The policing of fracking and fossil fuel extraction/exploration activities in your constabulary

The request was successful.

Dear West Midlands Police,

I am writing on behalf of the Office of Keith Taylor MEP; I would like to make the following requests relating to the policing of any fracking, oil and/or gas drilling/exploration protests and opposition in your constabulary in the last five years.

The questions should follow logically and should not prove too burdensome to answer. I have tried to be as clear as possible, but please let me know at the earliest possible opportunity if you require any clarifications.

I am requesting all of the information in digital form, an excel file for data is preferred to graphs and tables embedded within pdf files.

Can you please provide the answers to the following questions, in every case I am asking for details within the last five years and by 'drilling' I mean shale gas exploration, conventional and unconventional oil and gas drilling:

Staffing

1. Have there been any licences granted for drilling in your constabulary?
2. Have there been any licences granted for drilling in your constabulary that has required your force to deploy officers to manage/police any opposition/protests in relation to those drilling licences?
3. If yes, in relation to which licences and sites has officers from your force been employed?
4. How many officers have been on-site to police protests since the first deployment until the present day - a cumulative total is requested?
5. Have all of the officers on-site been from the West Midlands Police?
6. If not, from which constabularies and in what numbers were officers drafted?
7. Which force was responsible for covering the cost of bringing in officers from outside the West Midlands Police?
8. What has the total cost been, so far, to the West Midlands Police, for bringing in officers from outside the West Midlands Police?

Costs

9. How many staff hours in total, from the first deployment until the time of this request, has been diverted to policing the aforementioned protests?
10. How many West Midlands Police officers have been taken from other, regular duties to police the protests?
11. How many West Midlands Police officers are working overtime to cover the protests?
12. What is the highest payment/remuneration paid to an officer for one shift covering the protest, including any bonus or overtime payments? How long was said shift?
13. What is the average amount of extra/bonus/overtime remuneration paid to all of the officers who have been responsible for policing these sites?
14. What has been the total cost to the West Midlands Police for the policing of drilling sites, from first deployment until the time of this request?
15. How much have the firm/s operating the licence/s paid the West Midlands Police to cover the cost of the policing efforts?

Arrests

16. How many arrests have been made during the policing operation at the site/s? (Can arrestee details be categorized by age, gender, and town/city of residence, please?)
17. What were the grounds of each arrest?
18. How many of those arrested were later charged? (Can the details of those charged be categorized by age, gender, and town/city of residence, please?)
19. Of those charged, how many cases progressed to court? (Can the details of the people in those cases be categorized by age, gender, and town/city of residence, please?)
20. How many charges were dropped before any court appearance? (Can the details of those charged, whose charges were later dropped, be categorized by age, gender, and town/city of residence, please?)
21. Of the cases that progressed to court, how many defendants were found guilty of the charge against them? (Can the plea of the defendant, their age, gender, and town/city of residence also be provided, please?)

Use of force

22. How many reports of violence or aggression against your officers have you received - in relation to the policing of the site/s?
23. Have any of your officers reported any injuries sustained during the policing of the site/s?
24. If so, what were their injuries and how were they sustained?
25. How many official complaints have the West Midlands Police received by protesters and local residents about the policing of their activities at the site/s?
26. What were the complaints relating to?
27. How many 'use of force' reports have been submitted by officers at the site/s? (I would like the day as the number of reports per day, from the first deployment until the present day)
28. Can you provide any further details of the nature of the force detailed in the reports? If so, what force was used against protesters?
29. What equipment are officers permitted to use in the course of their policing at the site/s (i.e. batons, cuffs, spray, etc.)?
30. How often has the West Midlands Police had cause to use any of that equipment, and what specifically, since first deployment at the site/s and the date of this request?
31. Are officers been given any specific training before being deployed on the site/s for the first time?
32. If so, what is the training?
33. If no, why not?

Training and guidelines

34. Does the West Midlands Police have any specific guidelines relating to the policing of protests at the site/s - particularly relating to 'slow walking' protests?
35. If so, what are those guidelines and how were they communicated to protesters?
36. Is there a record of the number of times protesters broke those guidelines and what action was taken?
37. If yes, please provide those details.

Yours faithfully,

Liam Ward

Freedom of Information,

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Freedom of Information,

Dear Mr. Ward

FOI Request Reference: 009592/17

 

Thank you for your request for information, received 15/08/2017.

 

REQUEST

 

I would like to make the following requests relating to the policing of
any fracking, oil and/or gas drilling/exploration protests and opposition
in your constabulary in the last five years.

 

The questions should follow logically and should not prove too burdensome
to answer. I have tried to be as clear as possible, but please let me know
at the earliest possible opportunity if you require any clarifications.

 

I am requesting all of the information in digital form, an excel file for
data is preferred to graphs and tables embedded within pdf files.

