Offensive Leaflets/Posters

I would like to know the number of people sanctioned by your police authority for distributing leaflets/posters judged to be offensive.  I would like statistics for the past three years of records. If this is not possible – for reasons of logistics or cost - then please just send me the last year of available statistics.

I would like to know:

1. The number of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PND, or on-the-spot fines) for people distributing ‘offensive’  leaflets/posters. (This is likely to fall under the PND of causing ‘harrassment, alarm or distress’, which should be a recorded PND).
2. The number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) for people distributing ‘offensive’ leaflets/posters. (If possible, please state the nature of the ASBO).
3. The number of other criminal sanctions (please state whether these were warnings, cautions, arrests, prosecutions or convictions) of people distributing ‘offensive’ leaflets/posters. (The person is likely to be prosecuted under offences of using 'threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour', or causing ‘harassment, alarm or distress’.)

In accordance with section 1(1) (a) of the Act our response is provided below;

From our preliminary assessment, we estimate that compliance with your request would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12 of the Freedom of information Act 2000. This is currently £450. The reason for this is that the only way we could extract such data to answer your questions, if any exists, is to manually examine each of the 4,940 offences of 'threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour', or causing 'harassment, alarm or distress' that have been recorded over the period of interest. This would take several weeks , (over 400 hours of work) for one staff member and would clearly exceed the appropriate limit. Even information for one year would exceed those cost limits.

The appropriate limit is defined in the Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004, which is covered by statutory Instrument Number 3244 of 2004. Furthermore, Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows a public authority to refuse to respond to a request for information where the cost of compliance would exceed the appropriate limit as defined by the above mentioned regulations.

We cannot therefore confirm that we hold the information requested.

I am unable to suggest a realistic alternative to bring this request to a manageable proportions. What I can say from preliminary enquiries that there does not appear to have been any Anti Social Behaviour Orders issued either by the criminal courts or through application to the courts by us or our partners.