Misconduct of Senior Officers

Request Number: FOI/14308

Category: Discipline, Complaints and Legal – Discipline

Subject: Misconduct of Senior Officers

Request and Answer:

Your request for information has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Act we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does hold some information to which your request relates and this is being provided to you.
We further consider some of the information you seek in request numbers 1, 2 and 3 exempt by virtue of Section 40 of FOIA and have detailed our rationale as to why this exemption applies. We have also provided you with links to guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office which we have followed in responding to your request.

Request 1
Please can you provide information in relation to the number of senior officers within PSNI who have had a criminal conviction in the last 3 years?

Request 2
Please break the figure down into these four categories
A) Inspector
B) Chief Inspector
C) Superintendent
D) Chief Supt up to and including Chief Constable

Answer 1 & 2
As the information requested refers to low level data, it has the potential to lead to the identification of officers and their personal information. Therefore we are exempting some specific ranks and providing the figures grouped under ‘Superintendent and Above’ in the table below.

Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Police Service of Northern Ireland, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:

1. states that fact,
2. specifies the exemption in question and
3. states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.

The exemption, as well as the factors the Department considered when deciding where the public interest lies, are listed below:

Section 40(2)(a)(b) by virtue of Section 40(3)(a)(i) – Personal Information
Information constitutes personal data and disclosure would contravene any of the Data Protection principles.

The full text of exemptions can be found at www.legislation.gov.uk and further guidance on how they operate can be located on the Information Commissioners Office website www.ico.org.uk.

Section 40 (2) of the FOIA is an absolute exemption which means there is no requirement on PSNI to consider whether there is a public interest in disclosure. It is an interface exemption and we must consider whether release of the information would breach the General Data Protection Regulations (‘GDPR’) or the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA’) Third party personal information constitutes ‘personal data’ under the GDPR (Article 4) and DPA (Part 1 s.3).

Under the Freedom of Information Act, PSNI must consider if information can be released into the public domain. We have therefore considered whether the disclosure of this personal data is subject to the exemption at Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by virtue of s40 (3)(A)(a). As information is ‘personal data’, PSNI considered whether disclosure would contravene any of the six data protection principles contained within the GDPR or DPA.

The six data protection principles are good information handling standards which PSNI must comply with in relation to how it handles personal information, including deciding whether to disclose it or not.  In particular, the first principle requires personal data to be processed in a ‘lawful and fair’ manner. In considering whether it is ‘fair’ to any individual to release information about them, PSNI considered the likely expectations of those individuals and the nature of the information involved. Individuals must have confidence that their information is treated sensitively and appropriately by PSNI. The PSNI has a duty to protect the personal data of all individuals, including officers and staff, and to disclose the broken down as per your Request would be unfair to those individuals. We consider it would be extremely unfair to those individuals and therefore it would be a breach of the first principle of data protection legislation as we consider those individuals would not have any reasonable expectation that PSNI would not disclose information of this nature relating to them. This information is therefore exempt under section 40 (2) of the FOIA as it contravenes data protection legislation to release it and the PSNI has made the decision to withhold the information.

The release of information under the Freedom of Information Act is considered a release into the public domain and not just to the individual requesting the information. Once information is disclosed by FOI there is no control or limits as to who or how information is shared with other individuals, therefore a release under FOI is considered a release to the world.

The breakdown is as follows:
 

Request 3
Using the same four categories, for the last 3 years please provide figures for the number of Senior Officers found guilty of misconduct and the outcome of any disciplinary proceedings.

Answer 3
This information is also partially subject to Section 40 exemption and we have articulated our rationale in response to Request 1 & 2. As the information requested refers to low level data, it has the potential to lead to the identification of officers and their personal information. Therefore we are exempting some specific ranks and providing the figures grouped under ‘Superintendent and Above’ in the table below.

The outcome of the disciplinary proceedings was as follows:

Request 4
Using the same four categories and in the last three years please provide figures in relation to whether or not any senior Officer is / was subject to Service Confidence restrictions

Answer 4
No senior officer has been subject to Service Confidence during the past 3 years.

Request 5
In the last three years please indicate whether or not any Officer of Superintendent rank or above has been issued with a Community Resolution Notice and if so, what was it issued for.

Answer 5
No officer is Superintendent rank or above has been issued with a CRN during the past 3 years.