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Annex 7 - ACPOS policy and guidance on disposal of crime records and productions

A. ACPOS POLICY ON DISPOSAL OF CRIME RECORDS & PRODUCTIONS

Introduction

This policy has been prepared in response to the need for standardisation across the Scottish Police Service in the retention and disposal of crime records and productions.

Serious Crime Enquiries

In general terms the expression 'Serious Crime Enquiry' means criminal investigations into exceptional cases. It is applied to crimes involving acts or attempts of:

• Murder, Culpable Homicide (including statutory) & Drug Related Deaths
• Serious & Series Sexual Offences
• Serious Violence
• Abduction involving Extortion
• Terrorism
• High Value Acquisitive Crime
• Major Drug Trafficking

Forces and Agencies may designate any type of case a Serious Crime Enquiry where, for specific reasons, there is a need to retain information for an extended period. Guidance has been prepared to assist Forces and Agencies apply common criteria to determine this.

The disposal of information gathered during Serious Crime Enquiries will be conducted as follows:

Undetected Cases

Retain until case is detected

Detected Cases

Retain for Current Year + 12 from the date made known to the police. Where an offender is detected more than 12 months after the date made known to the police, then the case should be retained for current year + 12 from the date on which the matter is reported to the relevant prosecuting authority. Individual cases may be reviewed and kept beyond this retention period. Such cases will be regularly reviewed.

Standard Crime Enquiries

All other criminal investigations will be designated 'Standard Crime Enquiries' and the disposal of information gathered during these enquiries will be conducted as follows:

Detected and Undetected Cases

Retain for Current Year + 6 from the date made known to the police. Individual cases may be reviewed and kept beyond this retention period. Such cases will be regularly reviewed.

Productions

The definition of a 'production' is that which is used to denote any animal, article, document, liquid, etc., which is alleged to have some connection with a crime or offence under review.

The disposal of productions will be conducted as follows:

Detected Cases

In detected cases (both Serious & Standard Crime Enquiries), Forces and Agencies will dispose of all productions following the conclusion of criminal proceedings unless instructed otherwise by the Court or the Crown. Any retention by the Police of productions

for longer periods can only be achieved through formal representation to or from the Procurator Fiscal and such retention will be reviewed on a regular basis.

Undetected Cases

Undetected Serious Crime Enquiry productions will be retained until the case is detected.

Undetected Standard Crime Enquiry productions will generally be retained for Current Year + 6 from the date made known to the police. Where a case assessment gives grounds for further retention of information eg the existence of unidentified DNA, productions should be retained in line with other records. In very minor undetected cases, Forces and Agencies should apply a lesser retention period of 2 years.

Records with Historical Value

It is recognised that certain criminal investigations are of intrinsic historical interest to society, whether on a national or local scale. Once there are no longer operational policing reasons to retain investigative material, consideration may be given to retain these records as historical archives. Such further retention will however be the exception rather than the rule.

B. ACPOS GUIDANCE TO FORCES AND AGENCIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACPOS POLICY FOR DISPOSAL OF CRIME RECORDS AND PRODUCTIONS

INTRODUCTION

These guidance notes have been prepared to assist Forces and Agencies apply common criteria in the application of the ACPOS Policy for Disposal of Crime Records and Productions. (It should be noted that separate provisions cater for the retention and disposal of Intelligence material in Scotland see ACPOS Recommended Record Retention Periods document.)

The policy categorises cases into two types; Serious Crime Enquiries and Standard Crime Enquiries. Each of these types is subdivided into Detected and Undetected cases. These guidance notes also make provision for the retention and disposal of Productions.

CRIME RECORDS

Serious Crime Enquiries

1. Murder, Culpable Homicide (including statutory) & Drug Related Deaths
2. Serious & Series Sexual Offences
3. Serious Violence
4. Abduction involving Extortion
5. Terrorism
6. High Value Acquisitive Crime
7. Major Drug Trafficking

The following guidance is provided to assist Forces and Agencies determine if a case should be categorised, for the purposes of the Policy, as a Serious Crime Enquiry.

