Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 - NSW Ombudsman - NSW ...

to children, incapable persons and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander suspects. Evidence obtained through a forensic
procedure where there has been a breach of the Act is generally inadmissible.
How we conducted our review
We used a range of research strategies to scrutinise the exercise of police powers under the Act, to ensure the review
was balanced and comprehensive. This included:
• consulting a variety of stakeholders
• surveying every police local area command
• auditing a selection of police commands (which included examining forensic procedure records, watching
video recordings of forensic procedures, and interviewing police officers and others involved in the
implementation of the Act)
• interrogating records on the police computer system and analysing statistics
• analysing complaints about forensic procedures made to the Ombudsman and to NSW Police
• investigating the DNA laboratory directly; comparing records held by police with those held by the laboratory;
and observing DNA Advisory Committee meetings
• surveying judicial officers and monitoring relevant court proceedings, and
• tracking media coverage of forensic procedures.
We also set out our preliminary findings and recommendations about the way the forensic procedures legislation
is working at a local level in a discussion paper, and used this as a basis for consulting key representatives of
NSW Police.
Our main findings
1. Forensic procedure powers are widely used
The power to conduct forensic procedures has had a significant impact on the way police investigate and prosecute
crime, and forensic procedures are now conducted day in, day out all over New South Wales for matters ranging from
minor property offences to the most serious types of crime.
In the first four years after the Act came into force, police conducted over 10,000 forensic procedures on suspects
and volunteers. The vast majority of these were DNA samples, while photographs were the second most common
procedure. The number of DNA samples taken from suspects and volunteers increased significantly during each
year of the review period. Metropolitan police conducted significantly more forensic procedures then police in rural
and regional areas. Far more forensic procedures were conducted on suspects than on volunteers. Many more
men than women undergo forensic procedures, both as suspects and as volunteers, and forensic procedures are
conducted on children at a much lower rate than on adults. Of the forensic procedures conducted on suspects,
six per cent involved people police identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, although the actual proportion of
procedures conducted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suspects is likely to be much higher as police recorded
the person’s status as ‘unknown’ for more than half the forensic procedures conducted. Limited record keeping
means we are unable to comment on the number of forensic procedures conducted on incapable persons.
2. DNA analysis provides evidence of guilt more often than innocence
NSW Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the DNA laboratory, DAL, have achieved some good results
through forensic procedures. DAL estimates that it made over 3,000 ‘warm links’ during the review period, which
means that about a third of the forensic procedures conducted on suspects resulted in the suspect being positively
linked to the offence under investigation. DAL also made over 4,000 ‘cold links’ during the review period, where a
suspect or crime scene is linked to another unsolved crime scene through matches made on the DNA database.
The majority of cold links were for high volume property crimes, but a significant number were for serious offences,
including murder and manslaughter, sexual assault and robbery. We were unable to assess how often DNA analysis
results in a suspect being convicted of an offence, as neither DAL nor NSW Police kept complete records relating to
criminal proceedings stemming from DNA links.
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NSW Ombudsman
DNA sampling and other forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers under the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000