Information on ‘week of action’ supporting women’s safety

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.022752

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please note that there are three parts to this request regarding the ‘week of action’ supporting women’s safety between Monday 6 and Sunday 12 December 2021.

1. According to your press release, you attended schools to speak to staff and students. Please share any meeting notes from these visits. If someone from your force made a speech, please share a copy of the speech too.

2. Please list all activity that was part of the ‘week of action’.

3. What was the race and gender of the fifteen people searched at the premises in Curtain Road EC2A.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the answers to Questions One (1).

Some information has today been disclosed for Question Two (2).

Information not disclosed for Question Two (2) is withheld as it is exempt from disclosure.

The MPS is required to exempt disclosure of information requested for Question Three (3).

Therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 31 (1)(a) Law Enforcement
Section 40(2) Personal Information

Reason for decision

Information that is exempt from disclosure for Question Two (2) engages the following exemptions;

• Section 31 (1)(a) Law Enforcement
• Section 40(2) Personal Information

Information that is exempt from disclosure for Question Three (3) engages the following exemptions;

• Section 40(2) Personal Information

A Freedom of Information Act request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. This is because, under Freedom of Information, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world and not just to one individual.

Recently the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was been introduced across the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). In respect of the United Kingdom, GDPR was enshrined in UK law through the Data Protection Act 2018. The MPS, like all UK public authorities are obliged to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and this includes the protection of personal data.

Information captured by your request, can fairly be considered "personal data" and sensitive, with a clear identifiable link. In most cases, personal data is exempt from disclosure under the remit of the Freedom of Information Act.
Where an individual is requesting third party personal data the MPS must ensure that any action taken adheres to the principles of GDPR/ the Data Protection Act 2018. To clarify, the Freedom of Information Act only allows disclosure of personal data if that disclosure would be compliant with that law.

It is legitimate for the MPS to consider the cumulative effect of routinely disclosing information of a similar nature in respect of personal information in connection with an investigation under the Freedom of Information Act. It is also important to consider the effect this has on public perception and how the MPS are perceived as responsibly and sensitively handling personal data as well as investigations themselves, in a public forum.

The disclosure of the information you have requested must be carefully managed in order to ensure that there is no prejudice to any investigation in any possible way, however remote.

We appreciate the desire for transparency in respect of police work to tackle criminal behaviour. However, it is vital we protect the integrity of public trust in the MPS handling of information related to these incidents and the integrity of all of all investigations.

In respect of information the MPS routinely discloses in regards to Stop and Search, the MPS refers you to our Stop and Search Dashboard in our Statistics and Data page, which discloses information at the level which does not allow for the possible identification or misidentification of individuals at street level;

Section 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information - In considering whether or not information (other than offence data already publicly available at ward and street level) should be disclosed, I have considered the potential harm that could be caused by disclosure.

Due to low level data included in the answer to this, this data could be used by those with the necessary intent to hinder the prevention of crime.
More crimes may be committed particularly in areas with either higher or lower level figures for specific types of incidents within a given location. For example, there is a risk that individuals may perceive a particular address/area with a very low incident/offence rate which could be wrongly used to ascertain whether the area possibly has vulnerabilities in respect of reporting levels. This type of data can then be used to the detriment of the community.

An increase of crime in turn would impact on police resources if an adverse FOIA disclosure is used to undermine the safety of individuals, particularly if further resources are used to mitigate action by those who may try and used the information as intelligence in a negative way to place individuals at risk – especially at a localised address.

It is not in the public interest to disclose any data that could be used by those with the necessary intent to hinder the prevention or detection of crime and use it to the detriment of the community and public at large. Individuals may be less included to call the police for assistance or provide information if they believe the MPS routinely disclose offence and incident data held, which occurs at street level.

An increase of crime in turn would impact on police resources if an adverse FOIA disclosure is used to undermine the safety of individuals, particularly if further resources are used to mitigate action by those who may try and used the information as intelligence in a negative way to place individuals at risk.

I consider that the benefit that would result from the information being disclosed does not outweigh the considerations favouring non-disclosure. I consider the public interest is met by the partial disclosure today which provides the answer to some questions along with press lines which is less likely to identify living individuals.

I appreciate this is not the full decision you would have liked. However, this decision is based on the understanding that the public interest is not what interests the public, but is what would be of greater good to the community as a whole if particular information were disclosed.

