Police casefiles and evidence archives

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.029963

I note you seek access to the following information:

I would like to request the following information: answers to the attached questionnaire.

As this information is required for a Master’s dissertation on police case files and evidence materials archives in England and Wales, I would welcome any offer of further contact to comment on these answers, perhaps through phone interviews. I have provided some space in the questionnaire to address this.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - What is your current position with regards to the following regulations? Please, comment your answers.

National Digital and Physical Evidence Retention Guidance (2021)
 Aware of it
 Implementing it
Review, retention and disposal. Authorised Professional Practice (APP) (2013:2023)
 Aware of it
 Implementing it
Codes of Practice and Conduct for Forensic Science Providers and Practitioners in the Criminal Justice System (FSR-C-100)
 Aware of it
 Implementing it
NPCC Forensic Retention guidance (2021)
 Aware of it
 Implementing it
College of Policing Archiving of records in the public interest (APP) (2021)
 Aware of it
 Implementing it

Q2 - Do you ever appraise and archive case files & materials for their historical significance, value for research or for public interest? Please describe your practice.

Yes, The MPS have a team that work in line with the Public Records Act. This Act ensures that records of historical significance are identified and transferred to The National Archives for permanent preservation. The Public Records Act places an obligation on the MPS to review files when they reach 20 years old. At this point they need to be either transferred, disposed or retained in the MPS on a temporary basis under what is called a retention instrument.

Compliance with the Public Records Act means that all our files must be reviewed in order to identify the ones that should be permanently preserved. In other words identify files that are historically significant. Once such files are identified, a series of actions are required in order to allow the transfer of the records to The National Archives. A “sensitivity review” is undertaken to consider whether the record can be transferred as open, which means the public can fully access it, or if it requires closure under one of the Freedom of Information exemptions. We work with The National Archives to agree on the title of the transferred files which they call the “catalogue description”. Once agreed, we then prepare the file to ensure that there is nothing in it that would deteriorate over time and we then plan the transfer. This process is known as “accessioning”.

The MPS have many files, the bulk of which are crime related, but others relate to subjects such as policy, buildings, contracts, pensions and many other matters. Every file has an original purpose or value – however some files have additional historic value, for example they might document a major change in the MPS, attitudes to policing from the public or approaches adopted by the service amongst many other things.

Q3 - Do you ever provide access to case files & materials to private individuals and researchers, outside the criminal justice system (not for case review, appeals, training, etc.)? Please describe your practice.

If an MPS file is of historic importance and has already been accessioned to The National Archives, it will be either ‘open’ or ‘closed’ to the public. If the file is closed it means that a FOI exemption has been applied to it and will remain as such until the time period of the exemption expires. Once this expires, the file will undergo a further sensitivity review to make sure the file is now suitable for the public domain. All files accessioned to The National Archives cease to be the property of the MPS and all requests to have access to the material must be made via The National Archives website.

Q4 - If you rely on an external provider and/or repository for storage or archival/heritage services (e.g., catalogue, access or display), please describe how this works.

Aside from historically significant files that have or will be transferred to The National Archives, the MPS use an external storage provider for the storage of most paper records that need to be retained for a policing purpose. All of these files will eventually come up for review in line with both the Public Records Act and MOPI guidelines. When a record is required, for a justified policing purpose, by a member of staff or officer internal to the MPS, then a request for the file is made via our archiving system. Once these requests are received by the Records Management Team they are then sent to the external provider who deliver them to the internal Records Management MPS distribution office. They are then processed and despatched internally to the requester. Once the requester has finished with the file, they then return the file internally to Records Management who then process the file for deep storage back with the external warehouse provider.

Q5 - If you have an in-house archive or a heritage centre, do you follow any related guidance or standards (e.g., to inform collection care and conservation, cataloguing, and access provision) and which?

In addition to discharging our responsibilities to the National Archives, the MPS also has a heritage centre that follows the guidance and standards to inform collection care and conservation, cataloguing, and access provision. The Metropolitan Police Museums work to the Arts Council England Museum Accreditation requirements and SPECTRUM, the UK Museum Documentation Standard to look after objects and archive in our care.

The Police Museum is open to the public by pre-booked appointment.