When Requesters Become Intelligence
When you submit a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request to the police, do they simply consider the question … or do they quietly begin considering you?
A Freedom of Information request is supposed to be about the information asked for. But NPCC documents suggest that, behind the scenes, something else may also be happening; the requester is being identified, logged, compared, monitored and handled through a centralised national referral system designed to support “a joined up approach”.
- Applicant names retained for “intelligence led policing”.
- Repeat requester checks.
- Vexatious considerations.
- Applicants “working in concert”.
- And nationally circulated advice about named requesters.
This is not speculative — it is in the NPCC’s own paperwork.
An article examining what the National Police FOI Central Referral Unit appears to be doing, and why that should concern anyone who values applicant-blind transparency, is set out here.