6:00am Thursday 9th July 2009
By Ben Barnett
Bradford MPs today demanded that West Yorkshire Police names the 13 on-the-run prisoners its officers are hunting.
The force has refused to disclose their identities or convictions to the Telegraph & Argus.
Police chiefs argue that it is not appropriate to make public the information for “policing reasons”.
Other forces around the country have taken a similar stance after it was revealed that almost 1,000 criminals are on the run in the UK when they should be behind bars.
But the district’s MPs have reacted with disbelief to the decision to hide the prisoners’ identities.
Shipley Conservative MP Philip Davies said: “It’s clearly unacceptable that so many prisoners are at large in the first place and I think it’s absolutely appalling for the police to turn round and say they are not going to release details.
“Once again the rights of criminals seem to have greater weight than the safety of the community.
“The police are constantly asking for information from the public but when the public wants information from the police they can’t get it – it’s completely unacceptable.”
Bradford West MP Marsha Singh (Lab) said he was “shocked” at the police’s stance.
He said: “The public have a fundamental right to know if people in their area are on the run.
“I can’t imagine circumstances where it is right to withhold these details. I think their pictures, names and last known addresses should be published in newspapers.
“I remember how effective it was in the riots and if we can publish the pictures of people who have not been charged or convicted, why can’t we do the same for convicts on the run?”
And Keighley Labour MP Ann Cryer said: “In my view West Yorkshire Police should be keen to disseminate the information and tell us if they were in open prisons or secure prisons as that would communicate the severity of the crime.”
Some police forces have claimed the Data Protection Act meant they could not publish the criminals’ names and pictures.
But the Information Commissioner has ruled that Data Protection rules do not require names to be kept secret.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Where publishing offenders’ details is the most appropriate way to help the police to catch criminals, then the law would not prevent them from doing so.”
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Any decision to disclose personal details is done on a case-by-case basis.
“Information should only be disclosed where there is a policing need to do so.
“There is no policing need for West Yorkshire Police to release the personal details of any of the individuals to the media.”
e-mail: ben.barnett @telegraphandargus.co.uk
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