Information about HMICFRS report

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.036003

I note you seek access to the following information:

On page 145 of 'An inspection of vetting, misconduct, and misogyny in the police service' published by HMICFRS it states:
The Counter-Corruption (Intelligence) APP lists 12 categories of corruption-related intelligence. It is good practice for forces to use these categories when recording intelligence. All forces should do this consistently to help them understand the threats they face."

The categories are listed on page 146:

• infiltration.
• disclosure of information;
• perverting the course of justice;
• sexual misconduct;
• controlled drug use and supply;
• theft and fraud;
• misusing force systems;
• abuse of authority;
• inappropriate association;
• vulnerability;
• commit, incite, aid, and abet, or assist an offender in the commission of, a crime; and • other [corruption-related intelligence not categorised elsewhere].

(Link Redacted)

1. For the year April 2022 to March 2023, please provide the figures recorded in each of the 12 categories.
2. If you do not use these categories, please provide details of the categories you use and related figures for April 2022 to March 2023.

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:
Section 31(1)(a)&(b) - Law Enforcement

In addition, the MPS neither confirms nor denies whether information is held by virtue of the following exemption:

Section 23(5) - Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters

Reason for decision

Following receipt of your request, I have conducted searches to locate information relevant to your request. These searches located information relevant to part 2 of your request for information.

When a request for information is made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act), a public authority is required to inform you, when permitted, whether the information requested is held. It must then communicate that information to you. If a public authority decides that it cannot comply with all or part of a request, it must cite the appropriate section or exemption of the Act and provide you with an explanation. 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 upon the MPS website.

Section 31(1)(a)&(b) - Law Enforcement - of the Act provide that any information is exempt if its disclosure under the Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders.

Police intelligence is an essential tool that enables the police to prevent and detect crime and apprehend those responsible for committing offences. In this context of corruption related intelligence, this information is pivotal in identifying those that are corrupt, seek to corrupt police employees or otherwise engage in criminal or inappropriate/unethical conduct.

Disclosures made under the Act are published by the MPS, placing them into the public domain. Should the MPS release a breakdown of the corruption related intelligence recorded in financial year April 2022 to March 2023, this would make available to those that are either corrupt, would seek to corrupt police employees or engage in criminal or inappropriate/unethical conduct, with details of the Met’s intelligence picture in this area. This information would assist persons that seek to commit criminal offences or engage in inappropriate/unethical conduct to continue to do so. This would hinder the ability of the MPS to prevent and/or detect crime or apprehend or prosecute offenders, contrary to the public interest.

It should also be noted that disclosures under the Act can appear innocuous but when pieced together with other disclosures under the Act, published material and/or information gleaned about police counter-corruption work, can be used in a ‘mosaic’ way to create a picture for those wishing to commit offences.

Having considered your request, I accept that there is a public interest in openness and transparency when any request is made for police information. I also accept that there is a public interest in the release of information about the intelligence the MPS recorded in the area of corruption, given the extraordinary powers granted powers to police in society.

I have found that corruption related intelligence is an important tool available to police in identifying those that are corrupt, seek to corrupt police employees or otherwise engage in criminal or inappropriate/unethical conduct. The public provision of the detail of the intelligence, even in category form, would be likely to assist persons that seek to commit criminal offences or engage in inappropriate/unethical conduct to continue to do so. This would hinder the ability of the MPS to prevent and/or detect crime or apprehend offenders, contrary to the public interest.

Having carefully considered your request, I have found that the public interest remains in ensuring that the MPS is able withhold information that would hinder its ability to root out the corrupt, those that seek to corrupt police employees or otherwise engage in inappropriate/unethical conduct. I have accordingly refused to release the information requested for this reason.

Section 23(5) - Information supplied by, or relating to, bodies dealing with security matters -
The MPS can neither confirm nor deny that it holds any other information relevant to this request, as the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of Section 23(5) Information Supplied by, or concerning, certain Security Bodies.

Section 23 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case. Confirming or denying the existence of whether any other information is held would contravene the constrictions laid out within Section 23 of the Act in that this stipulates a generic bar on disclosure of any information applied by, or concerning, certain Security Bodies.

Disclosure

Having considered the release of a breakdown of the corruption related intelligence received in financial year April 2022 to March 2023

MPS corruption related intelligence is recorded under the STUDIOS B mnemonic as below:

S = Sexual misconduct, including abuse of position for a sexual purpose
T = Theft and fraud
U = Unauthorised access to police information
D = Drug and substance misuse
I = Inappropriate associations
O = Organised crime
S = Social media
B = Business interest

DUTY TO ADVISE AND ASSIST
Under Section 16 of the Act, there is a duty to advise and assist those that have made, or intend to make, a request for information. In accordance with this duty, I can confirm that the MPS publishes information about various types of crime on its website. I have provided a link to this information below.

MPS Website: Stats and Data

It may also assist you to note that the MPS proactively publishes all disclosures made in response to requests made under the Act on its Publication Scheme. I have provided a link to this section of the MPS website below.

MPS Publication Scheme

The MPS Publication Scheme can be searched using keywords and may accordingly hold other information that is of interest to you.