Drug testing on members of the public

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.022572

I note you seek access to the following information:

A) Under what authority did the officers conduct drug testing on members of the public?;

B) How were the tested members of the public selected?;

C) Did the tested individuals consent to testing or were they compelled by arrest, caution or any other authority that compelled them to submit to testing?;

D) if free consent was given by the tested members of the public were the they aware that they were not compelled to submit to drug testing?;

D) (i) If so; please provide evidence of the police officers informing the testing members of the public that they were under no obligation to do so. This should be available due to the operation being filmed.;

E) As conducting drug testing on the street is a deviation from standard police practice, who authorised this operation?

F) Was an attorney or any other legal professional consulted on this operation prior to its taking place and if so what was their judgement as to its legality?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and 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 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

You have requested information regarding footage taken in relation to the above. This information is exempt from disclosure as the release of the information would contain images of members of public and it would be in breach of the Data Protection rights afforded to those individuals.

Section 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information - The Freedom of Information Act provides an exemption for Personal Data and this is known as the section 40 exemption.

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

QA - Under what authority did the officers conduct drug testing on members of the public?;

This was a condition of entry for two licensed premises working in partnership with the MPS. These conditions were set by the Licensee. This is not done as standalone activity but is part of various actions undertaken by the venue, for example staff searching bags on entry. The MPS provided support to the venue with the itemiser.

QB - How were the tested members of the public selected?;

As per condition of entry, the intention is to test every person entering. This must also take into account managing flow rates into the venue.

QC - Did the tested individuals consent to testing or were they compelled by arrest, caution or any other authority that compelled them to submit to testing?;

Individuals were not compelled to be tested in any manner. No individual was subject of arrest or caution for not consenting. Testing was a condition of entry as set by the licensed premises.

QD - if free consent was given by the tested members of the public were the they aware that they were not compelled to submit to drug testing?;

The person was not compelled to submit to drug testing but they were made aware that it was a condition of entry for two licensed premises working in partnership with the MPS. These conditions were set by the licensee.

QD - (i) If so; please provide evidence of the police officers informing the testing members of the public that they were under no obligation to do so. This should be available due to the operation being filmed.;

This information is exempt as per the above.

QE - As conducting drug testing on the street is a deviation from standard police practice, who authorised this operation?

As this was a condition of entry for two licensed premises working in partnership with the MPS, the operation did not take place in a public place.

QF - Was an attorney or any other legal professional consulted on this operation prior to its taking place and if so what was their judgement as to its legality?

This was a condition of entry for two licensed premises working in partnership with the MPS. The activity that the venue undertakes for permission to enter is for their management to decide. It can include bag searches, use of detector wands, confirmation of identification and so forth.