Report Summary
This report provides members of the Forensic Services Committee with an overview of Forensic Services Director's Report.
Meeting
The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below
Forensics Services Committee - 10 August 2023
Date : 10 August 2023
Location : online
Scenes Benchmarking
Following discussions at the Forensic Services Committee about differences in regional recovery rates by Scene Examiners we have started to bench mark these. An initial review did not show concerning behaviours and the new National Tasking Unit, which went live on 3rd April 2023, has brought a consistency of response to Police Scotland requests and an increase in the value of attendances.
While initial indications are that recovery rates have increased since the Tasking Unit started, more extended data will be needed before a robust analysis can be made - including the impact of the transition to the New Operating Model for Search and Recovery - Scenes on 3rd July 2023. Once this analysis is complete, we can then make a more detailed comparison with similar UK providers and we have been in contact with Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Surrey, Sussex and the Met.
Future benchmarking will include:
Criteria for attendance at scenes;
Samples recovered – numbers and categories (fingerprints, DNA, trace evidence);
Samples progressed to analysis in laboratories;
Response time to scenes;
Value added to investigative process.