The information sought under your Freedom of Information request includes the following which we consider to be the Personal Data of the individuals that could be identified through the release of this information/ Personal information requested within this FOIA request includes:

• Personal information relating to living individuals

Where the request is seeking access to third party personal data the Section 40(2) exemption may be engaged.

In order to apply the Section 40(2) exemption, the disclosure of the requested information must satisfy either the first, second or third conditions as defined by subsections 3(A), 3(B) and 4(A) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Disclosure

Q1 - According to your press release, you attended schools to speak to staff and students. Please share any meeting notes from these visits.
If someone from your force made a speech, please share a copy of the speech too.

No recorded information is held.

Q2 - The MPS is able to disclose the MPS Original statement regarding the ‘Week of action’, which is as follows;
Fifty-five arrested following week of action by the Met’s Taskforce focused on women’s safety

A man wanted for sexual harassment, and another for hitting a woman while on a first date, are two of 55 people arrested during a week of action tackling violence against women and girls.

The upsurge in activity, between Monday, 6 and Sunday, 12 December, included safety patrols of the night time economy, drug swabbing and targeting predatory behaviour reported outside of schools.

Led by the Territorial Support Group (TSG), officers from an array of units and boroughs across the capital came together to work in areas which have seen a spike in incidents where women and girls have been made to feel unsafe or have been victims of crime.

Chief Inspector Grace Blake-Turner, from the Met’s Taskforce, said: “We’ve seen some brilliant collaborative work this week from all the officers involved in this activity.

“They have achieved some significant results, and taken some dangerous individuals off the streets.

"Officers have arrested people for an array of offences including a man wanted in relation to a sexual touching offence, for rape and for assaulting a female police officer."

As well as carrying out enforcement, officers also took the time to speak with groups to educate and evaluate the issue of violence against women and girls.
Officers attended schools and universities to talk about topics such as consent, the sharing of private photos and gave crime prevention advice.

Chief Inspector Grace Blake-Turner, added: “The results from this week show how serious the Met is about catching predatory offenders and removing them from London’s streets.

“This action will not stop because the week of action has now come to a close.

“We will continue, as we do every day, to deploy across the city and make London an inhospitable space for anyone intent on causing violence against women and girls.

“I would also like to thank all our partners who have supported us this week. We’ve linked in with schools, colleges, licensed venues and local councils to understand their challenges and work to tackle this systemic issue together.

“We know that women will continue to have worries about feeling safe and I urge anyone who has concerns or anyone who has experienced a crime to speak with us.”

Response to criticism

The video posted by the Met on social media was filmed in Shoreditch during a ‘week of action’ supporting women’s safety between Monday, 6 and Sunday, 12 December 2021. The upsurge in activity included safety patrols of the night time economy, as well as tackling unlicensed minicabs, and attending schools to speak to staff and students.

Officers across the Met came together to work in areas which have seen a spike in incidents where women and girls have been made to feel unsafe or have been victims of crime, and we know there is an inextricable link between Class A drugs and serious crime and violence on the streets of London. Shoreditch has been a hotspot for these kinds of offences.

On this occasion police worked with two licensed premises in Curtain Road EC2A, with the consent of the licensees and authorised by the Met’s Licensing Unit, to run an operation utilising a drugs itemiser machine. The machine works the same way as those found at airports in that it tests for presence on a surface swabbed (ie the hands).

The Chair of the local Independent Advisory Group was also invited and was present to observe the operation.

The use of the machine was as a condition of entry, that condition being agreed with the licensees for that night. Anyone who refused was not allowed entry to the venues on the night. It was made clear to those wanting to attend the venues that the swabbing was voluntary.

Refusal did not automatically mean that the person would be searched under S23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

If anyone provided a positive swab and no further grounds for search were identified they were allowed to continue with their night. If further grounds were observed, then searches were conducted. No personal details were obtained from anyone unless they provided them when stopped/searched.

Safeguarding officers were also present to speak to people about the dangers of drug use, signposting them to charitable organisations and government programmes regarding addiction/misuse of controlled substances.

On the night, one woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs after being observed disposing of a suspicious package. This was after a woman she was with had indicated a high reading of Class A drugs following use of the drugs itemizer machine. Fifteen people were searched in total.

Over the course of the week, 55 arrests were made for a variety of offences.