Search warrant applications September 2010

The request was successful.

Dear Cleveland Police,

1.During September 2010, was it acceptable for a police officer to
have applied to a magistrate for a search warrant verbally/orally
without an application in writing?

2.It is my understanding that the police officer would need to have
filled out a search warrant application and have had it authorised
by an inspector or above, PRIOR to visiting the magistrate?

3.It is also my understanding that the police force would also have
needed to retain a copy of the application if it was needed as
defence if a civil procedures arise.

Please can you help clarify the points i have raised above?

Yours faithfully,

L Tucker

Yours faithfully,

L Tucker

Freedom of Information,

This mailbox is for Freedom of Information requests only, and all other
mail will be deleted un-actioned. Your should either contact the
department direct, or contact Cleveland Police via 101.

Thank you.

Cleveland Police

Dear Mr/Ms Tucker,

Enquiry Ref : 2015/6904

I acknowledge receipt of your enquiry dated and received by this office 11.11.2015 requesting information concerning applications for search warrants.

As set out by the Freedom of Information Act it will be our aim to respond to your request by 10 December 2015. In some cases, however, we may be unable to achieve this deadline and I would hope to contact you should this be the case.

If you have any questions regarding your request please contact this office.

Yours sincerely,

A.W. McDougall
Freedom Of Information Decision Maker,
Cleveland Police, Shared Service Centre,
Ash House, III Acre,
Princeton Drive,
Stockton-on-Tees
TS17 6AJ

Cleveland Police

1 Attachment

Dear Mr/Ms Tucker,

Enquiry Ref: 2015/6904

I write in response to your request fro information dated 11th November 2015.

1.During September 2010, was it acceptable for a police officer to have applied to a magistrate for a search warrant verbally/orally without an application in writing?

2.It is my understanding that the police officer would need to have filled out a search warrant application and have had it authorised by an inspector or above, PRIOR to visiting the magistrate?

3.It is also my understanding that the police force would also have needed to retain a copy of the application if it was needed as defence if a civil procedures arise.

Please can you help clarify the points i have raised above?

I attach a copy of Police and Criminal Evidence Act Code B, which should answer all your questions.

Please note the Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The APP College of Policing guidance states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response unless extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced.

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

A.W. McDougall
Freedom Of Information Decision Maker,
Cleveland Police, Shared Service Centre,
Ash House, III Acre,
Princeton Drive,
Stockton-on-Tees
TS17 6AJ

Dear Cleveland Police,
Thank you for your reply.
I am familiar with PACE, including Code B. Because of recent correspondance from Cleveland Police, I would like to rephrase my questions in order to clarify the following:
1. During September 2010 was it the policy of Cleveland Police officers to apply for a search warrant orally/verbally without an application in writing?
2. If the applicant officer is making an application orally/verbally would the officer need the authorisation and signature in writing from an Inspector or above?
3. During September and October 2010 was it the policy of Cleveland Police to keep copies and records of a search warrant application to a magsitrate, including any notes ?

Also please can you explain your point when you say "Please note the Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive."

Yours faithfully,

L Tucker

Cleveland Police

Dear Mr/Ms Tucker,

Enquiry Ref : 2015/6904

I write regarding your e-mail dated 11 December 2015 (that was received by this office on 14 December 2015) which was in response to our reply your Freedom of Information request dated 11 November 2015. I note that you have headed the e-mail "Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Search warrant applications September 2010" but have stated in the body of the communication "I would like to rephrase my questions" and have included new clarified questions. Due to this we have logged your new questions, as a new request, and will endeavour to retrieve answers and respond in due course. We will not progress an internal review until the new request has been answered and you advise us that you are still unhappy with our response. An acknowledgement for this request will follow in due course.

I also note that you have asked for an explanation of "Please note the Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive".
This is simply to inform the requester that the answers provided by Cleveland Police are unique because not every force uses the same Information Management Systems or records information in the same way.

