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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: FOI-165-2024
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 7th February 2024 as follows:
Can you provide me with the name, postal and email addresses and telephone number of your Chief Constable.
Could you also please let me know the name of the Head of the Dog Unit for the force and, if applicable, the name of the Head of the Mounted Unit, with the email addresses and telephone numbers.
Please find the Warwickshire Police response set out below.
Response: The Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police is CC Debbie Tedds. Outside of the Act, you may find the below link to the Warwickshire Police website of interest:
The postal address is as follows:
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB
The Head of the Dog Unit is Superintendent Darren Webster.
Please note that Warwickshire Police do not have a mounted unit.
With regard to the requested information for the email and telephone number of the Chief Constable and Head of the Dog Unit, 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.
I can advise that Warwickshire Police does hold the requested information; however, the information is being withheld from disclosure.
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires Warwickshire Police, 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 that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
Section 31(1)(a)(b) – Law Enforcement
Section 31 is a prejudice-based qualified exemption and, as such, there is a requirement to evidence the harm disclosure would cause and to carry out a public interest test.
Section 31 - Evidence of Harm
Effective law enforcement is the core function of the police service and is of paramount importance to Warwickshire Police and this must be considered in respect of every release. In this case, providing the Chief Constable’s and the Head of the Dog Unit’s personal email addresses and telephone numbers into the public domain could result in them being bombarded with unnecessary correspondence and telephone calls, resulting in delays and backlogs to essential work.
Public Interest Considerations
Section 31 - Factors favouring Disclosure
Providing the requested information suggests that the Chief Constable and the Head of the Dog Unit are contactable directly. This may offer reassurance to the public.
Section 31 - Factors favouring Non-Disclosure
If the requested information is disclosed, this could lead to a significant increase in the public making direct contact with the individuals, rather than going through the appropriate channels. This could result in the Chief Constable, who is ultimately responsible for the effective running of the force, facing increasing backlogs and demands and having less time to devote to her critical role. This would also be the case for Superintendent Darren Webster.
Balancing Test
As always, the Freedom of Information Act has a presumption in favour of disclosure, unless, when balancing the competing public interest factors, the prejudice to the community outweighs the benefits. In this case, the strongest argument for disclosure is reassurance to the public. However, this needs to be weighed against the strongest argument for non-disclosure, which, in this case, is the negative impact on law enforcement due to correspondence and telephone calls which would remove the Chief Constable and Superintendent Darren Webster from their core roles and responsibilities. Therefore, having considered the arguments for and against disclosure, I have concluded that the argument in favour of maintaining the exemption is stronger and outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
In accordance with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this acts as a refusal notice with regard to this element of your request.
In order to provide assistance, I can advise that contact can be made via the Force Website:
https://www.warwickshire.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/ or by calling 101 for non-emergency enquiries.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is as accurate as possible.
Your attention is drawn to the below which details your right of complaint.
Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write or email the Freedom of Information Unit quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely
Freedom of Information Officer
Freedom of Information Unit
Warwickshire Police
PO Box 4
Leek Wootton
Warwickshire
CV35 7QB