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

Given the widespread reluctance to conduct forensic procedures, some commands end up relying on one or two
officers to conduct all their forensic procedure work. Some officers resent this:
I’m sick of having to drop everything I do and go to another station (a custody station) and obtain the sample
and then enter it up in the exhibits register. 288
In some areas, reluctance to conduct forensic procedures has contributed to a low level of use of the powers
available under the Act. One commander we interviewed said that in his command, there had so far been only one
DNA match, and no eliminations, despite the Act having been in force for several years. He realised that officers were
hardly conducting any forensic procedures, even though there were many occasions where suspects fit the criteria.
He attributed this to a lack of confidence among officers and the perceived length of time it takes to conduct
a procedure.
The commands we audited had generally recognised this problem, and some had taken steps to address it.
4.2.4. Education and refresher training
We asked commands in our survey how often they ran forensic procedures training with 28 commands advising they
conducted training at least once a year. Another 28 commands indicated they conducted training as the need arose.
Some commands had not conducted any since the initial training when the Act came into force. In our view, officers
should be required to complete refresher training in forensic procedures in order to remain accredited. It is clear that
many officers have conducted very few, if any procedures, yet remain accredited.
One command we audited, which had identified that it was conducting very few forensic procedures, focused
on education and training as a way of encouraging officers to conduct procedures more frequently. It promoted
examples of successful investigations involving forensic procedures, and publicised information about forensic
procedures internally.
Some officers we spoke to also suggested that videos of forensic procedures could be shown to the command so
officers can see how procedures are conducted. Inexperienced officers could also start by getting involved in an
easier role, like operating the camera, which may improve their confidence when it comes to conducting an actual
procedure for the first time.
4.2.5. Specialist forensic procedure units
Another way of addressing widespread reluctance to conduct forensic procedures is to have a smaller group of
officers who specialise in DNA and other forensic procedures. One command we audited had established a small
team of officers who follow up links, investigate offences and interview suspects in relation to DNA. The command
said this worked well, as these officers developed strong skills and experience in the area. Another command was
canvassing the idea of having a specialist DNA unit within the command, but at the time of the audit, it was not clear
whether this was possible given resource constraints.
We support the idea of having a smaller group of specialist officers conducting forensic procedures. In most
commands, we found that this was happening in practice anyway, as the command tended to rely on a small group
of officers who were competent and confident to conduct forensic procedures, while large numbers of accredited
officers were not conducting any.
We also noted that in commands where a small group of officers conducted procedures on a regular basis and a
senior officer had been appointed to oversee the process, there was greater compliance with the legislation. These
commands also had clear policies that the staff were familiar with. Rather than avoid forensic procedures “like the
plague,” we found the officers who routinely conducted forensic procedures demonstrated a good understanding of
the legislation when interviewed and appeared confident and professional in the videos we watched. Several officers
said they are comfortable with the legislation now, although it had been daunting at first:
I don’t have any problems with it. I love it. It’s a hassle to do it, yeah the paperwork’s annoying, but it’s part of the
legislation. You should use it. 289
There is often criticism of the procedures by those who are not au fait with the SOPs. When an officer conducts
a procedure it quickly becomes apparent that the actual procedure is straight forward. 290
In our view, having a smaller group of officers who are specially trained in forensic procedures would promote
consistency and would be of benefit both to police and the people undergoing forensic procedures. The officers
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NSW Ombudsman
DNA sampling and other forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers under the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000