Victims and suspects of homicides from February 2021 to January 2022

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.023174

I note you seek access to the following information:

I would like to make a Freedom of Information Request regarding Homicides within the MPD area for the past 12 Months. from the date of receipt of this request. The information I seek is not available on your site.

I would like to know::-
a) The Ethnicity Code of all victims of Homicide.
b) The Ethnicity Code of all of those arrested or suspected of the offence of Homicide.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. However, due to low data located for some ethnic groups, and when broken down by month I am unable to provide a breakdown for some ethnic groups, and furthermore, am unable to provide any of the data broken down by month.
I have therefore combined data for ‘other’ ethnic groups with unrecorded and unknowns, and have provided yearly totals. Therefore, 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 30(1)(a)(i) – Criminal Investigations
Section 40(2)(3A)(a) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

You have asked for the ethnicity code of all victims of homicide, and of those arrested or suspected of the offence of homicide, recorded by the MPS in the preceding 12 months up to the date of your request.

I have made the decision to disclose the information you are seeking in relation to victims and suspects, however, due to extremely low figures I am unable to break the data down by some ethnic groups, or by month. This is because extremely low figures have been located for some ethnic groups, unrecorded and unknowns, and for all groups when broken down by month. Any further break down could identify individuals which could release personal information into the public domain and would prejudice ongoing investigations. I have therefore made the decision to combine ‘other’ ethnic groups with unrecorded and unknowns, and am also disclosing the requested data broken down by year as opposed to providing a monthly breakdown

Section 30(1)(a)(i) – Criminal Investigations - The release of any further information could impact upon ongoing investigations. The outcome for some of the offences have yet to be determined therefore, to release any further information would compromise our law enforcement investigative functions. Any disclosure, which would prejudice an ongoing investigation and therefore hinder an individual’s right to a fair trial cannot be in the public interest.

The transparency of the investigation of crime and providing assurance that the MPS is appropriately and effectively dealing with criminal activity.

However, there is also a strong public interest in safeguarding the integrity of police investigations, by not releasing information that could hinder that investigation and prejudice the outcome of any legal proceedings.

I have determined that the disclosure of the further information you have requested but which has not been disclosed in this response, would not be in the public interest. I consider that the benefit that would result from the information being disclosed does not outweigh the considerations favouring non-disclosure, particularly given the level of information disclosed today – which I believe satisfies the wider public interest.

Section 40(2)(3)&(4) – Personal Information - There are six data protection principles that are set out in Section 34 of the Data Protection Act 2018. The first principle requires that the disclosure of the requested personal data must be lawful and fair. Under the Act, the disclosure of personal data is considered to be lawful if:

a. There is a legitimate interest in the disclosure of that personal data.
b. The disclosure of the personal data is necessary to meet that legitimate interest.
c. The disclosure would not cause unwarranted harm to the data subject.

The requested information contains personal data that I consider exempt under the Act, for example, were we to disclose the ethnicity of victims and perpetrators broken down by year and specific offence type, it is highly likely that individuals could be identified, including family members of victims.

Having considered the data, I have found, having considered the legitimate interest test, that any further break down would not be in accordance with the first principle. Although I understand there is an interest in the information you are seeking I believe this interest has been satisfied by the release of the disclosed information. I do not believe that providing any more details, when there is a reasonable risk that the additional information would identify individuals involved, and prejudice investigations, would add to any wider public debate that may be ongoing.

Furthermore I do not think it would be fair to the family members of victims if information was disclosed that identified their loved one in a Freedom of Information response, and an individual who was later found to not be involved would be unfairly stigmatised.

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 2018 (DPA). I have applied this exemption in that the identity of individuals that may be realised through providing the information broken down in the format you have requested would constitute personal data which, if released, would be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA.

Section 40 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case.

Disclosure

Information considered suitable for disclosure is attached.

Please ensure that the data is read in conjunction with the notes page of the attached spreadsheet to ensure correct interpretation of the data provided.

Please note; although not requested I have included Persons Proceeded Against (PPA) data as this was provided to me by our analysts and may be of interest to you.