Raids on Scrap Metal Yards
Reference Number:
20120146
Request Details:
I would like to know, since Dec 1 2011, how many raids have been made by your officers/in your police service area on scrap metal yards in connection with searches for stolen metal.
Please also provide details of the premises/business subject to the operation;
the number of arrests made;
the result of the arrests (eg what charges brought)
and the current status of those arrests (eg on bail, awaiting trial etc);
the number of police officers involved in the operation;
what other agencies and organisations were involved in the operation (Eg Network Rail, Environment Agency etc).
Exemptions Applied:
Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit
SYP Response:
South Yorkshire Police holds some of the information you have requested however I am unable to supply that information.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires South Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt), to provide you the applicant with a notice which:
states that fact,
specifies the exemption in question and
states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
The following exemption applies to the disclosure of the information:
Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit
Enquiries have been made with relevant stakeholders who have informed me that:-
1. Each SNT would need to be contacted & all the previous briefing sites reviewed.
2. All the PACE 8 search records would need to be physically checked, as they are in paper format.
3. All SNT SPOCS spoken to with regard to their visits.
4. Once this had been completed the duty rosters would need cross referencing to see which officers had been on the sites.
5. This doesn’t take into account answers to questions C – i / ii / iii /v, which would also have to be cross-referenced with other police systems, in order to break down the figures into the level of detail you require.
6. As there are 55 SNT’s within the South Yorkshire Police boundaries, the amount of work it would take to address your request, would run into many days worth of work.
The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 provide that the cost limit for non central government public authorities is £450. This must be calculated at the rate of £25 per hour, providing an effective time limit of 18 hours.
Guidance from the Information Commissioner to public authorities is that where one part of a request is reasonably estimated to exceed the appropriate limit then the authority is not obliged to consider or comply with the remainder of the request up to the point at which the appropriate limit has been reached. This guidance is contained within the penultimate paragraph of page 4 of the guidance which can be found at: -
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/freedom_of_information/pr...
You may find the following web links of use:
http://www.southyorkshire.police.uk/news/19032012/6792/metal-thieves-tar...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-15780359
http://www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk/news/local/police-uncover-tonnes-of...
http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/local/metal_thefts_rocket_1_384...
http://www.rotherhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/91518/south-yorkshire-police-i...
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