Role of Police Liaison Officers

The request was successful.

Dear Metropolitan Police Service (MPS),

I am seeking the following information regarding the Metropolitan Police's "police liaison officers" deployed at marches and protests in London:

1. Policy and operational documents produced or adopted by the Metropolitan police relating to the role and function of police liaison officers.

2. Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) for police liaison officers.

3. Reporting procedures for police liaison officers, and their position in public order policing structures.

4. Procedures for the retention and sharing of information obtained by police liaison officers.

5. Training materials from the two-day training course for police liaison officers delivered for the Metropolitan Police by the National Policing Improvement Agency.

Yours faithfully,

Kevin Blowe

Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

Dear Mr Blowe

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2013070002664
I respond in connection with your request for information which was
received by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 25/07/2013.  I note
you seek access to the following information:

I am seeking the following information regarding the Metropolitan Police's
"police liaison officers" deployed at marches and protests in London:
1. Policy and operational documents produced or adopted by the
Metropolitan police relating to the role and function of police liaison
officers.
2. Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) for police liaison officers.
3. Reporting procedures for police liaison officers, and their position in
public order policing structures.
4. Procedures for the retention and sharing of information obtained by
police liaison officers.
5. Training materials from the two-day training course for police liaison
officers delivered for the Metropolitan Police by the National Policing
Improvement Agency.

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act).  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 the MPS 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.

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.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet, which details your right of
complaint.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please
contact me on telephone number 020 7230 4019 quoting the reference number
above.

Yours sincerely

Peter Royan-Posse
Case Investigation Officer
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 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome to discuss the
response with the case officer who dealt with your request.  

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing, within forty (40) working days from
the date of the refusal notice, and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF
[email address]

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 20 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS 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 www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
 Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone:  01625 545 700

Total Policing is the Met's commitment to be on the streets and in your
communities to catch offenders, prevent crime and support victims. We are
here for London, working with you to make our capital safer.

 

Consider our environment - please do not print this email unless
absolutely necessary.

NOTICE - This email and any attachments may be confidential, subject to
copyright and/or legal privilege and are intended solely for the use of
the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and delete it from your system.  To avoid incurring
legal liabilities, you must not distribute or copy the information in this
email without the permission of the sender. MPS communication systems are
monitored to the extent permitted by law.  Consequently, any email and/or
attachments may be read by monitoring staff. Only specified personnel are
authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of the MPS by
email. The MPS accepts no responsibility for unauthorised agreements
reached with other employees or agents.  The security of this email and
any attachments cannot be guaranteed. Email messages are routinely scanned
but malicious software infection and corruption of content can still occur
during transmission over the Internet. Any views or opinions expressed in
this communication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

 

Find us at:

Facebook: Facebook.com/metpoliceuk

Twitter: @metpoliceuk

Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

17 Attachments

Dear Mr Blowe

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2013070002664

I respond in connection with your request for information which was
received by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 25/07/2013.  I note
you seek access to the following information:

I am seeking the following information regarding the Metropolitan Police's
"police liaison officers" deployed at marches and protests in London:
1. Policy and operational documents produced or adopted by the
Metropolitan police relating to the role and function of police liaison
officers.
2. Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) for police liaison officers.
3. Reporting procedures for police liaison officers, and their position in
public order policing structures.
4. Procedures for the retention and sharing of information obtained by
police liaison officers.
5. Training materials from the two-day training course for police liaison
officers delivered for the Metropolitan Police by the National Policing
Improvement Agency.

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within the MPS
to locate information relevant to your request.

EXTENT OF SEARCHES TO LOCATE INFORMATION

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted
within the MPS.

RESULT OF SEARCHES

The searches located information relevant to your request.

DECISION

Before I explain the reasons for the decisions I have made in relation to
your request, I thought that it would be helpful if I outline the
parameters set out by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) within
which a request for information can be answered.

The Act creates a statutory right of access to information held by public
authorities. A public authority in receipt of a request must, if
permitted, confirm if the requested information is held by that public
authority and, if so, then communicate that information to the applicant.

The right of access to information is not without exception and is subject
to a number of exemptions which are designed to enable public authorities
to withhold information that is not suitable for release. Importantly, the
Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once
access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then
considered public information and must be communicated to any individual
should a request be received.  

I have considered your request for information within the provisions set
out by the Act and can confirm that some of the requested information is
held by the MPS.

This response serves as a Partial Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the
Act.

REASONS FOR DECISION

This is a request for documents which contain personal information and it
has been decided to partially disclose the located information subject to
Section 40(2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b) of the Act.

Please see the legal annex for the sections of the Act that are referred
to in this email.

Public Order Courses document:
Redactions 1 - 7 have been exempted subject to section 40(2)(a)(b)
(3)(a)(b) of the Act.

Section 40 (2) & (3) - Personal Information: Absolute Exemption/Class
Based

Under Section 40(2) and (3) of the Act, Public Authorities are able to
withhold information where its release would identify any living
individual and breach the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998
(DPA).
We have applied this exemption in that the names of the individuals
identified by this documentation constitutes personal data which would, if
released, be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA.

