Your responsibilitys to return seized property?

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Our Ref: FOI 075-10

E-mail: [Tayside Police request email] for all correspondence
relating to FOI requests

Dear Mr Green

I write to acknowledge receipt of your request for information under the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, received on 9 February 2010.

Your request is now currently being processed by this department and under
the terms of this Act, there are 20 working days allowed to respond to you
following the date of receipt of your request. Please note, however, that
there may be a fee payable for the retrieval, collation and provision of
the information requested. You will be advised of this should a payment
be required and no information will be supplied prior to receipt of the
fee.

If you require any further information or assistance, please do not
hesitate to contact myself on 01382 596169.

Regards

Wendy Snedden
Freedom of Information Officer
Force Information & Intelligence Division
Tayside Police
Tel: 01382 596169
Fax: 01382 596048
Email: [1][Tayside Police request email]

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Tayside Police request email]

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Our Ref: FOI 075-10

E-Mail: [Tayside Police request email] for all correspondence
relating to FOI requests

Dear Mr Green

I refer to your requests, received on 9 & 10 February 2010, seeking
information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, as
detailed in full below. I also refer to your email of 9 March 2010 in
which you request an Internal Review of your initial request on the
grounds that Tayside Police failed to respond to your request within the
statutory 20 working day limit.

Your original request was received by Tayside Police on 9 February 2010
and was superseded by your subsequent request which Tayside Police
received on 10 February 2010. As you will be aware, under the terms of
Section 10 (Time for Compliance) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland)
Act 2002, a Scottish public authority must comply by not later than the
20th working day after the receipt by the authority of the request, or of
further information. By my calculations, a request or further information
received on 10 February 2010 would have a compliance deadline of 10 March
2010.

Please be assured that there has been no intention of Tayside Police to
delay its response to your request beyond the statutory compliance
deadline.

Having now considered your request in terms of the above Act, I would
respond as follows:

Q1 "Who is directly responsible for returning items and property seized
during the course of a criminal investigation to the accused, once the
items are released, should the case be discontinued, no evidence offered
or a `not guilty' verdict has been given?"

Within Tayside, the instruction to release/dispose of property will come
directly from the Procurator Fiscal's Office or, where the case has not
been proceeded with, the Reporting Officer/Senior Officer of the case.
The instruction will be sent to Tayside Police's Property Custodier's
Department, who are then responsible for acting on the disposal
instructions.

All such procedures are undertaken in accordance with Parts VII & VIIA of
the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, a full copy of which is
available on the Office of Public Service Information website via the
following link:

[1]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/A...

Q2 "What are your obligations under law to insure the items and property
are returned in the same condition as they were in when you seized them
and please state the exact legislation that binds you?"

As detailed in Question 1 above, the legislation relating to the
possession and return of property is the Civic Government (Scotland) Act
1982 (as detailed in Q1 above).

Q3 "If the items or property are damaged while in Police care or during
the course of investigations, what is your policy on compensating or
replacing the damaged items/property to the innocent party?"

Following research into this matter, I would advise you that in accordance
with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Notice
that Information is not held), Tayside Police holds no recorded
information on this matter. However, to be of assistance, I can advise
you that within Tayside, a complainer in such a case would be advised to
submit a letter of complaint to the Chief Constable, and each incident
would be individually investigated on its own merits.

Q4 "How would an innocent party make such a claim?"

As explained in Question 3 above, a complainer in such a case would be
advised to submit a letter of complaint to the Chief Constable of Tayside
Police, and this would be investigated in accordance with the
circumstances of the case.

Q5 "Bearing in mind that such a seizure and any damage caused could cause
the innocent person great stress, inconvenience and loss of earnings -

(a) How long would such a claim take to process?

(b) How exactly (step by step) would an innocent party make such a
claim?

(c) What could you do to speed the process up so that the innocent
party suffers as little stress and inconvenience as possible bearing in
mind the loss would be your fault?"

Following research into this matter, I would advise you that in accordance
with Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Notice
that Information is not held), Tayside Police holds no recorded
information on this matter. However, to be of assistance, I can advise
you that the time taken to deal with any such complaint would depend on
the individual circumstances pertaining to the case.

Q6 "If a UK Police force requested the seizure be made by the Scottish
Police on their behalf as the innocent person was visiting Scotland at the
time of seizure, would Scottish Police consider that they are acting as
agents of the UK Police force?"

I would advise you that the exercise of cross border powers is covered by
legislation, namely the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Part X
`Cross Border Enforcement'. A full copy of this Act is available on the
Office of Public Service Information website via the following link, and I
would direct you to Section 141 `Aid of One Police Force by Another':

[2]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1994/ukp...

Q7 "If any items seized by the Scottish Police at the direct request of
UK Police force were retained within Scotland by you but later released by
the UK Police force for collection by the owner but there was a time limit
in place within which the owner must reclaim his property and if he did
not the property would be destroyed -

(a) Who is directly responsible for making the owner aware of any
time limit, the UK Police force or the Scottish Police?

(b) Who, from Scottish Police, is directly responsible for
notifying the UK Police force of any time limit?

(c) Who, from Scottish Police, is directly responsible for making
sure that the UK Police force has notified the owner of any time limit?"

Following research into this matter, I would advise you that in terms of
Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Notice that
Information is not held), Tayside Police does not hold any recorded
information on such a matter. By way of explanation, if property seized
was a production in connection with a case in either England & Wales, or
Northern Ireland, such property would not be retained by a Scottish police
force.

Q8 "If Scottish Police are the responsible party, and an innocent
person's property has been destroyed by the Scottish Police (or someone
acting on their behalf as a storage agent) because it can be proven that
either the Scottish Police or the UK Police force failed to notify the
owner of any such time limits -

(a) What is your policy on compensating or replacing the damaged
items/property to the innocent party?

(b) How exactly (step by step) would an innocent party make such a
claim?

(c) What could you do to speed the process up so that the innocent
party suffers as little stress and inconvenience as possible bearing in
mind the loss would be your fault?"

As explained in my response to Question 7 above, any property seized which
was classed as a production in a case in either England & Wales, or
Northern Ireland, would not be retained by a Scottish police force.
Accordingly, Question 8 is no longer applicable.

As previously explained, any complaints relating to the handling of a
person's property by Tayside Police should be submitted in writing to the
Chief Constable and the case will be investigated accordingly, with
timescales being dictated by the circumstances of the particular case.

Q9 "Bearing in mind that such a seizure and any damage/loss could cause
the innocent person great stress, inconvenience and loss of earnings -

(a) How long would such a claim take to process?

(b) Would Scottish Police dispute any claim and on what grounds?"

Please refer to my response to Question 8 above.

I trust the enclosed information will be of assistance to you. However,
if you are not satisfied with the way in which your request has been dealt
with, you are entitled, in the first instance, to request a review of the
decision made by the Force. Should you wish to request such review,
please write to me within 40 days of receiving this communication. I will
arrange for a senior officer, who has not been involved in my decision
making process, to conduct a review as required by the Act. If, after
having been informed of the review panel's decision, you are still not
satisfied, you are then entitled to apply to the Scottish Information
Commissioner for a decision. The contact details for Mr Dunion, the
Scottish Information Commissioner are Office of the Scottish Information
Commissioner, Kinburn Castle, Doubledykes Road, St Andrews, Fife, KY16
9DS, telephone 01334 464610.

Regards,

Wendy Snedden
Freedom of Information Officer
Force Information & Intelligence Division
Tayside Police
Tel: 01382 596169
Fax: 01382 596048
Email: [3][Tayside Police request email]

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/A...
2. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1994/ukp...
3. mailto:[Tayside Police request email]