Report Summary
This report describes how the Authority has had regard to island communities in carrying out its functions over the period April 2023 - March 2024.
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Section 1 - Case Study 2
Case Study 2
N Division Island Forensics – Supporting Highland and Islands Division with Police Officer Forensic Capture Training
SPA Forensic Services respond to demands for both acquisitive crimes and serious incidents across the Highlands and Islands.
The logistics of covering such a large geographic area mean that even urgent forensic attendance can take more than 24 hours to arrange and travel. This delay affects the return to normalcy for those affected by crimes and may require officers to guard crime scenes for extended periods, while awaiting the arrival of forensic staff.
To ensure resilience of service to the island communities, SPA Forensic Services undertook a programme to provide training to Detective Officers in N Division (this Division covers Highland, Shetland, Orkney and Western Isles Local Authorities). This tuition provided capability to Detective Officers for general daylight photography where there are no lighting challenges and some simple methods of fingerprint powder and lifting as well as DNA swabbing. SPA Forensic Services have since undertaken an additional programme of training for local Police Officers to improve the resilience of this service to the island communities.
The benefits of training additional officers is as follows:
Additional resilience across Island area Commands in relation to lower level, volume crime when CID are unavailable, or attendance prevented by inclement weather.
Improved public service who will/may be deprived of access/property for reduced timescales.
Development opportunity for Island officers.
