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 What We Do Police HMIC |
SCOTTISH CRIMINAL RECORD OFFICE
FINGERPRINT SECTION
SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT
SCRO Fingerprint Section seeks to deliver the best possible quality of service in pursuit of its declared organisational objectives.
To achieve this it is expected that those, outwith SCRO, who use and contribute to the Fingerprint Service address and meet their responsibilities in respect of the quality of information input to the system. In particular, it is expected that:-
a) Police Forces should ensure that those individuals who fall within the recommended criteria are fingerprinted and all tenprint forms to be submitted to SCRQ timeously regardless of local procedures.
('Recommended criteria' means those individuals who come into Police custody on charges related to class 1-5 crimes.)
b) Fingerprints should he of an acceptable standard and textual information should be complete and accurate and the fingerprints recorded on the appropriate form.
(Forms which contain an unacceptable standard of fingerprint impressions or incomplete/incorrect detail will result in the tenprint form being rejected without being processed.)
c) No fingerprint forms should be kept locally to the exclusion of SCRO.
(SCRO should retain the definitive Scottish fmgerprint database.)
d) Documentation accompanying Scene of Crime cases should be complete and accurate.
(Failure to do so will result in cases and documentation being returned without being processed.)
e) Every effort should be made to obtain appropriate elimination fingerprints.
(If no eliminations are received at SCRO and there is no satisfactory explanation for this absence then the appropriate associated marks in such cases will be checked on the AFR system but will not be retained on the database.)
Having expressed these expectations SCRO undertakes to deliver the following service:-
a) Tenprint fingerprint forms will be processed within two working days of being received at SCRO.
('Processed' means being checked to verify identify and, if a first offender, insert fmgerprints on AFR database and search against all outstanding marks. 'Working days' means Monday - Friday inclusive, but does not include public holidays.)
b) SCRO will publish and adhere to the approved input and weeding policy in respect of the AFR system.
(In summary this states that:-
Cases received at SCRO which display insufficient or inaccurate detail in the form 13 will be returned to the force of origin for rectification without being processed. Except in extenuating circumstances, ie serious crime and protracted enquiries, marks which have been input and searched on the database will not remain on the system unless elimination fingerprints, where applicable, have been obtained. Except in extenuating circumstances, ie serious crime and protracted enquiries, marks will only remain on the database for a period of two years. Forces will be routinely notified prior to marks being removed from the system.)
c) Serious crime cases will be prioritised and processed by SCRO Fingerprint Section as quickly as possible. A 'Special Case' section will be maintained for this purpose. Furthermore in such cases SCRO will, if a local search proves negative, undertake to check all suitable marks against the AFR database, subject to any parameters set following assessment by SCRO Fingerprints.
('Serious Crime' will include the normally accepted classification of murder, attempt murder, rape, etc. or any other crime considered to fall into that category. The final decision as to what constitutes serious crime in this context will remain with the Officer in Charge of SCRO Fingerprints who will take into account the circumstances surrounding the case and other current demands of the section. 'Suitable marks' means marks likely to be recorded on the database. Some examples of unsuitable marks are marks that are fragmentary, insufficient or distorted, palmar impressions, tips of fingers and flexures.)
d) In routine or non-serious crime cases SCRO will strive to process these within ten but in any event within twenty days of receipt at SCRO.
(The reason for setting this flexible timescale is that prioritisation of serious crime may significantly effect routine turnaround times as resources are diverted to deal with more urgent work. 'Processing' means that marks related to such cases will initially be assessed by an SCRO fingerprint 'expert' and only those considered appropriate will be searched on the AFR system. No guarantees can be made to check all marks in non-serious crimes against the whole database because of the resource implications at SCRO. In addition SCRO will carry out suspect and elimination comparisons where necessary. 'Working days' means Monday to Friday inclusive but does not include public holidays.)
e) When an identification is made on the AFR system the following procedure will take place where the originating Force is one which maintains a Fingerprint Bureau with court going fingerprint officers:
(i) When a 'hit' is generated by AFR an expert from SCRO will confirm that the tenprint on the file relates to the individual recorded on the database and when this is conclusively established the Unique Reference Number (URN) of that individual will be communicated to the Bureau where the case originated.
(ii) Bureau, on receipt of this information, will carry out their own comparisons with copies of the relevant tenprint forms supplied by SCRO.
(iii) Where multiple accused in a case are suspected, marks other than those first input, will be given additional searches on AFR. The relevant court preparation for that case will be compiled by local experts and will require no unnecessary comparison by SCRO staff.
(iv) Once identification of an individual is positively obtained SCRO should be contacted by the Force in order that the appropriate action be taken in respect of the relevant case.
('Hits' obtained from the AFR workstation at Lothian and Borders Headquarters will continue to be compared by Lothian and Borders Police personnel who will also give evidence to that effect. Lothian and Borders Police therefore will be unaffected by the foregoing. Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, Northern Constabulary and Strathclyde Police will continue to be served in respect of fingerprint comparisons by SCRO and will not be effected by the foregoing procedures.)
e) SCRO will fulfil the court requirement in respect of fingerprint evidence for Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, Northern Constabulary and Strathclyde Police.
f) SCRO will prepare and publish Quality Assurance (QA) procedures in respect of system, equipment and individual performance monitoring.
(1) Details of a proposed QA Pilot Scheme includes five key areas of departmental work and can be outlined, viz., The introduction of weekly checks of the AFR system where standard tenprint forms and marks are input to ensure the accuracy, reliability and integrity of the system.
The AFR system is without doubt a very valuable aid to the fingerprint expert. It is nevertheless only contracted to be 98% accurate in respect of tenprint to tenprint searching and 60% accurate in relation to mark to tenprint searching. Despite this SCRO by way of Quality Assurance will fully investigate cases missed in the above categories, and review any procedures deemed necessary.
(iii) In crimes of a serious nature where marks are submitted to SCRO Fingerprints, these marks will be assessed and input to the AFR system. If no 'hit' is obtained, the marks will be re-assessed and input by another expert who has not previously been involved in the case.
(iv) In routine cases, marks that are deemed suitable for search on the AFR system are input by one expert, and if no 'hit' is obtained they are either retained on the database or removed. A quality control scheme will be introduced, whereby 1 0% of marks input spread across the eight Scottish Forces will be re-assessed and re-input by another person. This form of Quality Assurance will enable an assessment of the effectiveness of the system and the individuals.
(v) Performance monitoring and competency testing using declared (known) and undeclared (unknown) trials will be introduced to examine the results achieved by fingerprint staff
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