c/o PO BOX 481
Fareham
Hampshire
PO14 9FS
Tel: 02380 674255
Email: [ACPO request email]
14/12/2011
Dear Mr Martin
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NUMBER: 000093/11
Applicant Question:
Please specify how many PNC checks you have carried out on behalf of the RSPCA in the 12 months period
Jan – Dec 2010.
Also specify which specific legislation enables the RSPCA (a private charity) to be classified as NPA (Non
Police Agency).
ACPO Response:
ACPO have a Service Level Agreement with the RSPCA in respect of providing Police National Computer (PNC) services. This has been in effect since April 2010 and I provide you with the breakdown of figures for these dates and also for the period January 2010 to 25/11/2011.
Please note that the figures detail the entries placed upon the PNC for the creation of records and also for the amount of checks of the PNC carried out.
April 2010 – Dec 2010:
Arrest Summons Notifications (ASN): 852
PNC Checks: 15
January 2011 – 25/11/2011
Arrest Summons Notifications (ASN): 1459
PNC Checks: 39
While the Protection of Animals Act 1911 does provide a power of arrest for police, case law has defined very clearly that Parliament did not intend any other organisation such as the RSPCA to be empowered under the Act and therefore the RSPCA does not have any powers of arrest, or entry or of search.
Like any other person or organisation that the law deems to have a duty to investigate – e.g., HM Customs & Excise, Local Authority Trading Standards – the RSPCA is expected to conform to the rules in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 so far as they relate to matters of investigation. RSPCA Officers are trained to state, following giving the caution, that the person is ‘not under arrest and can leave at any time’.
For your convenience I have provided you with a link to Wikipedia website however ACPO cannot confirm or guarantee its accuracy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals
If I can be of further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Sherry Traquair
Freedom of Information Officer & Decision Maker
www.acpo.police.uk
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_checks#incoming-235651
2 comments:
What a load of bollocks from ACPO. Those toads in the aRSePCA, have no duty to investigate. They have a charitable duty to educate the public about the welfare of animals. Nothing more, nothing less. Why do they need a "service level agreement" to breach the Data Protection Act with a bunch of Feral Fabian police? Tosh, and they know it!
I am surprised the police fall for this. By their standards any one of us could access the PNC, since we are ALL able to mount private prosecutions. Somehow I can't imagine the police allowing Joe Public to issue a caution, insist that people are arrested and then demand to interview victims on tape at police stations, but the RSPCA are Joe Public too...
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