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

• a complaint about the incorrect receipting of a DNA profile
• a complaint relating to the failure to follow up DNA results
• a complaint alleging harassment by police, and
• a complaint in which only general information was provided.
15.2.1. Action taken by police
Of the 23 complaints about forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers that were either made directly
to the police or referred to them by the Ombudsman, 15 were investigated, four were informally resolved and two were
declined after inquiries. 1293
Adverse findings were made against police officers in a number of the complaints which were investigated. The
officers involved generally received advice and guidance about their conduct. Further training was also conducted,
in some cases for individual officers and in some cases for the command as a whole. Advice, guidance and training
were also used in some complaint matters where no adverse findings were made. Changes to NSW Police policies or
procedures were made as a result of two complaint matters.
15.2.2. Ombudsman oversight of police investigations
During the review period, we oversighted the police investigation of 15 complaints relating to forensic procedures
conducted on suspects and volunteers. In nine of these, we were satisfied with the police investigation and required
no further action. In two matters, we were satisfied with the police investigation, but required some further advice. Two
other complaints (numbers 2 and 6) were still under investigation at the time of writing.
In the remaining two complaints (numbers 1 and 7), we were not satisfied with either the adequacy of the police
investigation, or the timeliness of the investigation.
We also reviewed complaints about forensic procedures to see whether NSW Police has dealt with them in a timely
manner. We found that most of them were. We raised concerns about delays in only two matters, one which took five
months to finalise and one which took seven months.
15.2.3. Action taken by Ombudsman
Complaints can be made to NSW Police or to the Ombudsman. Of the 23 complaints about forensic procedures, 13
were made directly to the Ombudsman. Of these:
• 11 were referred to police, eight were investigated by police, whilst three resulted in informal resolution.
• 2 were declined at the outset. The complainant requested a review of the original investigation of the complaint
for one of these matters, but this request was also declined.
The Ombudsman also has the power to monitor police complaint investigations. This is often appropriate where a
complainant is particularly vulnerable or it is critical that the effectiveness of the investigation is not compromised. The
Ombudsman usually monitors an investigation by attending police interviews conducted with the complainant, the
police officer who is the subject of the complaint, and other key witnesses.
We monitored the investigation of four complaints relating to forensic procedures – one about the illegal taking of a
blood sample for DNA testing, one about the misreading of a DAL report, one where police erroneously linking the
records of two people resulted in one being wrongfully convicted, and one about the alleged use of unreasonable
force during the taking of a DNA sample. The main reason these cases were monitored was the significant public
interest in the use of DNA evidence in the criminal justice system.
15.3. Issues raised by complaints
We received complaints about many different aspects of forensic procedures. However, some broad themes emerged
from our analysis of complaints – many related to poor knowledge of the Act or SOPs by individual officers, or
inadequate record keeping. Others raised more particular issues, such as police failing to read a DNA analysis report
correctly or failing to adequately pursue the results of a forensic procedure.
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NSW Ombudsman
DNA sampling and other forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers under the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000