Time for a review of RSPCA Animal Charity's Bullyboy Tactics ?: August 2013

POLICE FORCES GIVE POLICE COMPUTER ACCESS TO RSPCA

ORDINARY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC (IF THEY WORK FOR THE RSPCA) CAN ACCESS PNC AND CRIMINAL RECORDS, CARRY OUT VEHICLE CHECKS AND OBTAIN ANY INFORMATION HELD BY THE POLICE.

Below are extracts from FOI's submitted to all English and Welsh Police Forces, they all share RESTRICTED information with the RSPCA, many Forces even let the RSPCA Employee have direct access!

The RSPCA has a local information sharing agreement with Norfolk Constabulary. The RSPCA undertakes prosecutions in relation to persons who have committed offences involving animals. Within Norfolk these prosecution details are updated onto the Police National Computer (PNC) by Norfolk Constabulary and PNC information is provided in support of these. In addition to this, the Constabulary will undertake vehicle checks in support of an ongoing investigation.

As detailed in our previous response there are 9 members of the RSPCA who are authorised to undertake these enquiries with Norfolk Constabulary.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/89903/response/223549/attach/3/Response%20Letter.pdf

There is no central recording of these PNC checks but it is possible to carry out transaction

enquiries on the PNC database using relevant search criteria. There are 9 members of the RSPCA who are authorised to undertake these enquiries with Norfolk Constabulary.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/84775/response/213411/attach/3/Response%20Letter.pdf

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/89908/response/222923/attach/2/03384.pdf

How many Employees of the RSPCA, or individuals working on behalf of the RSPCA are authorised by your Police Force to make PNC, STORM or other information/data enquiries on all or any systems you operate.

Two RSPCA officers have been given the facility to request PNC vehicle registration keeper details in relation to urgent request for information.

Please specify if these individuals have direct or indirect access to such information and systems.

This is indirect access. The RSPCA Officer contacts Devon & Cornwall Police and provides detailed security responses to questions to enable a request for information from the Police National Computer.

Any request the RSPCA make to the Police are covered by the Data Protection Act Section 29(3) and risk assessed by the Police before any response is made.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_8

The RSPCA have an agreement with the ACPO Criminal Records Office (ACRO) in order to request conviction histories from the PNC when the RSPCA have impending prosecutions against an individual. The RSPCA do not have direct access to the PNC systems, and these requests are all processed centrally by ACRO staff in Hampshire.

Within Lancashire, one RSPCA employee has been authorised to request additional information from the PNC via the force’s PNC Bureau. This is usually vehicle data, and must be in respect of an investigation which the RSPCA have the power to conduct. Again, this individual does not have any direct access to the PNC.
Lancashire Constabulary does not currently have a formal Information Sharing Agreement in place with the RSPCA, although work is understood to be underway to create a nationally standardised agreement for all police forces. At present, the RSPCA and its employees can submit requests for the disclosure of relevant information held on the force’s local information systems, providing it can be evidenced that these checks are required in order to investigate a suspected criminal offence, and subject to the assessment of the requested information by the force.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_18

Should the RSPCA require Kent Police to share specific information with them in order to support a ‘policing purpose’, defined as, “protecting life and property, preserving order, preventing the commission of offences, bringing offenders to justice and any duty or responsibility of the police arising from common or statute law” then there is policy and legislation which supports this.
Information relating to this can be found within Kent Police Policy D14, Appendix B which is
available to view at: http://www.kent.police.uk/about_us/policies/d/d14.html.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/89897/response/221928/attach/3/11%2010%20172%20Response%20Letter.pdf

The RSPCA may approach the Police for assistance, for example in obtaining a warrant to enter property, etc but they do not have access to any systems.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_10#incoming-222720

The RSPCA often have local agreements with Police Forces where they can
ask for checks (mainly PNC) to be done and if this is the case there would
also be an agreement in place such as a Memorandum of Understanding or
Information Sharing Protocol and it would be a designated Police SPOC to
RSPCA SPOC via the Data Protection Act (DPA) sec 29(3). Any official
request the RSPCA make to the Police would be covered by DPA Sec 29(3) and
risk assessed by the Police before any response is made.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_22#incoming-221561

No RSPCA staff have access to Police systems.

