Information on Operation Asperite

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.028451

I note you seek access to the following information:

Could you provide me with the following information about Operation Asperite

1. How much did the Met Police spend on this investigation?

2. What date did the investigation open and close?

3. How many members of Met Police staff worked on this investigation?

4. How many suspects were arrested as part of the investigation? What was the outcome of each of these arrests? (I.e. were suspected charged or released without charge?)

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - How much did the Met Police spend on this investigation?
Q3 - How many members of Met Police staff worked on this investigation?

In relation to Questions 1 and 3, where you seek MPS investigation costs and staff resources employed, this information is not held by the MPS and I would like to take this opportunity to advise you of the reason.
In regards to Question 1, the MPS does not have an individual cost code for work specifically conducted in regard to this policing operation.

Using the example of determining the costs for an officer, there is no single mechanism for tracking the numbers of police officers deployed. Officer’s duties within the MPS are recorded on an electronic system called “Computer Aided Resource Management” or CARM that allows for comprehensive planning, with the ability to plan months in advance and for appropriate information to be accessible at any time to those who need it.

CARM also incorporates functionality for booking on and off duty with a short description of the duty being performed. However, without the necessary specific budget code, calculating the number of officers engaged on a particular enquiry and for how long is unfortunately not recorded and therefore impossible to calculate.
Taking all the above factors into account we are therefore unable to provide the total cost spent on this investigation.

In relation to the third part of your request, staffing numbers, this aspect is not as straightforward as it may seem. Clearly there will normally be a team or dedicated ‘knot’ of officers at the centre of any investigation. Where the MPS has been able to, we have previously disclosed in FOIA requests the number of officers staffing a specific operation.

However, in regard to this specific request, it should be recognised that this investigation had been ongoing for some while and that resources allocated to them have fluctuated over time. In fact the MPS, on the balance of probability, is unlikely to hold a definitive list of officers or staff working on a specific investigation at any given time.

This is because an investigation may bring in officers or staff for very short periods in order to carry out specific functions for example; analysis, forensics, detailed searches. Although these officers and staff would, for the time engaged, be working ‘on’ the investigation, some might be seconded in from other units or departments.

Therefore, they would not be reflected in recorded information as being part this operation. Also they may be working on other investigations at the same time and this would not be reflected on the CARM system.

The records for such staff and officers are kept on disparate systems and would describe the hours worked and possibly the duty being undertaken, the record would not necessarily state a specific operation. In view of this the overall figure for staff working on this investigation is in fact not held.

Q2 - What date did the investigation open and close?

The investigation was launched in July 2019 and has been inactive since June 2022.

Q4 - How many suspects were arrested as part of the investigation? What was the outcome of each of these arrests? (I.e. were suspected charged or released without charge?)

One suspect was arrested and released with no further action.