The eight principles of the DPA govern the way in which data controllers
must manage personal data.
Under principle one of the DPA, personal data must be processed fairly and
lawfully. We consider that the release of the names of officers/staff
and/or other persons that are recorded within the requested documentation
constitutes personal data.
The release of this information would be unfair as the persons concerned
would have no reasonable expectation that the MPS would make this
information publicly available.

In reaching our decision we have in each case, given due regard to
Condition one and six of Schedule 2 of the DPA.
Condition one of the DPA requires that consideration is given to whether
consent for disclosure has been given whilst Condition six requires that
consideration is given to whether disclosure would constitute legitimate
processing of that data.
Having considered both conditions, we have established that no consent is
present or would likely be received to release this information.

This exemption is both absolute and class based.
When this exemption is applied, it is accepted that harm would result from
disclosure.
There is accordingly no requirement to consider whether release of
information is in the public interest or demonstrate what harm would
result from disclosure.

Please see attached:
Standard Operating Procedure for the Operational Deployment of Protester
Liaison Teams in the MPS
Police Liaison Team Officer role profile
Police Liaison Team aims
Public Order Actions Book - NB this is not for the specific use of Public
Liaison Officers, it is used by all Police Officers on a Public Order
operation.
Public Order Courses document - Redacted
Human Rights
Engagement & Involvement
Crowd Psychology & Communications
Course Timetable
Protestor Tactics
Training Timetable

The following publications may be of interest to you:

Dialogue Police, Decision Making and the Management of Public Order During
Protest Crowd Events by Hugo Gorringe, Clifford Stott & Michael Rosie.

Advances in Liaison Based Public Order Policing in England: Human Rights
and Negotiating the Management of Protest by  Hugo Gorringe, Clifford
Stott & Martin Scothern.

The role of crowd theory in determining the use of force in public order
policing by Clifford Stott & James Hoggett.

Crowd Psychology & Public Order: An Overview of Scientific Theory and
Evidence by Clifford Stott.

Please find attached documents relating to your request.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

If you are dissatisfied with this response please read the attached paper
entitled Complaint Rights which explains how to make a complaint.  

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please
contact me on 020 7230 4019 or at the address at the top of this letter,
quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Peter Royan-Posse
Case Investigation Officer

LEGAL ANNEX

Section 17(1) of the Act provides:
(1) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information,
is to any extent relying on a claim that any provision of Part II relating
to the duty to confirm or deny is relevant to the request or on a claim
that information is exempt information must, within the time for complying
with section 1(1), give the applicant 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.  

Section 40(2) & (3) of the Act provides: Personal Information / Absolute
Exemption
(2) Any information to which a request for information relates is also
exempt information if-
(a) it constitutes personal data which do not fall within subsection (1),
and
(b) either the first or the second condition below is satisfied.
(3) The first condition is-
a) in a case where the information falls within any of paragraphs (a) to
(d) of the definition of "data" in section 1(1) of the [1998 c. 29.] Data
Protection Act 1998, that the disclosure of the information to a member of
the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene-
i) any of the data protection principles, or
ii) section 10 of that Act (right to prevent processing likely to cause
damage or distress), and
(b) in any other case, that the disclosure of the information to a member
of the public otherwise than under this Act would contravene any of the
data protection principles if the exemptions in section 33A (1) of the
[1998 c. 29.] Data Protection Act 1998 (which relate to manual data held
by public authorities) were disregarded
 

In complying with their statutory duty under sections 1 and 11 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 to release the enclosed information, the
Metropolitan Police Service 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 MPS Directorate of Legal
Services, 1st Floor (Victoria Block), New Scotland Yard, Victoria, London,
SW1H 0BG.
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 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome to discuss the
response with the case officer who dealt with your request.  

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing, within forty (40) working days from
the date of the refusal notice, and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF
[email address]

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 20 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS 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 www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
 Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone:  01625 545 700

Total Policing is the Met's commitment to be on the streets and in your
communities to catch offenders, prevent crime and support victims. We are
here for London, working with you to make our capital safer.

 

Consider our environment - please do not print this email unless
absolutely necessary.

NOTICE - This email and any attachments may be confidential, subject to
copyright and/or legal privilege and are intended solely for the use of
the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and delete it from your system.  To avoid incurring
legal liabilities, you must not distribute or copy the information in this
email without the permission of the sender. MPS communication systems are
monitored to the extent permitted by law.  Consequently, any email and/or
attachments may be read by monitoring staff. Only specified personnel are
authorised to conclude any binding agreement on behalf of the MPS by
email. The MPS accepts no responsibility for unauthorised agreements
reached with other employees or agents.  The security of this email and
any attachments cannot be guaranteed. Email messages are routinely scanned
but malicious software infection and corruption of content can still occur
during transmission over the Internet. Any views or opinions expressed in
this communication are solely those of the author and do not necessarily
represent those of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

 

Find us at:

Facebook: Facebook.com/metpoliceuk
Twitter: @metpoliceuk