1. Murder, Culpable Homicide (including statutory) & Drug Related Deaths

This category includes:

• Any contravention of Sections 1 or 3A of the Road Traffic Act 1988
• Any Drug Related Death as defined in the 1994 Scottish Office Ministerial Drugs Task Force Report

2. Serious & Series Sexual Offences

This category includes:

• Cases which will require a sex offender assessment to be conducted on release and where the custodial sentence exceeds the initial retention period
• All incidents of rape or sodomy (both Common Law and Statute)
• All incidents of incest committed against children (both Common Law and Statute, but excluding circumstances where all parties are children and willing participants)
• The following crimes when committed by a stranger against a child (for the purposes of these guidelines, a stranger is defined as 'a person not previously known to')
• Abduction of a child with intent to rape
• Assault with intent to rape or ravish
• Indecent assault
• Lewd, indecent or libidinous behaviour or practices
• Section 106(1) of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 (c.36) (have unlawful sexual intercourse with a mentally handicapped female)
• Section 8 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 (abduction of girl under 18 for the purposes of unlawful intercourse).
• The following crimes when committed against a child:
• Section 107(1) of the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 (being in a position of trust have unlawful sexual intercourse with a mentally handicapped female)
• Section 10 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation)(Scotland) Act 1995 (person having parental responsibilities causing or encouraging sexual activity in relation to a girl under 16)
• Section 3 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 (c.44) (abuse of position in trust), where the offender was 20 or over
• Section 311(1) of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (asp 13) (non-consensual acts).
• Section 313(1) of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (persons providing care services: sexual offences)

The above list should not be considered exhaustive. Less serious sexual crimes often demonstrate the beginning or part of an escalation in offending behaviour which, when linked to more serious crimes, provide significant corroborative evidence. For that reason such cases should be considered on their own merits. Thought should therefore also be given to:

• The presence of outstanding physical forensic evidence in the enquiry
• The existence of information or intelligence suggesting the crime may be part of a sequence of offending behaviour

3. Serious Violence

This category includes:

• Any serious assault where:
• There is involvement of a firearm or imitation
• A victim suffers significant permanent impairment
• A victim suffers signifiant permanent disfigurement
• There has been endangerment to life

4. Abduction involving Extortion

This category includes:

• Cases where the abduction is resolved prior to any demand being issued but evidence or intelligence exists to suggest the motive was extortion

5. Terrorism

This category is defined as:

• Any act of terrorism

6. High Value Acquisitive Crime

This category includes:

• Robberies involving cash or property to the value of £50,000 or more non-violent acquisitive crime and cases of seizure or restraints under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 involving cash or property to the value of £100,000 or more

This category does not normally include:

• Acquisitive crimes involving clandestine possession (eg Section 178 Road Traffic Act 1988)

7. Major Drug Trafficking

This category includes:

• Enquiries involving the importation or exportation of controlled drugs (including offences under Customs and Excise Management Act, 1979)
• Any case of domestic (United Kingdom) drug trafficking involving a monetary street value of £100,000 or more

Discretion

For the purposes of record retention, Forces and Agencies may designate any type of case a serious crime enquiry or may extend record retention where considered appropriate. The following general factors should be considered if reviewing a standard crime enquiry, to determine whether it falls into the more serious category:

• Involves ongoing operational issues
• Has significant impact on policing strategy
• Causes grave public concern or has significant impact on the community or general society
• Involves substantial police resources
• Involves landmark developments in policing methods (eg new forensic techniques, case law)
• Has significant witness protection issues
• Is likely to attract significant media or external scrutiny
• Forces may specifically wish to consider extended retention for a crime enquiry with any of the following attributes:
• Involves serious damage to property (£100,000 or more)
• Involves unidentified forensic evidence
• Involves an accused who absconded or cannot yet be brought to justice
• Involves a custodial sentence exceeding the initial retention period
• Is the subject of a notified appeal, dispute, complaint or civil litigation

Where a decision is taken to extend record retention, details of the decision maker, the reason for retention, and date of the decision must be recorded.

Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission ( SCCRC)

Records must not be destroyed in instances where notification to preserve records has been received from the SCCRC.

Records with Historical Value

When selecting cases for permanent preservation and designation as historical archives, the following aspects may be considered:

• Had significant impact on policing strategy
• Caused grave public concern or had significant impact on the community or general society
• Involved substantial police resources
• Involved landmark developments in policing methods (eg new forensic techniques, case law)
• Attracted or is likely to attract significant media or external scrutiny

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