Policing costs of event at Guildhall 363/2024

FOI Reference: 363/2024

Request:

On 1st January an event was stage in Guildhall St, Lammas St area of Carmarthen Town Centre. The event was staged by the Carmarthenshire Hunt. Police attended the event.

Could you provide the following information:

1/ Number of Police attending the meeting in Carmarthen on New Years Day

2/ Number of Police who were working outside normal hours

3/ Total cost of Policing the event

4/ Cost of any staff who were on overtime.

 

Response 1 & 2

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, however a Section 31(1)(a)(b) Law Enforcement exemption has been applied to the requested information thereby exempting its release.

Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1) (a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1) (b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held.

Where exemptions are relied upon section 17 of FOIA requires that we provide the applicant with a notice which:

a) States that fact

b) Specifies the exemption(s) in question and

c) State (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies

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

(1)  Information which is not exempt information by virtue of section 30 is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to prejudice -

(a)  the prevention or detection of crime

(b)  the apprehension or prosecution of offenders

Section 31 is a prejudice based qualified exemption and as such there is a requirement to provide details of the harm as well as the public interest test.

Harm in Disclosure

Information concerning the attendance of Dyfed-Powys Police officers at an event would not be disclosed if to do so would prejudice policing across the counties and may impact negatively on resources.

Disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act is considered to be a release of information to the world, because once information is released, whilst not questioning an applicant’s motives for requesting this information, it could be of interest to persons who are involved in criminal activity.

It is considered that provision of officer numbers will allow people to draw conclusions as to the perceived level of police officers required at any given time. This in turn could identify to the criminal fraternity, occasions where the Force will be at its most vulnerable, based on uniformed officer deployment figures alone, allowing for criminals to calculate when it is potentially the best time to commit crime in order to avoid detection.

This would undermine the law enforcement capabilities of Dyfed-Powys Police and therefore it is confirmed that Section 31 is engaged.

Public Interest Test:

Considerations favouring disclosure:

Police officer numbers do differ depending on shift, time and operational demand at the time.

Information that relates directly to the operational effectiveness and efficiencies of the

Force is a positive factor favouring disclosure. The public have a right to know that they are being protected in an appropriate and diligent manner.

Public knowledge of Dyfed-Powys Police will ensure informed public debate, retaining the

Force’s open and honest approach.

Considerations favouring non-disclosure:

Disclosure of information that can affect the current and future law enforcement capabilities of Dyfed-Powys Police will always favour non-disclosure. On this occasion, providing the number of the police officers on duty at any one time in a specific location will allow for comparisons to be made should additional data be requested. This in turn will allow for the determination as to the strength of front line police officers, invariably providing criminals with advanced knowledge of our capabilities.

Although it can be argued that the data requested is a historical figure, future identical advertised events requiring police presence will allow individuals to determine projected perceived officer numbers based on analysis of datasets disclosed by the police service.

Dyfed-Powys Police is a relatively small force and provision of data that identifies the strength of front-line uniformed police officers deployed at a specific event could lead to individuals identifying when the Force is at its most vulnerable. Historical data would therefore not be disclosed if to do so could allow for such conclusions to be drawn.

Balance Test

Public knowledge of how Force funds are being spent and assurance that the Police service are doing all they can to ensure public safety is maintained, is always a positive factor in disclosure.

On balance however, disclosure of this nature is more likely to have the opposite affect causing the criminal fraternity to have prior knowledge of Police operational capabilities, compromising the prevention and detection of crime and administration of justice.

The Police service has a duty to ensure public safety is never compromised and disclosures under FOI should always ensure this is maintained.

Therefore, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

Response 3 & 4:

I can confirm that there is no information held due to the fact that it would form part of a Police Officers normal duties.                                           

                                                            

It should be noted that as a result of the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such information that the information released may or may not be accurate.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 10/05/2024)