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

In our view whether a forensic procedure is conducted at the beginning or end of the investigation period is a matter
for investigating police to decide. Enabling police officers to conduct forensic procedures at the beginning rather than
the end of the investigation period would not increase the length of time a suspect is in detention.
We note that NSW Police has suggested that conducting a forensic procedure be time out for the purpose of
calculating the investigation period. It gave the following example:
30 minutes of forensic procedures could be performed at the beginning of the four hours of investigation time.
Another 30 minutes of forensic procedure may be performed after two hours of investigation time, with the last
hour of forensic procedures being used after the investigation time has elapsed. 745
NSW Police argued that being able to conduct forensic procedures at the beginning of the investigation period would
mean that evidence could be obtained before it degraded, and police could still have a four hour investigation period,
without having to apply for an extension warrant. NSW Police advised this would require changes to the way COPS
custody management records are maintained, but that these changes would be warranted given improvements in
quality of evidence and time saved overall.
We support this proposal. Provided that all forensic procedures are still conducted within reasonable time, and that
the maximum time permitted to conduct forensic procedures (excluding time outs) is still two hours, it does not
disadvantage the suspect.
8.3.2. How long police take to conduct forensic procedures
During our audit of local area commands, we sought to find out how long forensic procedures generally take, and to
check that they are being conducted within the permitted 2 hours.
8.3.2.1. Audit of local area commands
We attempted to review each custody management record for the forensic procedures included in our audit. However,
not all forensic procedures were recorded on the custody management system. We undertook an in depth analysis
of the custody management records from four of the eight commands audited by reviewing 259 procedures from two
metropolitan and two rural commands. For these 259 procedures, we were provided with 123 custody management
records. The results from our review of these 123 custody management records were indicative of all the commands
audited. We found that of the 123 records:
• 73 custody management records had included the forensic procedure as a specific item providing details of
the type of procedure undertaken and the time the procedure started and finished
• 27 custody management records had a reference made to a forensic procedure being conducted in either the
‘move location’ or ‘general comments’ and provided miscellaneous details about the forensic procedure, and
• 23 custody management records had no mention of a forensic procedure being conducted.
This left 136 forensic procedures where there were no custody management records. This was because the person
undergoing the procedure was a volunteer or a suspect who was not under arrest, or because police had recorded
the forensic procedure in COPS instead of the custody management system. 746
For those forensic procedures which were recorded through the custody management system, we found the records
were often incomplete. Custody management records include three sets of questions relating to forensic procedures,
about:
1. the request for consent for the procedure to be conducted
2. whether the person was capable of understanding the process and giving consent, and
3. the performance of the forensic procedure, including whether the person had been cautioned and whether the
person resisted the procedure.
Where the forensic procedure was recorded on the custody management record, it was often only the third set of
questions which had been answered. We noted that of the 73 custody management records reviewed in-depth, only
six had all three sets of questions completed, a further 22 had two sets completed and the remaining 45 had only one
of the three sets of questions completed.
For each of the procedures conducted at the eight commands audited where sufficient information was included
in the custody management record, we calculated the length of time the person was in custody for the purposes of
NSW Ombudsman
DNA sampling and other forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers under the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 139