Loss or stolen firearms from 2021 to 2023

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035509

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please answer the following questions for the calendar years of 2021, 2022 and 2023 (separately).

1. On how many occasions was a police firearm lost or stolen over this period of time?

a. Please tell me what type of firearm/weapon was lost,
b. the date it was reported lost or stolen,
c. the general location where it was lost or stolen,
d. whether it was recovered (as of today's date),
e. who lost the firearm/who was the firearm stolen from (this can be as vague as just saying Pc, for example),
f. whether the person who lost the firearm has faced any subsequent disciplinary action (please specify what type if so).

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 Metropolitan Police Service neither confirms nor denies that it holds the information you have requested for Question F the duty in Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply by virtue of the Section 40(5A)(5B) exemption.

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 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 UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK 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.

Where an individual is requesting third party personal data the MPS must ensure that any action taken adheres to the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK 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 UK GDPR.

Please note that this notice does not confirm nor deny that the MPS hold the information that you have requested.

Disclosure

In response to the rest of your request we can confirm that one Taser was reported lost in July 2021 by a Constable in West Area. It has not been recovered.