Current officers served a written warning

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.029222

I note you seek access to the following information:

Can you please confirm how many current serving Met officers, across all ranks, have -
a) previously been served a written warning
b) previously been served a final written warning
Can you please break down this data by rank.

Decision

I have disclosed the located information to you in the enclosed spreadsheet. In disclosing the requested records to you, I have refused to provide a breakdown by rank where the officers hold the rank of Chief Inspector and above

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

Section 40(2)&(3A)(a) - Personal Information - provides that any information to which a request for information relates, is exempt information if the first condition of Section 40(3A)(a) is satisfied. The first condition of Section 40(3A)(a) states that personal information is exempt if its disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles.

There are six principles that are set out in Article 5(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that dictate when the processing of personal data is lawful. The first principle requires that any processing of personal data must be lawful, fair and transparent. Under Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, 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.

a. Having given regard to the legitimate interest test, I have found that:

The MPS employs over 35,000 police officers including those in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC). The Met’s published workforce data figures highlight that as of the 31 March 2023, the MPS had the following police officer strength (excluding officers in the MSC):

Police Officer Rank	Strength
Commander & above	33.50
Chief Superintendent	27.00
Detective Chief Superintendent	24.00
Superintendent	101.00
Detective Superintendent	115.29
Chief Inspector	176.96
Detective Chief Inspector	157.70
Inspector	895.84
Detective Inspector	555.99
Police Sergeant	3,413.86
Detective Sergeant	1,532.40
Police Constable	21,921.23
Detective Constable	5,548.36
Police Officer Total	34,503.14

b. The public release of the rank of each serving police officer subject of a written warning or final written warning, would provide further information about the conduct of police officers and the resultant disciplinary action taken by the MPS. Given the extraordinary powers that are granted to police employees in society, legitimate interests in transparency and accountability would be satisfied through the release of this information.

c. This disclosure of the requested personal data is necessary to satisfy the legitimate interest identified at point a.

The provision to refuse access to information under Section 40(2)(a)(b) and (3A)(a) of the Act is both absolute and class based. When this exemption is claimed, it is accepted that harm would result from disclosure. There is accordingly no requirement to demonstrate what that harm may be in refusing access to information.

Maintaining Public Trust in the MPS - Securing and maintaining the trust of the community is integral to the principle of policing by consent and to continue to do so, the MPS recognises that its staff must act with professionalism and integrity. The MPS treats each occasion when an allegation is made about the conduct of its staff extremely seriously and will fully investigate each incident to determine whether the conduct of that member of staff has breached the standards of professional behaviour. Where the conduct of staff is proven to have fallen below the standards of behaviour expected, the MPS will take robust action to ensure that its staff are held to account and that lessons are learnt from each case. Any instance where the conduct of our staff is alleged to have fallen below the standards of behaviour expected is treated extremely seriously by the MPS.

Disclosure

I have provided a link to this published information below.

MPS Website - Workforce Data Report

In view of the relatively small number of police officers employed at the rank of Chief Inspector and above, I have refused to provide a breakdown beyond this rank, as to do so would lead to identification. The police officers that have been the subject of a written warning or a final written warning would not expect the MPS to release information that would lead to their identification and the disclosure of their personal data. This would be unexpected and distressing to them. Furthermore, identification may lead to unwanted and unsolicited intrusion from persons interested in the facts of each case. In this regard, I believe that disclosure of this personal data would be likely to cause unwarranted harm to the data subjects in this request. The requested ranks of Chief Inspector and above have accordingly been grouped to ensure that identification does not occur.