 

Can you please provide the answers to the following questions, in every
case I am asking for details within the last five years and by 'drilling'
I mean shale gas exploration, conventional and unconventional oil and gas
drilling:

 

Staffing

 

1. Have there been any licences granted for drilling in your constabulary?

2. Have there been any licences granted for drilling in your constabulary
that has required your force to deploy officers to manage/police any
opposition/protests in relation to those drilling licences?

3. If yes, in relation to which licences and sites has officers from your
force been employed?

4. How many officers have been on-site to police protests since the first
deployment until the present day - a cumulative total is requested?

5. Have all of the officers on-site been from the West Midlands Police?

6. If not, from which constabularies and in what numbers were officers
drafted?

7. Which force was responsible for covering the cost of bringing in
officers from outside the West Midlands Police?

8. What has the total cost been, so far, to the West Midlands Police, for
bringing in officers from outside the West Midlands Police?

 

Costs

 

9. How many staff hours in total, from the first deployment until the time
of this request, has been diverted to policing the aforementioned
protests?

10. How many West Midlands Police officers have been taken from other,
regular duties to police the protests?

11. How many West Midlands Police officers are working overtime to cover
the protests?

12. What is the highest payment/remuneration paid to an officer for one
shift covering the protest, including any bonus or overtime payments? How
long was said shift?

13. What is the average amount of extra/bonus/overtime remuneration paid
to all of the officers who have been responsible for policing these sites?

14. What has been the total cost to the West Midlands Police for the
policing of drilling sites, from first deployment until the time of this
request?

15. How much have the firm/s operating the licence/s paid the West
Midlands Police to cover the cost of the policing efforts?

 

Arrests

 

16. How many arrests have been made during the policing operation at the
site/s? (Can arrestee details be categorized by age, gender, and town/city
of residence, please?) 17. What were the grounds of each arrest?

18. How many of those arrested were later charged? (Can the details of
those charged be categorized by age, gender, and town/city of residence,
please?) 19. Of those charged, how many cases progressed to court? (Can
the details of the people in those cases be categorized by age, gender,
and town/city of residence, please?) 20. How many charges were dropped
before any court appearance? (Can the details of those charged, whose
charges were later dropped, be categorized by age, gender, and town/city
of residence, please?) 21. Of the cases that progressed to court, how many
defendants were found guilty of the charge against them? (Can the plea of
the defendant, their age, gender, and town/city of residence also be
provided, please?)

 

Use of force

 

22. How many reports of violence or aggression against your officers have
you received - in relation to the policing of the site/s?

23. Have any of your officers reported any injuries sustained during the
policing of the site/s?

24. If so, what were their injuries and how were they sustained?

25. How many official complaints have the West Midlands Police received by
protesters and local residents about the policing of their activities at
the site/s?

26. What were the complaints relating to?

27. How many 'use of force' reports have been submitted by officers at the
site/s? (I would like the day as the number of reports per day, from the
first deployment until the present day) 28. Can you provide any further
details of the nature of the force detailed in the reports? If so, what
force was used against protesters?

29. What equipment are officers permitted to use in the course of their
policing at the site/s (i.e. batons, cuffs, spray, etc.)?

30. How often has the West Midlands Police had cause to use any of that
equipment, and what specifically, since first deployment at the site/s and
the date of this request?

31. Are officers been given any specific training before being deployed on
the site/s for the first time?

32. If so, what is the training?

33. If no, why not?

 

Training and guidelines

 

34. Does the West Midlands Police have any specific guidelines relating to
the policing of protests at the site/s - particularly relating to 'slow
walking' protests?

35. If so, what are those guidelines and how were they communicated to
protesters?

36. Is there a record of the number of times protesters broke those
guidelines and what action was taken?

37. If yes, please provide those details.

 

 

RESPONSE

 

Your request pertains to information about fracking, oil and/or gas
drilling/exploration sites and on-site protests in the West Midlands
Police force area. We have searched our records and there are none of
these sites in our force area. Accordingly, this means that West Midlands
Police holds no information in relation to any of the questions contained
in your request.

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

Outside of our obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, please
note that West Midlands Police are not responsible for the granting of
licences for fracking, oil and/or gas drilling.

 

For further information and data on West Midlands Police see our
publication scheme and disclosure log

 

[1]http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/

 

Your attention is drawn to your right to request a re-examination of your
case under West Midlands Police review procedure, which can be found at:

 

[2]http://foi.west-midlands.police.uk/revie...

 

Please note that such an appeal must be received within 20 working days of
the date of this correspondence. Any such request received after this time
will only be considered at the discretion of the FOI Unit.

 

If you require any further information, then please do not hesitate to
contact me.

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Emma Taylor

 

Freedom of Information Unit

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This email is intended for the addressee only and may contain privileged
or confidential information. If received in error, please notify the
originator immediately. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or
alteration of this email is strictly forbidden. Views or opinions
expressed in this email do not necessarily represent those of West
Midlands Police. All West Midlands Police email activity is monitored for
virus, racist, obscene, or otherwise inappropriate activity. No
responsibility is accepted by West Midlands Police for any loss or damage
arising in any way from the receipt or use of this email.

References

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