Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service

The complainant requested information about the ethnicity of people stopped at SO15 Ports under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. The organisation to which he made the request forwarded it to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The MPS confirmed it held the requested information but refused to provide it on the basis that it was exempt from disclosure by virtue of sections 24 (national security) and 31 (law enforcement). The Commissioner has investigated and found that the exemption provided by section 24 was correctly applied. He therefore requires no steps to be taken. The Commissioner also identified a series of procedural shortcomings on the part of the public authority.