However, the Control Room staff have a file that contains 7 names and specific details of staff from the RSPCA who can, if they provide all the details relative to their names which we hold on file, and a specific password for their name, we will then conduct certain PNC checks on their behalf.
PNC (Police National Computer) is the only system they are allowed access to under this system of identification.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_2

I have been advised that the RSPCA often have local
agreements with Police Forces where they can ask for checks (mainly PNC)
to be done and if this is the case there would be an agreement in place
such as a Memorandum of Understanding or Information Sharing Protocol and
it would be a designated Police SPOC to RSPCA SPOC via the DPA sec 29(3).
Any official request the RSPCA make to the Police would be covered by DPA
Sec 29(3) and risk assessed by the Police before any response is made.
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_33

On a case by case base, where lawful authority is demonstrated, R.S.P.C.A. staff may seek access to relevant information on police systems, e.g. under the provisions of section 29(3), Data Protection Act, 1998. Each application would be individually considered.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/rspca_pnc_storm_data_access_21

Your Police Force not listed? You can find a full list of replies to FOI's regarding Police CRB, PNC information etc being shared with the RSPCA here;

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/richard_martin

ARCHBISHOP SNUBS POLITICISED RSPCA

The Archbishop of Canterbury has abandoned decades of Church leadership of the RSPCA by rejecting a traditional post at the top of the charity.
The decision by Justin Welby to turn down the role of vice-patron will rock an organisation facing accusations that it has lost its way. A series of court cases has led to claims that it has become too aggressive and politicised in pursuing farmers and vulnerable pet-owners.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/faith/article3845374.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_08_16

BBC INVESTIGATE THE RSPCA

CLICK TO HEAR BBC PROGRAMME

For almost 200 years, the RSPCA has been the nation's conscience on animal welfare. But more recently questions are being asked about how the organisation is changing.
There are claims that it is too quick to prosecute vulnerable people - the elderly, people with mental health issues or mobility problems - rather than advising them or helping them better look after their pets. Some never get over the shock of being raided by the police and RSPCA - even if they're later completely cleared of any wrongdoing. They suspect that front page coverage of RSPCA raids may be at least partly motivated by a desire for donation-boosting publicity.
And vets and lawyers claim to have been unfairly targeted because they've stood up against the RSPCA in court.
Face the Facts investigates how the RSPCA is changing and whether it is in danger of losing its way.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037v4fp

EX RSPCA PROSECUTOR "JUDGE" SHUTS HORSE SANCTUARY

CORRUPTION OR JUSTICE? SHOULD JUDGE ANDREW MEACHIN DELARE HIS RSPCA PAST?
VICTIM SUE HENDERSON DOESNT FEEL JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE

A JUDGE who previously worked extensively for the RSPCA has forced the closure of a sanctuary for sick and injured horses that has been used by the police.
The owner, Susan Henderson, is appealing against the judgment after she was banned from working with animals for 10 years, given an eight-week suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay the charity £7,000 costs.
Her solicitor described the sentence as “savage” and criticised the judge (Andrew Meachin) for not declaring that he had worked for the RSPCA until last October.
Simon Hart, the Tory MP and former chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said it was “absolutely extraordinary” that the judge had not declared the potential conflict of interest.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Environment/article1298928.ece

THE RSPCA ARE SPYING ON YOU!

The RSPCA is using a sensitive police database nearly 1,500 times a year under a deal giving it privileged access to criminal records.
The animal welfare charity is using the Police National Computer (PNC) an average of 124 times every month in relation to prosecutions it brings.
The scale of its activity raised concerns yesterday as the records are usually regarded as so sensitive that employers – even in the public sector and involved in working with children – do not have access to them.
Critics accuse the charity of increasing ‘militancy’ by focusing on expensive political stunts and strong-arm tactics at the expense of its core mission to protect animals.
Information Commissioner Christopher Graham is to investigate the deal struck in 2010 between the police and the RSPCA.
Under the agreement with the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), a private company, the RSPCA can request a criminal record check, paying Acpo at least £35 per search.
Last night Tory MP Simon Hart, former head of the Countryside Alliance, said: ‘If any other political organisation had access to the PNC there would be widespread public concern.
‘This is an increasingly politically driven animal rights group which is a shadow of its welfare origins. I will be writing to the Home Secretary and Attorney General to seek clarity as to whether any pressure group can have similar access.’
The deal allows the RSPCA to request information about the criminal records of suspects, witnesses, defendants and victims.

