Duties of serving MPS officers who have committed offences

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.029275

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please provide the total number of currently serving officers who have committed a crime while serving in the Met, broken down by crime type and whether they have been/were restricted from duties, suspended or continue(d) on full duties.

With regards your two suggestions:
1. "With reference to Q.1, we can consider providing a list of crime types as well as whether suspended, restricted or on full duties." -
yes please, and please provide the total numbers in each category. I assume this will amount to the "several hundred" you refer to but I'd like the exact number.

2. "With reference to Q.2, we can consider providing a list of crime types, description of offences and whether suspended, restricted or on full duties." -
Q2 was about officers on restricted duties for reasons other than committing a criminal offence so I'm unclear as to what your suggestion is here but similarly total numbers and the reason would be appreciated.

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:

40(2)(a)(b)&(3)(a)(i) – Personal Information

Reason for decision

Having considered this request, I have decided to provide some of the data requested.

The Section 40(2) Exemption has been utilised due to low numbers which have been removed, that is, numbers 3 and below have been replaced with [xx]. The MPS believes that release of these low numbers could lead to the identification of individuals. This constitutes personal data which would be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA (Data protection Act) 2018 and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), if released.

It is important to note that 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, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received. Any information released under the Act is also published on the MPS website.

Disclosure

Please find attached Excel Spreadsheet with the data requested, with the exception of the low numbers referenced above.