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact this office via the non emergency number 101.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. E McGuigan
Freedom Of Information Decision Maker,
Cleveland Police,
Shared Service Centre,
Ash House, III Acre,
Princeton Drive,
Stockton-on-Tees
TS17 6AJ

Cleveland Police

Dear Mr/Ms Tucker,

Enquiry Ref : 2015/6978

I acknowledge receipt of your amended request dated 14 December 2015, following our response to your request of 11 November 2015 (2015/6904).

In your amended request you ask:
1. During September 2010 was it the policy of Cleveland Police officers to apply for a search warrant orally/verbally without an application in writing?
2. If the applicant officer is making an application
orally/verbally would the officer need the authorisation and signature in writing from an Inspector or above?
3. During September and October 2010 was it the policy of Cleveland Police to keep copies and records of a search warrant application to a magistrate, including any notes ?.

To help us identify the information you require I would be grateful if you could advise what type of search warrant your enquiry relates to because as I am sure you may be aware there are different types of Search Warrants that can be applied for and different types will/may require different actions.

The provision of this information will enable us to supply you with an accurate response. Unfortunately we are unable to respond to your request until we have received this information.

If you would like to discuss this matter please do not hesitate to contact this office via the none emergency number 101.

Yours sincerely,

Ms. E McGuigan
Freedom Of Information Decision Maker,
Cleveland Police,
Shared Service Centre,
Ash House, III Acre,
Princeton Drive,
Stockton-on-Tees
TS17 6AJ

Dear Cleveland Police,
The search warrant would be used to search a single premises on one occasion.
Issued in accordance with section 8 PACE, applied for to a magistrate and legal advisor using the out-of-hours procedure.

Yours faithfully,

L Tucker

Cleveland Police

Dear Mr/Ms Tucker,

Enquiry Ref: 2015/6978

I write in connection with your request for information dated 11th November 2015 which was received by Cleveland Police on that date and your clarification e-mail of 30th December 2015. Below are the questions raised in your request and the information, following clarification that I have been able to obtain/retrieve for you.

You stated:
I am familiar with PACE, including Code B. Because of recent correspondence from Cleveland Police.
I would like to rephrase my questions in order to clarify the following:
1. During September 2010 was it the policy of Cleveland Police officers to apply for a search warrant orally/verbally without an application in writing?
2. If the applicant officer is making an application orally/verbally would the officer need the authorisation and signature in writing from an Inspector or above?
3. During September and October 2010 was it the policy of Cleveland Police to keep copies and records of a search warrant application to a magistrate, including any notes ?

On 15th December I wrote to you to ask for clarification stating
“I would be grateful if you could advise what type of search warrant your enquiry relates to because as I am sure you may be aware there are different types of Search Warrants that can be applied for and different types will/may require different actions”.

Following your response in which you stated that your request was in relation to:
“The search warrant would be used to search a single premises on one occasion. Issued in accordance with section 8 PACE, applied for to a magistrate and legal advisor using the out-of-hours procedure”.
I am now able to provide you with a response.
Question 1 – Cleveland Police only make applications for Search Warrants in writing “By Means of Information” which may be read aloud, under oath, to the Magistrate, by the Officer requesting the Warrant.
Question 2 – N/A
Question 3 – The written application for a Warrant is retained by the issuing court/magistrate. Following the serving of the Warrant, the result if the search is recorded on the Warrant and the original endorsed warrant is returned to the court for retention, and a copy is also retained by the Police along with the search record thereby complying with PACE Codes of Practice.

Also please can you explain your point when you say "Please note the Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive?"
a) The above is added to responses because not every force records and/or collates information in the same way many Forces use different Case Management System for the recording and administration of data. Therefore whilst Cleveland Police may be able to retrieve information in a specific format a different Force/Authority may not, and vice versa. However all Forces do comply with PACE.

If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The APP College of Policing guidance states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response unless extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced.

Please note the Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

A.W. McDougall
Freedom Of Information Decision Maker,
Cleveland Police, Shared Service Centre,
Ash House, III Acre,
Princeton Drive,
Stockton-on-Tees
TS17 6AJ