Missing People Training exercises

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.028900

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. Could the Met police tell me if the “Madeline McCann” case was a missing training exercise that was leaked widely to the public?

2. Why did the Met police investigate Madeline McCann if she went missing in Portugal? But won’t investigate Levi Davis who went missing in Barcelona (he’s also from the UK)

3. Is the Met police investigating who abused Levi Davis (the missing man)?

4. How many missing people training exercises have the Met police done in missing cases in and around the City of London from August 2020 to February 2023.

5. How many of these cases was leaked to the public and media where the reaction was the same as a REAL missing case.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. However, the MPS can neither confirm nor deny whether we have information in relation to question 3, in accordance with Section 40(5) – personal information. Therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act), by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(5A)&(5B)(a)(i) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

A Freedom of Information 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 Freedom of Information, any information disclosed is released into the wider public domain, effectively to the world and not just to one individual.

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 personal information exists in response to part 3 of your request, that about any potential investigation into an identifiable individual, could publicly reveal information about that individual, 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 third party personal data, such as in this case, the MPS must ensure that any action taken adheres to the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR. To clarify, the Freedom of Information Act only allows disclosure of personal data if that disclosure would be compliant with the principles for processing personal data. These principles are outlined under section 34 of the DPA 2018 and under Article 5 of the GDPR.

In this instance, any confirmation or denial as to whether the specific individual is named as a victim in any ongoing investigations would not be lawful or fair, as it would likely cause unwarranted harm to that individual and any potential investigations they may be involved in. Therefore the first data protection principle would be breached by providing any such confirmation.

Disclosure

Could the Met police tell me if the “Madeline McCann” case was a missing training exercise that was leaked widely to the public?
Why did the Met police investigate Madeline McCann if she went missing in Portugal? But won’t investigate Levi Davis who went missing in Barcelona (he’s also from the UK)

In answer to question one, the Madeline McCann case is a genuine missing person investigation that remains ongoing.

In response to question two, it is the responsibility of the authorities where the individual went missing to investigate the circumstances.

How many missing people training exercises have the Met police done in missing cases in and around the City of London from August 2020 to February 2023?
How many of these cases was leaked to the public and media where the reaction was the same as a REAL missing case.?

None. The MPS respond to thousands of missing person incidents each year but do not conduct simulated case training exercises.

You may be interested in the following: College of Policing - Missing persons