Information arising from late night arrests of two socialists

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.036586

I note you seek access to the following information:

I wish to withdraw FOI-6436-24-0100-000 and instead continue with the request below. My apologies for the inconvenience caused.
My request for an Environmental Information Request stems from a post [post redacted]
[Link removed]
To my knowledge no one is questioning the facts of the arrests which I quote:

[Quote removed]

The environmental information I seek is:
1) The costs of the arrests of [name and connection redacted]
2) Any internal Met Police guidelines to officers about when out of night time hours arrests are to be used rather than day time working hours arrests. There appears to a spectrum of offences where out of hours offences would be associated with the most serious offences at one end requiring immediate out of hours arrests and less serious offences where a day time arrest would be appropriate. I am especially interested in any documents relating to benchmarks and thresholds which could be used to justify the late night arrest of [name and connection redacted]
. My concern is that these late night arrests may have politically motivated following recent publicity suggesting prevent guidance states socialism can lead to terrorism. Therefore, it seems reasonable to investigate whether the Met Police are taking into account whether suspects are socialist activists and so are more likely to face out of hours arrests than campaigners for other causes.
3) Any Met Police internal guidelines about when arrests are to be used rather than suspects being invited to a Caution Plus 3 Police interview [Link removed]
I am especially interested in any documents relating to benchmarks and thresholds which could be used to justify the arrest of [name and connection redacted], rather than a police interview. My concern is that these arrests may have politically motivated following recent publicity suggesting prevent guidance states socialism can lead to terrorism. Therefore, it seems reasonable to investigate whether the Met Police are taking into account whether suspects are socialist activists and so are more likely to face out of hours arrests than campaigners for other causes.
4) The Guardian reported at [Link removed]
on 7 March 2024 that Prevent issued guidance mentioning socialism as a potential stepping stone to terrorism.
“A document from Prevent, the official scheme to stop radicalisation, includes believing in socialism, communism, anti-fascism and anti-abortion in a list of potential signs of ideologies leading to terrorism.”
Can you please send me an email, if any exist, indicating whether this Prevent guidance has been sent to Met Police officers. If this guidance from Prevent has been sent to Met Police officers, can I be sent the guidance please?
5) A more proportionate police response took place on [date redacted] when I was accused of [context removed] I now seek the identity of the person of the person [context removed]. Anonymity of witnesses is important, however, investigating whether a false and malicious allegation has been made is also important. I am raising this issue years later because of what appears to happened in [redacted] with a late night arrest and what has allegedly happened to [name redacted].
I quote from [name redacted] tweets, one of which is dated [date redacted]:
[Quotes redacted]
[Links removed]

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(5A)(5B) – Personal Information

With regards to questions 1 and 5. The Metropolitan Police Service neither confirms nor denies that it holds the information you have requested as 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.

Reason for decision

Section 40(5A)(5B) - Personal Information are absolute exemptions which means that the legislators have identified that harm would be caused by any release. In addition there is no requirement to consider the public interest test.

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 (please see the advice and assistance section below).

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.

ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE

If the information is your own personal information, for example, if you are seeking a crime report where you were a victim, witness or suspect, then you are able to request your information via a Right of Access Request (ROA) under the DPA. In order for us to progress your request as an ROA request, please provide us with the following information:

1. A proof of your residential address dated within the last six months, this can be a utility bill or bank statement.

2. A proof of your identity to confirm your name and date of birth, this can be a passport, a driving licence or a national identity card.

Further guidance and an optional application form are available on our website via the link below:

Information about yourself
This process may take up to 30 calendar days from the date we receive the additional information.

If the requested information relates to a third party, for court purposes, or if you already obtained a Court Order for the information, you will need to submit your request to the local Borough Command Unit, as these requests do not fall within the remit of the Information Rights Unit. You can redirect your request via an online submission at the following link or by writing to your local police station. Contact Us

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

Disclosure

Q2 – Q3. There are no MPS policies. Please see below, we use College of Policing (CoP) and PACE Act.

PACE says
Section 29 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provides rights for a person who has attended voluntarily at a police station and describes what should be done if they are arrested there.
29 Where for the purpose of assisting with an investigation a person attends voluntarily at a police station or at any other place where a constable is present or accompanies a constable to a police station or any such other place without having been arrested -
(a) he shall be entitled to leave at will unless he is placed under arrest;
(b) he shall be informed at once that he is under arrest if a decision is taken by a constable to prevent him from leaving at will.

Notes:
(i) Status of voluntary attenders at police stations - confusion about the status of a suspect often arises in circumstances where a suspect has attended at a police station voluntarily. If, at any time during the suspect's visit, the investigating officer concludes that s/he should not be allowed to leave because the officer suspects that s/he has committed an offence and an arrest is necessary, then the suspect is effectively under arrest at a police station, but not under the direct authority of the custody officer, and the officer should -
Caution the suspect unless he was recently cautioned, see Code C paragraph 10.4(b);
Tell the suspect that he is under arrest and take them before the custody officer Code C paragraph 3.21;
However, the officer must ensure that the necessity test is satisfied and in most cases, simply stating 'for the prompt and effective investigation' will not be sufficient and officers are advised to detail the reason(s). If the necessity test cannot be fulfilled then the suspect is free to leave at any time.
(ii) There is no provision to bail voluntary attenders at a police station, PACE only contains provisions for bail after arrest (section 47). If you need to speak to the voluntary attender again and do not want to arrest them then you can request that they re-attend at a set time and date but there is no power to enforce this.
(iii) This section has been modified for NCA officers, see Schedule 1 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (Application and Modification of Certain Enactments) Order 2014.
(iv) The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Application to Revenue and Customs) Order 2015 provides for the application of certain sections of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, subject to specified modifications, to relevant investigations conducted by officers of Revenue and Customs and to persons detained by such officers. Schedule 1 to the Order provides a list of the relevant sections.

