24.08.12
Police device examination pilot to be rolled out
A pilot to speed up police examinations of technological devices used by criminals is set to be extended to all forces after it resulted in five forces achieving a 90% increase in devices examined.
The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) has run a six month pilot involving five forces across the East Midlands: Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.
The aim of the project was to standardise the approach for requesting an examination of a device, which currently varies from force to force. It assessed how best to examine the device by prioritising against several factors, including the risk to the victim, the threat posed by the offender and the seriousness of the crime.
Following the success of the pilot, the NPIA is now working to make the model available to all forces from next month.
Simon Bramble, head of Police Science and Forensics at the NPIA said: “The pilot has been a great success helping forces increase the amount of electronic devices examined and significantly reducing the time it takes to do this.
“This is another good example of how the NPIA works with the police service to deliver initiatives that provide more for less and help support frontline officers to protect our communities.”
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead on eForensics, deputy chief constable Paul Crowther, said: “With the emergence of technology impacting on many crime types, the police service has recognised that all police forces were spending an increasing amount of time, money and staff on interrogating electronic devices and mobiles phones.
“This project has dramatically reduced the time taken over each device and has also made a massive impact into case loads.”
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