Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service

The complainant requested a copy of a report compiled by a senior Metropolitan Police Service officer about its “deep undercover unit”. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) told the complainant that it did not hold the report. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation, the MPS cited section 14(1) (vexatious) in respect of the request. In this case, having considered the context and history of the request, the Commissioner considers that there are sufficient grounds to uphold the application of section 14(1). However, he found procedural errors in the MPS’s handling of the request.