Approximate area of residence for Police officers

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.023783

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please tell me the number of police officers employed by the MPS who live in each postcode outcode (the first half of the postcode, e.g. W1A, SE16).

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) - Personal Information

Reason for decision

Section 40 are absolute exemptions which means that the legislators have identified that harm would be caused by any release. In addition there is no requirement to consider the public interest test.

Our searches produced low numbers on the outcodes that could identify individuals. The outcode covers a fairly small geographical sub district and there are around 1,500 separate outcodes, many with a single officer only. It has been necessary to ensure an individual’s identity cannot be revealed by the information we disclose.

Disclosure

In order to reduce the harm in disclosure, I have decided to provide you with the number of police officers by borough. Please see the attached document.