it may also lead to
identification of witnesses or a victim. This would cause them distress
knowing that the incident they may have been concerned with has been
published in the public domain. This would have a detrimental impact on
individuals who may be less inclined to report an incident involving a
police officer for fear of being identified which would reduce the
effectiveness of the police to investigate offences involving its own
officers.
Balancing Test
Although accountability is a strong argument and Humberside Police
remains committed to being open and transparent when releasing
information concerning it's own Police Officers who have been arrested.
This however, when weighted against the detrimental impact that could
occur if police officers who are currently under investigation are
identified would outweigh this factor favouring disclosure. It is my
view that ongoing investigations in relation to police officers
arrested/charged with offences should be protected in this instance.
Should any further information be requested regarding this topic, a
separate request will need to be submitted.
If I can be of any further assistance on this matter please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Waller
Information Compliance Officer
+44 (1482) 317096
Humberside Police
Corporate Development Branch
Information Compliance Unit
Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Kingston Upon Hull
HU5 5SF
Fax:+44 (1482) 317090
Humberside Police - Freedom of Information Complaints Review Procedure
Why Have A Complaints Process?
Humberside Police is committed to delivering an open and transparent
service whenever possible and it is our intention to commit to the
principles of openness embodied in the Freedom of Information Act. We
will release information to the greatest extent possible, consistent
with the public interest, however we may withhold information if we
consider its release would cause significant harm.
If information within a document is withheld, it will be clearly marked
to show where information has been removed and the legal exemption we
have used. If we decline to supply all or part of any information you
have asked for we will notify you in writing giving our reasons based
upon legal exemptions contained within the Freedom of Information Act.
If you are not satisfied about the way in which your Freedom of
Information request has been handled you have the right to appeal. This
information has been designed to help you to understand how to complain
to Humberside Police. Using this process will not affect your right to
complain directly to the Information Commissioner if you feel we have
not complied with our obligations under the Freedom of Information Act.
Who Can Complain?
Anyone who has made a Freedom of Information request in writing to the
Force can complain. If you have requested information and you are not
satisfied with the way we have dealt with it, you can use the complaints
process to have it looked at again. If someone who requested information
would like to complain but cannot do so themselves, you can complain on
their behalf but it will help us if you make it clear that you are doing
so.
What Can I Complain About?
If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your request, with
the fee we have charged, or with the reasons we have given for refusing
to provide information, you have the right to appeal. You can complain
about the range, amount and format of information we have sent following
a request. You can also complain about the way a request was handled,
for example, the time it took to respond.
How Do I Complain?
To deal with your complaint as quickly as possible, it will help if you
can give us as much information as you can about the original request
made and the reason for your complaint. Please put your complaint in
writing and address it to:
FOI Appeals
Humberside Police Information Compliance Unit
Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Hull HU5 5SF
What Happens To My Complaint?
Once we have enough details to identify the request, we will begin the
review. The Head of The Information Compliance Unit will normally review
your complaint. In the more complex cases a review panel consisting of a
number of senior personnel from the Force will re-examine your
complaint. We aim to complete the review process within three months of
receiving your complaint. Upon completion we will send you the findings.
How Will I Be Notified?
Where we have not followed procedures or have failed to provide
acceptable quality of service, we will apologise and explain what we
will do to ensure this doesn't happen again. If our original decision to
withhold information is over-turned on appeal we will send you the
additional information immediately. If we believe that our original
response was correct we will let you know, and inform you of your
options (see below).
What If I'm Still Not Satisfied?
If we have been unable to resolve your complaint and you are not
satisfied you can approach the office of the Information Commissioner,
who may investigate the matter on your behalf. This option is open to
you at all times, but we will endeavour to address your complaint
initially, as this may lead to a speedier resolution. It is the
Information Commissioner who decides whether to investigate or not. We
will co-operate fully with the Information Commissioner.
If you have any further questions about the complaints process, please
contact the Information Compliance Unit on 01482 578313 or alternatively
you can write to:
Head of Information Compliance Unit
Humberside Police Headquarters
Priory Road
Hull HU5 5SF
Email: [email address]
Requests for a review by the Information Commissioner should be made in
writing directly to:
The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
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