Cost and use of police tape from April 2019 to May 2023
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.030121
I note you seek access to the following information:
The amount of money the Met Police has spent in the last five years on police tape.
Is there any specific policy for the removal of police tape once it is no longer needed.
If there is no specific policy, is there any overarching policy for the clearing of a crime scene.
As well as knowing of the existence of any policies above, it would be useful if you could share text of the policy particularly relating to if the tape needs to be removed wholly - I often see the ends of police tape left attached and would like to know if this is against policy.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.
Please find below information pursuant to your request above.
The amount of money the Met Police has spent in the last five years on police tape.
Please be advised that unfortunately our records only go back to 01.04.2019 and so we are currently only able to offer a four year window, please see below:
The MPS has spent £72,214.40, in total, on both the red and blue versions of “Police Do Not Cross” tape for just over the last four financial years to date (01.04.2019 to 18.05.2023).
The figure provided above is based on a usage figure of 11,819 units (total of red and blue tape) over that date range.
Is there any specific policy for the removal of police tape once it is no longer needed.
There is no specific policy for the removal of police tape once it is no longer needed, therefore no information is held by the MPS relevant to this question.
If there is no specific policy, is there any overarching policy for the clearing of a crime scene.
There is no specific policy in relation to clearing a crime scene, though this is briefly covered in the ‘College of Police Approved Professional Practice - Scene Strategy’, which states:
“Investigators should not release a scene until they are satisfied that all expert advice has been considered and that a police search adviser (PolSA) team has conducted a full and final search, if appropriate.
Once areas which have been covered by crime scene tents and stepping plates have been searched, the scene can be cleaned and released. In some cases, this may need to be conducted in liaison with the environmental health department or the local health authority, for example, where chemicals or biological substances may have been found.”
Investigation Strategies - Scene Strategy
As well as knowing of the existence of any policies above, it would be useful if you could share text of the policy particularly relating to if the tape needs to be removed wholly - I often see the ends of police tape left attached and would like to know if this is against policy.
There is no specific policy relating to the removal of police tape, therefore no information is held by the MPS relevant to this question.
Advice and Assistance
With reference to your question 1. Our supplier has stated that they ‘may’ be in a position to provide further information (i.e. 1.4.2018-31.3.2019), but are unable to do so at this time due to archival retrieval issues. If you were to re-submit this part of your request at a later date, e.g., in six months’ time, it is possible that we would be able to locate the data for 2018 to 2019.
Please note: should you wish to follow the advice above it will be necessary to submit a new FOIA request as this case is now closed.