Local Policing and Crime

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035280

I note you seek access to the following information:

I am interested in the unit of organisation commonly referred to as Local Policing Areas, Divisions, Districts or Basic Command Units. They are typically aligned to local authority or community safety partnership boundaries.

For each of these areas within your force, I would like to know:

1. the name of the area, any corresponding ONS geographical code (these are typically a 9-digit string comprising the letter E followed by 8 numerical characters), and any short string code used by the force as shorthand to represent the geography.
2. the first and last name and rank of the current senior officer responsible (often known as the 'local commander' or similar) for the policing of that area, the date they were appointed, and an email address for the individual or position. the first and last name and rank of the the last two senior officers in that post, and the dates they were in the roles
3. if no ONS code is provided: a description of the geographic extent of the area and the boundaries to which it is aligned (this might be one or more local authorities, or community safety partnerships, or similar)
4. Further, for each of the above areas a list of the smaller geographic areas that your force uses to organise and deliver local policing (these might commonly be called 'neighbourhoods' and will typically either be an individual ward or a collection of wards), including:
   a) the name of the area, any corresponding ONS geographical code,
   b) any short string code used by the force as shorthand to represent the geography
   c) if no ONS code is provided: a description of the geographic extent of the area and the boundaries to which it is aligned (this might be an individual ward or a collection of wards).

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

Reason for decision

The Section 40(2) Exemption has been utilised and this is because we have withheld information which we consider to be personal information, such as email contacts, names of officers who have left the Met as well as employment history. We believe that this information constitutes personal data which, if released, would be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA (Data protection Act) 2018 and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

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

We have attached a separate sheet with the information requested and have also provided some links below, in relation to BCUs which you may also find useful.

Met Police Borough Codes

Police.uk

If any of the above links are broken when you receive this correspondence, please copy and paste them into your web browser.