Police Force Vehicle Fleets
Request 1
1. Please identify the most powerful vehicle in your police fleet, according to
its power output (hp, bhp, or PS). Please include both day-to-day fleet
vehicles as well as show vehicles or educational vehicles.
2. Please identify the make, model and manufacturer year of the force fleet’s
most powerful vehicle.
3. How many examples of the said ‘most powerful’ vehicle does the force
currently have on its fleet?
Request 2
1. Annual cost for the last three years to maintain the force’s fleet of vehicles
(including servicing, replacement tyres, wear and tear, etc)
2. Annual cost for the last three years to repair accident-damaged vehicles.
3. Annual cost for the last three years to repair police vehicles damaged
through acts of vandalism (recorded separately from but included in
general 'repairs' to police vehicle fleets).
4. Number of vehicles written-off annually.
Response 1
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:
a. states that fact,
b. specifies the exemption in question and
c. states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
The following exemption applies to the disclosure of the information:
Section 31(1) - Law Enforcement
Section 31 (1) (a) (b) Law Enforcement states that information is exempt information if its disclosure under the Act would, or would likely to prejudice:
a) The prevention or detection of crime;
b) The apprehension or prosecution of offenders.
This exemption is a qualified and prejudice-based exemption and therefore the legislators accept that there may be harm if released. The authority has to consider and describe the harm that would occur if a full disclosure of information were released.
Harm
It is important to stress that disclosures under the Freedom of Information Act are disclosures to the world, not just to the individual making the request, and such responses may be published on a public facing disclosure log. Information about force fleet vehicles has always been in the public interest. Modern policing is technology led, and the use of vehicles is no different. They are paramount in effectively responding to crime and our capability to detect and prevent crime.
Disclosing the make, model, and VRM of our vehicles would likely lead to the targeting of them. Whilst probably not the intention of the requester, this information in the public domain could allow individuals, groups and/or crime organisations to monitor our tactical capabilities and could promote ways to avoid apprehension such as personal vehicle modification, or geographical avoidance, whereby criminals can confidently commit offenses and escape detection.
Additionally, individuals, groups or organisations wanting to cause disruption to our law enforcement capabilities may target vehicles which they perceive to be our “most powerful”, endangering the public in turn.
Public Interest Test
| Factors Favouring Disclosure | Factors Favouring Non-Disclosure |
| Disclosure would demonstrate openess and transparency from the force | The release of information would likely cause criminal monitoring of specific fleet vehicles, or vehicles of that type owned by the public, putting them in danger |
| To disclose would allow for real-time public debate on matters in the public interest | Will allow individuals, groups and/or organisations to modify their vehicles and practices to avoid detection and apprehension |
| The public have a right to understand how public funds are spent |
Balancing Test
I have carefully considered your request for information. The key test when considering the public interest is to establish whether in all the circumstances of the request, the public interest in disclosing the information is not outweighed by that in maintaining the exemption.
I am of the opinion that the factors favouring exemption outweigh the factors against. Therefore, we will not be disclosing the information for your request at this time.
The police force will not divulge any type information that would compromise our law enforcement capabilities.
As we have already stated, a Freedom of Information request is not just a release to the person making the request, but also to the world. It cannot be clear at present what effect disclosures made by a Freedom of Information response may have upon such enquiries.
Response 2
We approached our Fleet Systems Officer again with your request, and they provided us with the following data and explanation(s):
1. 2021 – 1,364,963.66
2022– 1,317,670.10
2023 – 1,346,851.72
2. 2021 - £607,817.898
2022 - £586,101.48
2023 - £710,036.40
3. We do not record this separately it would be included in accident damage.
4. 2021 – 21
2022 – 23
2023 – 36
Please note, every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that data has been extracted from data sources used by this force for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording systems and information assets.
The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures/data for any requests may have limitations, and this should be taken into account when those data are used.
Police forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures for capturing the data. For these reasons this response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with responses you may receive from other police forces.