OFFICIAL

Our Ref: IM-FOI-2021-0942 Date: 31st May 2021

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002

I refer to your recent request for information which has been handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing a response.

For ease of reference, your request is replicated below together with the response.

1. Please provide the full names of all the duty sergeants and all the custody officers currently operating under (DUNS: 238201164), please also provide the police station where these officers are based. 2. Please provide copies of the indemnity/liability bonds and registration numbers for all known police vehicles operating in public in Scotland. 3. Please provide under your duty of candour your robust data protection policy for sharing personal data with other offices and third parties. 4. Please state under your duty of candour, how personal data in shared and used between police officers of POLICE SCOTLAND (and constables independently operating under oath in their office as constable which is separate and distinct to that of a police officer. 5. Please state under your duty of candour what training police officers obtain in understanding the differences between acting as a police officer and acting in their office of constable under their oath. 6. Please provide under your duty of candour how any arrests were made by police officers acting solely in their capacity as police officers, and not constables, for POLICE SCOTLAND in 2020. 7. Please provide under your duty of candour how many arrests were made by constables acting with powers in their office of constable and not as police officers were made in 2020 in Scotland. 8. Please state who registered POLICE SCOTLAND as a corporation under Dun and Bradstreet and why POLICE SCOTLAND is a registered corporation (DUNS: 238201164). 9. Please provide under your duty of candour the names and details of all, directors, shareholders, and stakeholders of POLICE SCOTLAND registered under Dun and Bradstreet with Duns number 238201164. 10. Please provide the procedures used by POLICE SCOTLAND outlining the use of police vehicles for responding to an emergency. 11. Please state if there is any connection between the corporate POLICE SCOTLAND with Duns number238201164 and the corporate Police with Duns number232823687.

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In terms of section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, I am refusing to respond to your request on the basis that I consider it to be ‘vexatious’.

‘Vexatious’ is not defined in the Act but I would refer to the following factors as set out in the Commissioner’s guidance:

(i) It would impose a significant burden on the public authority. (ii) It does not have a serious purpose or value. (iii) It is designed to cause disruption or annoyance to the public authority. (iv) It has the effect of harassing the public authority. (v) It would otherwise, in the opinion of a reasonable person, be considered to be manifestly unreasonable or disproportionate.

Furthermore, an authority can reasonably conclude that a particular request represents the continuation of a pattern of behaviour. It might, in those circumstances, decide the request can be refused as the continuation of the pattern of behaviour makes the latest request vexatious.

This may arise, for example, where a requester has an on-going grievance against a public authority, or could reasonably be described as conducting an extended campaign to the point that their behaviour can be described as obsessive.

It is my assessment that your two recent requests have no serious purpose or value.

They follow an increasingly familiar ‘template’ style letter sent to Police Scotland (mostly in terms of FOI) seeking to challenge/ ask us to account for the fundamental principle of policing by consent and the principles of sovereignty etc.

FOI is not a forum for philosophical debate regarding those matters.

The purpose of FOI is to provide a right of access to recorded information and we respond to thousands of requests each year which seek to exercise that right.

We are committed to the principles of openness and accountability and that means focusing on those requests whereby individuals are genuinely motivated by accessing the information we hold.

It is my assessment that overall, your request has no serious purpose or value and in the opinion of a reasonable person, would be considered to be manifestly unreasonable or disproportionate.

I can confirm that your request has the effect of harassing Police Scotland in the circumstances and is both a burden and significant waste of resources.

Notwithstanding the above, and in terms of our section 15 duty to advise and assist applicants, I can advise as follows.

Police Scotland was formed on 1 April 2013 as a result of the Police and Fire (Reform)(Scotland) Act 2012.

Further information can be found on our website - www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/

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Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding Data Protection and police driving can be found online: www.scotland.police.uk/spa-media/nmcnku3s/data-protection-sop.pdf www.scotland.police.uk/spa-media/rzjg2vhr/driver-training-sop.pdf

Previous FOI responses regarding the Police Scotland vehicle fleet (including registration numbers) can be found online: www.scotland.police.uk/search/?query=fleet

A list of custody facilities can be found online (end of document): www.scotland.police.uk/spa-media/0mfjn3pa/care-and-welfare-of-persons-in-police- custody-sop.pdf

Should you require any further assistance please contact Information Management - quoting the reference number given.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which Police Scotland has dealt with your request, you are entitled, in the first instance, to request a review of our actions and decisions.

Your request must specify the matter which gives rise to your dissatisfaction and it must be submitted within 40 working days of receiving this response - either by email to [email protected] or by post to Information Management (Disclosure), Police Scotland, Clyde Gateway, 2 French Street, Dalmarnock, G40 4EH.

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of that review, you are thereafter entitled to apply to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner within six months for a decision. You can apply online, by email to [email protected] or by post to Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS.

Should you wish to appeal against the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner's decision, there is an appeal to the Court of Session on a point of law only.

As part of our commitment to demonstrate openness and transparency in respect of the information we hold, an anonymised version of this response will be posted to the Police Scotland Freedom of Information Disclosure Log in seven days' time.

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