Force policy relating to the authorised release of digital evidence.

The request was successful.

Stephen Haslett

Dear Cleveland Police,

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act (2000), could you please provide me information regarding current police policy that authorises the release of evidence to commercial companies as instructed by legal clients in defence cases.

Can you please provide documentation of your forces policy relating to the release of (i) digital forensic images (covering evidential computer devices such as hard disk drives and memory cards), and (ii) physical digital devices, covering evidential items such as smartphones and satellite navigation devices.

Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

Stephen Haslett

Freedom of Information, Cleveland Police

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Cleveland Police

Dear Mr Haslett,

Enquiry Ref : 2017/8679

I acknowledge receipt of your enquiry received by this office on 22.06.17.

As set out by the Freedom of Information Act it will be our aim to respond to your request by 20 July 2017. In some cases, however, we may be unable to achieve this deadline and would hope to contact you should this be the case.

If you have any questions regarding your request please contact this office on 01642 306825 or 01642 306832.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs M Cuthbert
Freedom of Information Decision Maker
Cleveland Police
Shared Service Centre
Ash House,III Acre,
Princeton Drive
Stockton-on-Tees
TS17 6AJ

Dear Cleveland Police,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Cleveland Police's handling of my FOI request 'Force policy relating to the authorised release of digital evidence.'.

Despite an automated reply, I have not received any information in relation to my request within the legally stipulated time-frame.

Please respond as soon as possible.

I look forward to your reply.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/f...

Yours faithfully,

Stephen Haslett

Cleveland Police

Dear Mr Haslett,

Enquiry Ref: 2017/8679

I write in connection with your request for information dated 22nd June 2017 which was received by Cleveland Police on that date. Please accept my apologies for the late response caused by staffing issues within this office, which has led to a substantial backlog of requests, your patience is appreciated. I note you seek access to the following information:

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act (2000), could you please provide me information regarding current police policy that authorises the release of evidence to commercial companies as instructed by legal clients in defence cases.
Can you please provide documentation of your forces policy relating to the release of (i) digital forensic images (covering evidential computer devices such as hard disk drives and memory cards), and (ii) physical digital devices, covering evidential items such as smartphones and satellite navigation devices.

Being aware of the clarification on the WDTK website for another force in which you state that the circumstances you refer to are specifically in relation to when a digital forensic commercial company is directed by a defence team to carry out a digital forensic analysis of evidence recovered and held by police after the same device / data set has been originally forensically analysed by the police. And the commercial company subsequently formally requests physical access to the evidence in order to carry out forensic analysis.
We have made enquiries within the force and have been advised that Cleveland Police do not have any such policy additionally we sought information from our Criminal Justice Unit and Legal Department who have advised this office that disclosure of information relating to a criminal matter is governed by legislation and led by The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and or HM Courts so my answer to your request, on this occasion, must be no information held.

The Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and it should be noted that not all Forces record and hold information in the same format therefore responses from Cleveland Police should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.

Once again please accept our apologies for the late response, should you still require that we carry out an internal review please advise by return and we will start the process.

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact this office on 01642 306825 or 01642 306832.

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