FOI Green Notices issued 2018-2022 (0730-2022/23)

Request

Where the police believe a ‘person to be a possible threat to public safety’ when travelling abroad, they may decide to issue a Green Notice through the Interpol Criminal Information System. If a Green Notice is issued then customs/immigration staff in other countries will be aware of it when a passport is scanned.

Please could you provide the following information regarding notices to Interpol:

1. How many Green Notices have been issued by your police force to Interpol regarding people convicted of child sex crimes in the following years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

2. As of 25/11/2022 how many live Green Notices are recorded by your police force Interpol regarding people convicted of child sex crimes?

Being on the Sexual Offenders Register means that you have to notify the police of all foreign travel.

Please could you provide the following information regarding notifications of foreign travel.

4. How many notifications of foreign travel were submitted to your police force by Registered Sex Offenders in the following years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
5. How many of these notifications were in regards to travel to The Gambia?

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that some of the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.

Response 

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.

Question 1 & 2. North Yorkshire Police will neither Confirm Nor Deny that any information is held, by virtue of s27(4) International Relations, and s31(3) Law Enforcement.  Please see the exemption explanation below.

Question 3. Please find below the number of notifications of foreign travel that were submitted to our police force by Registered Sex Offenders in the following years.

Question 4. North Yorkshire Police will neither Confirm Nor Deny that any infoamtio is held, by virtue of s27(4) International Relations, and s31(3) Law Enforcement.  Please see the exemption explanation below.

Exemption Explanation

The duty to confirm or deny in regards to your request for information.

The Freedom of Information Act is applicant and motive blind. Any information disclosed under the Act is a disclosure to the world at large and would be disclosed to any individual upon request. For this reason a request under the Act cannot be a private transaction. Both the request itself, and any information which may be disclosed, are considered suitable for open publication. 

Section 1(1) (a) of FOIA requires a public authority to inform a requestor whether it holds the information specified in the request.  This is known as the ‘the duty to confirm or deny’. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) states, however, that ‘there may be occasions when complying with the duty to confirm or deny under section 1(1) (a) would itself disclose sensitive or potentially damaging information that falls under an exemption...in these circumstances the Act allows a public authority to respond by refusing to confirm or deny whether it holds the requested information. This is called a ‘neither confirm nor deny’ (NCND) response.’ 

Overall Harm for s27 International Relations and s31 Law Enforcement

Modern-day policing is intelligence led, and North Yorkshire Police works in partnership with other agencies in order to combat a variety of threats. Confirming or denying that specific information exists relevant to this request would seriously undermine this partnership approach in respect of measures concerning public protection.

INTERPOL Notices are international alerts used by police to communicate information about crimes, criminals and threats to their counterparts around the world. They are circulated by INTERPOL to all member countries at the request of a country or an authorised international entity. The information disseminated via notices concerns individuals wanted for serious crimes, missing persons, unidentified bodies, possible threats, prison escapes and criminals’ modi operandi. Notices offer high visibility for serious crimes or incidents.

Particular to this request, an INTERPOL Green Notice provides warnings and criminal intelligence about persons who have committed criminal offences, and who may be likely to repeat these crimes elsewhere in the world. As such, Green Notices are not restricted to warnings and intelligence in respect of individuals who only pose a risk of committing Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE).  Confirming or denying whether any information is held relevant to the request would show where policing interest has or has not occurred in a specific area, which opens the door to further requests about any other threats to public safety that might be communicated by use of the INTERPOL system. This would enable those engaged in criminal activity to identify the focus of policing targets, and could be used to the advantage of the criminal fraternity. 

In addition, confirming or denying any information is held in relation to notifications to travel country by country would reveal whether or not INTERPOL Green Notices may have been circulated as a result, thus indicating to anyone interested in such matters that the chances of entering into certain countries is greater than others, which in turn may present those countries as a more attractive destination. Confirmation or denial would therefore cause offenders to attempt to circumvent travel routes in order to avoid notification being made to their country of destination; in this case placing children at greater risk of sexual exploitation as a result.

Overall, Information that undermines the integrity of these intelligence sharing activities will adversely affect public safety within any other member country, including Gambia, and would have a negative impact on both international relations and law enforcement.

S27 - Factors in favour of confirming or denying information is held – It is accepted that releasing information about North Yorkshire Police’s international work would be of interest to the public. It is agreed that disclosing this information would bring greater transparency and aid the public in being able to see the nature of the work North Yorkshire Police does and how it supports international policing.  This international sharing of knowledge contributes to tackling crime globally which, in turn, is likely to strengthen public perceptions of personal safety.

S27 – Factors against confirming of denying information is held  - The importance of building and maintaining goodwill within international relations cannot be underestimated. By confirming or denying whether North Yorkshire Police has circulated specific information (intelligence) amongst global law enforcement agencies would undermine the relationship and trust built up between police forces and international agencies to the detriment of any future enquiries that may be conducted. A compromise to intelligence sharing could lead to fewer successful international investigations, contrary to the public interest.

S31 - Factors in favour of confirming or denying information is held – Confirmation or denial of this information would lead to better public awareness about how, and where the force undertakes work with other countries in order to tackle threats to Child Sexual Exploitation. It would allow further understanding of potential criminal international threats and show whether the force is addressing this in a proactive way.

S31 - Factors against confirming or denying information is held – Confirmation or denial any information is held would reveal whether or not North Yorkshire Police has actively shared intelligence in respect of a specific threat to public protection, and to which countries. This would compromise the forces’ ability to engage and assist overseas police forces and agencies in tackling other international threats. This would assist the criminal fraternity in understanding the intelligence picture, which they could then exploit for further gain. The safety of the public is of paramount importance to policing purposes, and any increase in crime would place the public at risk of harm.

Balance Test

Whilst there is a public interest in the transparency of how North Yorkshire Police supports international policing, there is a very strong public interest in safeguarding the flow of intelligence sharing with outside agencies, including police forces abroad.

As much as there is a public interest in knowing that policing activity is appropriate and balanced this will only be overridden in exceptional circumstances. As discussed above for this case. Intelligence sharing is a sensitive issue and therefore it is our opinion that for the reasons given confirmation or denial that any information is held, at this time, is not made out.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.