Level 1 and Level 2 public order training

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.024566

I note you seek access to the following information:

1) How many Level 1 and Level 2 public order trained officers do you have within the force.

2) Please also provide a fleet list of carriers used to transport multiple officers. If possible please provide the vehicle make, model, callsign (If possible), Roof code (If possible) and where the vehicle is based (If possible).

3) Finally does the force have any specialist teams for dealing with protestors such as protestor removal teams. If so, please provide a fleet list for the vehicles used by these teams.

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 21(1) – Information reasonably accessible by other means
Section 31(1)(a)(b) - Law Enforcement

Reason for decision

You have asked for information in relation to vehicles used by the MPS, and have further asked for this information to be broken down by call sign and base location.

Unfortunately, disclosing the information you are seeking to the level of granularity you have requested, would be likely to provide enough information for individuals (or groups of individuals) with criminal or malicious intent to disrupt our ability to deploy resources safely and efficiently, which in turn would hinder our ability to fulfil our basic law enforcement functions.

Section 21(1) – Information reasonably accessible by other means - Where information is already in the public domain we are not required to re-publish the data; instead public authorities are required to direct you to the information, which we have done in this instance.

Section 31(1)(a)(b) - Law Enforcement -Disclosure of any further information, other than that already provided by way of the link to our most recent Fleet data November 2021, would cause operational harm to the MPS and affect our ability to fulfil our core function of law enforcement.

Any information that identifies specific vehicles, the role of the vehicles, and the location of the vehicle would identify specific operational units and our tactical capability. Furthermore, disclosure of call signs, which are used to contact specific units, vehicles or officers so that they can be directed to incidents, would further identify where those units, vehicles or officers are at a specific time, and where they are being directed to.

If we were to disclose the above information to the level of granularity you have requested this would be likely to readily identify specific, and specialist, units whilst on patrol or responding to incidents. If this information was obtained by individuals with criminal intent they could use it to disrupt local policing. For example, any individual with access to this information, could use the information to commit crime and avoid detection which would negatively affect the MPS law enforcement function. This knowledge could additionally provide sufficient information for individuals with malicious intent to formulate some form of attack on an operational unit.

The MPS already regularly publishes data in relation to its fleet. To disclose the further information you have requested would reveal our tactical capability and would place the MPS at a tactical disadvantage as outlined in the harm above.

It cannot be in the public interest to disclose information which would undermine our ability to detect crime, and bring offenders to justice, and ultimately, to reduce crime in London. As detailed within the 'harm', the information you are seeking would be a valuable asset to individuals and/or organisations wishing to commit crimes.

Furthermore, disclosing information about vehicles used at specific locations (and therefore potentially by specific units) would be likely to disrupt the deployment of those units and officers to any crime which, in turn, would enable offenders to destroy evidence and evade apprehension.

I would like to take this opportunity to add that we have in the past released call signs under the FOIA. However with the passage of time we have radically changed our call sign structure and policy. Therefore information in the public domain is obsolete and of little operational value. The new approach we have adopted better identifies the skills and capabilities of a particular unit, which could be of intelligence value to a person or persons with criminal or malicious intent.

I have determined that the disclosure of the additional information you are seeking would not be in the public interest, due to the potential harm that could be caused to our operational effectiveness as outlined above. I consider that the benefit that would result from the information being disclosed does not outweigh the considerations favouring non-disclosure.

Disclosure

Regarding question one, the following data has been located:

Number of Level 1 public trained officers - 392
Number of Level 2 public trained officers - 3,450

Please note, these numbers are a snapshot of one day and do in fact fluctuate.

Regarding question two, the majority of this information (minus locations and call signs) can already be found in the public domain as it is proactively published every six months:

Level 1 and Level 2 public order training - Fleet Data

This data can be filtered to show transporters which are used for multiple officers.

With regard to question three, the MPS can confirm that we do have protestor removal teams, but they do not have specific vehicles allocated to them and therefore this information is not held.