See PACE PACE - Code G Revised.pdf

College of Policing
Working with suspects | College of Policing

Arrest strategy.
An investigator must decide whether the suspect can or should be arrested. The decision to deprive an individual of their freedom should not be taken lightly, and advice should be sought from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) if needed. Once a suspect has been identified, a strategy development approach can be adopted to gather material that will either implicate them in the offence or eliminate them. Every individual who falls within the suspect category must be treated in the same way. If there are specific reasons for not following the same procedure, these should be recorded in the crime report or policy file.

Power of arrest
PACE s 24 (as substituted by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) s 110) provides the statutory power of arrest for a person involved in a criminal offence. To make an arrest, an officer must first have grounds for believing that it is necessary, as detailed in PACE Code G. This may involve considering the intelligence case and/or evidential material. Before making an arrest, investigators must consider when and how the arrest should take place.

Timing an arrest
The way in which the identity of the suspect is discovered has a bearing on how and when an arrest should be made. If there is a choice, it is usually between making an early arrest and conducting a planned arrest. The decision about timing depends on a number of factors, which should be kept under continuous review. If the circumstances alter, the decision to make an immediate arrest or to delay it may have to be amended and the reasons for this recorded.

Factors to consider.
• Does the suspect pose a serious risk to the safety of the victim, witnesses or the general public?
• Is there a likelihood that the suspect will commit further or more serious offences?
• Is the suspect likely to destroy, conceal or falsify evidence that will obstruct the investigation?
• Is further surveillance or other covert means of surveillance required? (This will need authorisation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.)

College of Policing
Arrest, Detention & Custody | College Learn

3. Deciding when to make an arrest

3.1 The decision making process prior to arrest
Whilst there will be circumstances where an arrest will be the most suitable course of action, arrest is just one type of action which may be applied to a situation. Officers should always reflect on whether an arrest is the most appropriate solution.

Prior to making an arrest you should consider:
• the situation of the victim
• the circumstances of the suspect
• whether the suspect has physical or mental ill health which requires medical attention
• the nature of the offence
• the needs of the investigative process.

In order to do this, you should assess all available information. This should include:
• Information about the event that is known or believed to have happened.
• Information about the individuals involved – including information about previous encounters with the police. This should include PNC and PND checks
• Information provided by family members or witnesses. This should include information about a suspect or victim’s physical or mental ill health.
• Information which denotes that a suspect has had a change of circumstance – this may indicate that an individual is at higher risk of causing harm to themselves or harm to another.
• Information linked to the location of the incident – the location may put you, the suspect, or members of the public at higher risk.

You should continue to dynamically risk assess the situation and the individuals involved prior to and following an arrest. You should also identify where an individual is in need of medical help.

Public trust can be affected badly if an arrest seems unreasonable or excessive given the circumstances of the situation or if it is perceived to be discriminatory. Being seen to make fair decisions and explaining them has been shown to increase the chances of a person cooperating with the police and obeying the law.

Any action taken by the police will be judged against the provisions contained in the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998 to ensure that the police action is lawful, legitimate and necessary in a democratic society.
The public has a right to expect police officers to behave in a manner that protects each individual’s basic rights within the law. our authority to deprive a person of their liberty should be used with caution and impartiality.

Ask yourself at all times:
• Are my actions lawful?
• Are my actions necessary and justifiable?
• Are my actions proportionate?
• Are my actions non-discriminatory?

3.9 The timing of an arrest

Even if an arrest may be necessary for one or more of the arrest necessity criteria, you may still have a degree of choice over when to arrest. There will be a number of factors that could influence your decision, but you will need to create a balance between the operational requirements and those of the individual and or community. For example, you may need to consider the impact of delaying the arrest on the victim of a crime, or you may need to consider the impact on the suspect and their community of arresting them at a particular time such as during prayer time.

3.10 Planned arrests

When a suspect has been identified, you will need to prepare an arrest plan which should include the timing of the arrest. You must consider:

Whether at the time of the arrest the suspect will pose a serious risk to the safety of the victim, witnesses or the general public, e.g. if they are at home in the early morning there will be less risk of harm to the public.
The likelihood that the suspect will commit further or more serious offences: you should, arrest before they do.
The likelihood that the suspect will destroy, conceal or falsify evidence to obstruct the investigation.

In developing an arrest strategy you will need to consider the:
• Circumstances of the offence
• Authority for search
• Nominated officer in charge of the arrest team
• Nominated officer in charge of the search team
• Other relevant staff involved in the arrest
• Communication methods
• Method of entry
• Items to be searched for
• Methods of recovery.
Speak to your supervisor if you are involved in a planned arrest.

Question 4

The MPS confirm that no email referencing “A document from Prevent, the official scheme to stop radicalisation, includes believing in socialism, communism, anti-fascism and anti-abortion in a list of potential signs of ideologies leading to terrorism.” was sent to officers or staff.

ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE

Q4 - The article refers to online Prevent awareness training. This is a Home Office responsibility. Please visit the following links to The Guidance -

The guidance was updated last year and published with little or no fanfare, after William Shawcross’s controversial government-ordered report on Prevent was released.

For ease, I have included the relevant links to the new Guidance, and the Home Office Comms can be found here:

• • Updated guidance: Prevent duty guidance: England and Wales (2023) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Press notice: Overhaul of Prevent underway with new guidance published - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Home Secretary statement: Home Secretary delivers an update on Prevent - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• New animation: Prevent duty animation - public sector staff working together to stop radicalisation