Met radio found in a former officers handbag

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.027711

I note you seek access to the following information:

'There were also digital scales, over £15,000 in cash and A Met radio, assigned to an officer who left the force months earlier in her [Mrs Agalliu] handbag.'

I am interested in the Met radio.

1. Please provide the make and model of the radio found in her handbag.
2. Please provide all guidance to officers on using this type of radio.
3. Please provide the date this radio was reported missing.
4. Please provide the number of radios (all sorts) reported lost or missing in 2021/22.
5. Please provide the number of radios (all sorts) reported lost or missing in 2021/22 that were subsequently found.

Decision

With reference to Questions 1,2 & 3, the MPS can neither confirm nor deny whether it holds the information that you have requested as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act).

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(3) – Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities
Section 31(3) - Law Enforcement
Section 40(5) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

A Freedom of Information Act (‘the Act’) request is not a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. This is because, under the Act, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world and not just to one individual.

Section 30(3) - Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities -
Confirming or denying that any information exists in relation to this request may inadvertently release information that can undermine or influence any ongoing investigations within the MPS or the wider national police force.

The public interest remains in conducting a fair, proportionate and unbiased investigation and if any information is held, it would be inappropriate and potentially prejudicial to any investigation to release such information to the general public.

The MPS believes that the public interest is best served by ensuring that no action is taken that would negatively impact upon any investigation and it has a moral duty to treat all persons subject to or concerned in an investigation fairly.

During the course of any investigation, enquires are made to secure evidence and these enquires are made for the duration of the case and are based upon proven methods as well as the judgement and experience of the officers in charge of the investigation.

The MPS is reliant upon these techniques to conduct its investigations and the public release of the modus operandi employed during the course of this enquiry could prejudice the ability of the MPS to conduct further, similar investigations.

This exemption serves to protect the effective investigation and prosecution of offences as well as the protection of confidential sources.

It is important that the MPS shares suitable information with members of the public at the appropriate time to maintain public confidence. The general public also expects the highest standards of professionalism in the delivery of policing services by the MPS.

After weighing up the competing interests, I have determined that the disclosure of the information requested, if held, would not be in the public interest. I consider that, if held, the benefit that would result from the information being disclosed, does not outweigh the considerations favouring non-disclosure.

The MPS is tasked with protecting the community we serve and solving crime. There is no doubt that for the issues outlined above, any disclosure relating to information gathered during an investigative process, if disclosed, will compromise ongoing and future investigations.

Section 31(3) - Law Enforcement - Under the Act we cannot and do not ask for the motives of any applicant who requests information. We have no doubt that the vast majority of applications under the Act are legitimate and do not have any ulterior motives, however, any information released under FOIA must also be included in the MPS’ Publication Scheme, thereby making it available to anyone in the world.

This means that a disclosure to a genuinely interested applicant automatically opens it up to the general public, including those who might represent a threat to individuals or any possible criminal and/or civil process.

The MPS provide updates to the public by way of press releases and blogs when relevant, which are carefully timed and prepared in order to ensure that we keep the public informed without compromising any ongoing investigations.

The manner in which investigations are conducted is usually kept in strict secrecy so that the tactics and lines of enquiry that are followed do not become public knowledge thereby rendering them useless.

Confirming or denying that information exists could prejudice this and other investigations which would compromise the effective delivery of operational law enforcement which is pivotal to the function of the MPS.

This is because it cannot be in the public interest to provide information that would negatively impact upon this or any future investigation.

In most cases Personal Data is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act as I will explain below.

To confirm or deny whether information exists in response to your request could publicly reveal information about an individual or individuals, thereby breaching the right to privacy afforded to persons under the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Where an individual is requesting his or her own personal data the information is always exempt. Such information can be requested under other legislation.

Section 40(5A)&(5B)(a)(i) – Personal Information - Under section 40(5), the MPS is not required to comply with the requirements of section 1(1) (b) i.e., the duty to inform the applicant whether or not the information is held.

Section 40(5) of the Act is an absolute class based exemption. In claiming this exemption, there is no requirement to consider whether confirming or denying if information is held, is in the public interest.

The MPS does not generally disclose information from investigations except through our Directorate of Media & Communications to the media. This is so that potential witnesses are not discouraged from coming forward to provide statements in relation to investigations.

Please note that this response should not be taken as an indication of whether the information requested in Questions 1, 2 & 3 is or is not held.

With reference to Questions 4 & 5, the information has been provided under ‘DISCLOSURE’ below.

Disclosure

Q4 - Please provide the number of radios (all sorts) reported lost or missing in 2021/22.

The number of radios reported lost or missing in 2021-22 = 1,100

Q5. Please provide the number of radios (all sorts) reported lost or missing in 2021/22 that were subsequently found.

The number of radios report lost or missing in 2021-22 that were subsequently found = 742