Officers disciplined for social media (1406A/21)

For the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and available information for 2021, I would like to be provided with the following information:

1) Please indicate the number of police officers that were disciplined for their conduct on WhatsApp and/or other social media sites.

(a) For each disciplined police officer, please describe briefly what happened.

(b) If the police officer was writing offensive messages/posts, please disclose copies of these messages/posts.

(c) If the police officer was sharing offensive posts, please disclose copies of these posts.

2) Please indicate the number of police officers that were dismissed for their conduct on WhatsApp and/or other social media sites.

(a) For each dismissed police officer, please describe briefly what happened.

(b) If the police officer was writing offensive messages/posts, please disclose copies of these messages/posts.

(c) If the police officer was sharing offensive posts, please disclose copies of these posts.

RESPONSE

 Unfortunately they have established that our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide this information within the appropriate (cost) limit within the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (see ‘Reason for Decision’ below).

The information is not held in an electronically retrievable format.  There is not a specific category that the information is recorded under and so the only way to locate accurate information would be to individually assess each complaint record which would exceed the 18 hour time limitations within the FOI Act.

It would also require a keyword search.

Keyword searches are notoriously unreliable, the reasons why searches using this method are not reliable include (but are not limited to) the following:-

1. a) Searches rely on the keywords being spelt correctly with no grammatical errors
2. b) Searches rely on the keywords actually being mentioned in the summary description of the record – if they are mentioned anywhere else within the record but not in the summary, then they will not feature in any results.

I am unable to suggest any practical way in which your request may be modified in order to satisfy your query or bring it within the 18 hours stipulated by the Regulations. I am however willing to consider any refinements that you are able to make to your request, in accordance with Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act.  If you would like to look into refining your request please contact me.

I can advise however that work is currently being undertaken in our Professional Standards Department to collate this information into a more easily retrievable format. This should allow future requests concerning officer misconduct to be achievable within the appropriate (cost) limit of the FOI Act. You may therefore wish to resubmit your request at a future date should you still require the information. However, please note this work is ongoing and no timeframe for its completion has yet been confirmed.