Red Flags on House or Person

Request Number: FOI/14951

Category: Policy and Procedures - Procedures

Subject: Red Flags on House or Person

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 the information you seek in request number 8 is exempt by virtue of Section 31 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
What information is held on a person or property when they are "flagged”

Answer 1
Flags
Flags - PSNI's Niche Record management system provides a set of flags that can be applied to any type of record across the entire integrated database. 
Multiple flags can be applied to any database record.
A flag: 
Provides a notice or reminder of a situation or special condition on a particular record.
May be clearly obvious or hidden/covert - need to know principle applies.
Has the ability to trigger automatic notifications to people or units specified by the flag if required.     
Allows other users to send manual notifications to people or units specified by the flag.
Warning markers -a warning provides a visible marker to alert users when there is important warning or hazard information regarding a record on Niche that officers and staff need to be aware of. Different warnings are available for different types of records.
Please note that the flag being “red” has no relevance to the importance of the flag – we only have one colour so basically we have a flag or we don’t.

Request 2
How long these flags stay active for

Answer 2
This will vary. Flags will expire when no longer deemed relevant.

Request 3
What triggers a property or person being flagged

Answer 3
Please see answer to Request 1.

Request 4
Can the flag be challenged

Answer 4
Any officer or staff can request a review of the flag if it is deemed inaccurate or no longer applies.

If a member of the public believes they have a flag against their personal entry that is inaccurate or should no longer apply, they can apply for the removal of this flag by submitting a DAT3 form (available on the PSNI website). This form is used for to apply for the removal/correction of personal information that the PSNI would hold.

Request 5
What evidence is used in assigning such a flag.

Answer 5
Information coming to the attention of PSNI which links back to the answer for question 1.

PSNI Flag/warning request form requires completion. It is then reviewed by the 24/7 department with Niche access high enough to apply this to the database prior to addition to the Records Management System (RMS) and sent back to the officer/ staff if the request is not accepted or requires further detail. This same team then review the flag quarterly every year, tasking the owning officer/staff to confirm it is still required

Request 6
What computer system this information is retained on.

Answer 6
Niche – PSNI’s Record Management system.

The details in Request 1 were provided by Niche as terminology of flags and warnings for Police Forces using their RMS. Some warnings and flags can transfer to other National Policing systems in certain circumstances.

i.e. Wanted / Missing flags where they may have left the jurisdiction (this would be a need to know for other police services.)

Request 7
Is a check against flags a routine check.

Answer 7
As per Section 8(1) of the Act, request 7 does not constitute as a valid request. As the request is framed as Yes/No question and does not describe the specific information that you are seeking (Information is defined pursuant to Section 84 of the Act), this would require the creation of records to answer each with a Yes/No answer – as opposed to providing an already held record. It is for this reason that Section 1 of the Act is not engaged, as described in the opening summary above

Request 9
Please provide any and all policy and or guidance touching this area of "red flags” for bail addresses.

Answer 9
There is no standard practice of flagging bail addresses, the flag should be attached to the person for bail. If an Investigating Officer wished to have a flag added to an address they would need to submit a request to Person and Vehicle Index (PVI), who have the ability to add a flag on behalf of a requesting officer. That flag will belong to the requestor who is expected to cancel / update etc. as appropriate.

If it is pre - charge bail a Custody officer will set the flag manually, if a person is released on bail from custody a flag will be created against the person, that they are on bail and list relevant bail conditions

When a flag is live (i.e. not expired) it has a red flag icon beside it. When this is end dated, the flag is greyed out and does not automatically show on a Niche search unless further filters are applied to find historic audit data.

Request 8
What checks are normally done to confirm if a bail address is suitable..

Answer 8
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:

    a. states that fact,

    b. specifies the exemption in question and

    c. states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.

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

Section 31(1)(a)(b) – Law Enforcement – the prevention or detection of crime and the apprehension or prosecution of offenders

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 31 is a prejudiced based, qualified exemption and there is a requirement to articulate the Harm and conduct a Public Interest Test.

Harm
The disclosure of operational checks for bail addresses would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime and the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. This information could be useful to individuals who intend to break the law as it could reveal operational details and methodology that offenders could exploit. Disclosure of this information may lead to addresses being manipulated to meet criteria, undermining the PSNI's roles of safeguarding and law enforcement. As a result, it would pose a risk to victims, witnesses and potentially the wider public. Any information which could be of assistance to criminals is very strongly prejudicing the PSNI's law enforcement and security functions if released.

Public Interest Test
Factors favouring disclosure – Section 31
Release of this information would promote transparency in the PSNI's policing practices and increases public understanding of how certain decision are made, leading to a better informed public.

Factors favouring non-disclosure – Section 31
Disclosure of information could adversely affect the law enforcement role of police, could reveal operational methods that criminals could exploit and may lead to addresses being manipulated to meet the criteria. This, in turn, leads to further risks to victims, witnesses and the wider public. Whilst the requested information may appear innocuous, we must take into account the wider implications of any release into the public domain.

Decision
The PSNI is tasked with the prevention, detection of crime and protecting the Public. While there is a public interest in transparency and accountability, there is a stronger public interest in protecting operational law enforcement methods and ensuring the safety of individuals and the public. Disclosure would likely compromise police procedures and could assist those intending to commit crime.

The release of information under FOI is 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 how the information is shared with other individuals, therefore a release under FOI is considered a release to the world in general.