Offences where a Digital Media Detection Dog would be used
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.043878
I note you seek access to the following information:
Could you give me a couple of examples of offence type where a Digital Media Detection Dog would be used
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
Reason for decision
Disclosure of the offence types where these specialist dogs could be used, would be extremely useful to individuals or groups with criminal intent who could use the information to commit crime and evade apprehension. Any such disclosure would therefore prejudice the prevention and detection of crime and the apprehension and prosecution of offenders. This would be to the detriment of providing an efficient policing service and would impact on the duty of care we have for all members of the public.
Whilst the MPS is committed to being open and transparent, the effectiveness of the police service depends on certain tactical information not being released into the public domain.
Disclosure of the information you are seeking would reveal tactical and operational information. Any such disclosure would be extremely valuable to individuals wishing to commit crimes and would enable offenders to evade apprehension. Any such disclosure would also pose a real risk of harm to the general public.
It cannot be in the public interest to disclose information which would be highly likely to have an adverse impact on public safety and undermine our ability to detect crime and bring offenders to justice. This would undermine the operational integrity of law enforcement capabilities and would have a negative effect on law enforcement generally.
I consider that the information we have released, and which is readily accessible on the internet, satisfies the public interest. The benefit that would result from any further information being disclosed does not outweigh the considerations favouring non-disclosure.
You have asked us to disclose examples of offence types where a Digital Media Detection Dog would be used. Unfortunately, however, it is not possible to disclose examples. Digital Media Detection Dogs are one of our tactical options and if we were to provide examples of offence types in which they might be used this would disclose information which would be useful to individuals with criminal intent. Any such disclosure would therefore impact on our ability to prevent or detect crime and apprehend or prosecute offenders which would be likely to prejudice law enforcement.
For the above reasons the exemption provided by Section 31(1)(a)(b) of the Act has been applied to refuse disclosure in this case. Rather than providing examples of offence types where a Digital Media Detection Dogs would be used, I have instead made the decision to provide a more generic response which I hope you will find useful. Please find this in the disclosure section of this request.
Disclosure
Question - Could you give me a couple of examples of offence type where a Digital Media Detection Dog would be used
The dog team (Handler & Dog) are trained to detect digital data devices, so may be requested by any investigative unit to search where such devices may be hidden.
Advice and Assistance
The MPS DSU have advised me that the Sunday Times ran an article recently which featured the DSU and the work of our Digital Media Detection Dogs. The article is available on the internet and can be accessed at the following link: How a new squad of elite sniffer dogs is catching cybercriminals (thetimes.co.uk)
I have also found other published articles which I believe are relevant to your request and may be of interest to you:
Wiltshire Police 'Digi-dogs' trained to sniff out technology - BBC News