FOI 464824
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 464824
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 23rd March 2026. Please find below the response to your request:
How many roadside drug tests were undertaken by the force in the last 12 months, or last calendar year? This would be Securetec and Drager devices, specifically for Section 5A potential offences.
Whichever of the 2 time periods is most convenient to collate, i.e. last 12 months or last calendar year.
Of this number, who many of these tests led to no further action as lab analysis did not detect any drug over the specified limit when blood analysis was performed by your forensic provider.
Conversely, what number led to Section 5A arrests?
Reply
Your request for information has been considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the Act”), and I am not obliged to provide the information requested.
S.12(1) of the Act states that a public authority is not obliged to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying with the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”. For police forces in England and Wales, the "appropriate limit" is £450 or 18 hours of work as set by the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
The information you have requested is not available in a readily retrievable format. There is no central register for this information and no way to retrieve the information by way of electronic searches as West Mercia Police do not collate the numbers of roadside drug tests administered. In order to accurately provide the number of roadside drug tests that have been carried out, and provide the associated information, a manual review of each individual officers’ Pocket Notebooks (PNB) would be required.
Therefore, in order to ascertain whether the information you have requested is held would take in excess of 18 hours as each record would have to be checked individually.
In accordance with s.17(5) of the Act, this acts as a Refusal Notice.
Under s.16 of the Act I have a duty to provide advice and assistance in relation to your request.
Unfortunately, due to the volume of records that would need to be reviewed I am unable to identify information that could be supplied within the fees limit.