In one 19-month period it made 54 of these detailed checks on the PNC, which would reveal any convictions, cautions, warnings, reprimands and impending prosecutions.
But the bulk of its use of the PNC came as RSPCA officials created fresh records on the database of their own suspects.
During the same 19-month period the charity added 2,311 records of people it intended to prosecute so that their data could be seen by police.
Other organisations holding agreements with Acpo are state bodies such as the Civil Aviation Authority and the Food Standards Agency.
The RSPCA, which yesterday revealed that it secured 4,168 animal welfare and cruelty convictions last year, up from 2,441 three years ago, claims it accesses the computer to update records of its prosecutions.
But it has been severely criticised in recent months for being too aggressive in prosecutions and campaigns.
A Conservative councillor who served as election agent for James Gray, a pro-hunting MP, was prosecuted for unlawful hunting, but the case was dropped at the 11th hour. A judge criticised the animal charity for bringing the prosecution even though nobody had seen a fox.
Sir Barney White-Spunner, who heads the Countryside Alliance, called for the RSPCA’s access to police files to be stopped until it is proved lawful.
He said: ‘The RSPCA is neither a public body nor a statutory prosecuting force, it is a campaigning charity with an increasingly militant animal rights agenda.
‘The disclosure of highly personal information held on police databases to the organisation could pose significant risks to the individual concerned.’
An Acpo spokesman said the charity has ‘indirect’ access, which does not include firearms licensing, vehicle registrations or information unrelated to particular prosecutions.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2384621/RSPCA-accesses-sensitive-police-files-124-times-month-Concerns-raised-deal-allows-charity-use-documents-prosecutions-brings.html

RSPCA accused of using criminal prosecutions to increase revenue

The RSPCA is facing calls to give up its role as a criminal prosecutor following claims that it is using court cases as a means of increasing its revenue.

In the past two years the number of convictions the RSPCA has secured has almost doubled, despite no increase in calls to its cruelty telephone hotline.

Over the same period, donations to the RSPCA have increased by more than 10 per cent, and the salaries of its top executives have rocketed.
Gavin Grant, the chief executive of the charity, admitted to a BBC investigation that there was “a link” between high-profile prosecutions and increased donations, but denied that court cases were used to increase income.
The RSPCA is the second-biggest prosecutor of criminal cases in England and Wales, after the Crown Prosecution Service. Unlike the CPS, which handles cases investigated by the police, the RSPCA acts as both investigator and prosecutor.

Critics say the system is open to abuse, as investigators have a vested interest in seeing their cases successfully prosecuted. They have accused the RSPCA of heavy-handedness, citing cases in which pet owners or animal sanctuaries have been raided on flimsy pretences without any prosecutions resulting. In contrast, the Scottish equivalent of the RSPCA, the SSPCA, passes its case files to the procurator fiscal to ensure impartiality in decisions over prosecution.
Jonathan Rich, a barrister who has defended people prosecuted by the RSPCA, said: “The RSPCA needs to stop prosecuting. It needs to put cases together and present them to the CPS.”
David Smith, a vet, said: “I can only think they are after publicity and they think they are going to get more money into the charity.”
In 2010, the RSPCA had 1.63 million calls to its cruelty hotline and secured 2,441 court convictions. By last year, convictions had risen to 4,168 despite calls remaining static. In the same period its charitable income rose from £101 million to £112 million, and the salary of its chief executive increased from about £105,000 (when he was the only member of staff earning more than £100,000) to about £155,000 (when he was one of four staff paid more than £100,000).

Mr Grant told Radio 4’s Face the Facts: “There is a link [between prosecutions and donations] in the sense that a large number of people applaud and are enthusiastic that the RSPCA is prepared to bring animal abusers to justice and are prepared to fund our work.”
But he denied that prosecutions were being used as a shop window for fundraising, saying: “They are a direct way of saying to people out there you should treat animals with compassion and respect.”
The Countryside Alliance has said the charity is becoming increasingly “militant” in its use of prosecutions, many of which were “politically motivated”, such as cases brought against hunt members. Barney White-Spunner, the alliance’s executive chairman, said: “Surely we have a Crown Prosecution Service precisely to prevent that sort of abuse?”