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

Table 2 shows the rate at which forensic procedures were conducted in each region during the first four years of the
Act’s operation.
Table 02: Procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers by region.
Region
Population of region*
Procedures conducted
on suspects and
volunteers**
Rate of forensic
procedures conducted
per 100,000 of the
region population
Inner Metropolitan 1,584,297 2,971 188
Greater Metropolitan 2,108,993 3,326 158
Southern 1,938,394 1,046 54
Northern 1,014,010 1,597 157
Western 477,364 880 184
* Region population is the total of the relevant local area command populations, according to NSW Police. NSW Police based its figures on
the 2001 census data.
** Procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers reflects the total number of forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers
between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2004. These figures represent the total number of forensic procedures conducted and not the
number of individual persons undergoing forensic procedures. They do not include forensic procedures conducted
by specialist commands.
Source: NSW Police Intranet as at 16 February 2005.
Table 2 shows that, as expected, a very small proportion of the population in each region underwent a forensic
procedure during the review period. Southern Region conducted significantly fewer forensic procedures per capita
(54 per 100,000) than the other regions (between 157 and 188 per 100,000). 340
NSW Police also has a number of specialist commands, which are not attached to a particular geographic area.
Some of these conduct forensic procedures, for example the State Crime Command (which focuses on organised
crime, fraud, child protection and sex crimes, homicides and other operations), the Forensic Services Group, the
Counter Terrorism Command, the Firearms Registry and the Professional Standards Command. We have included
forensic procedures conducted by specialist commands in our overall statistical analysis, but not in the regional
analysis.
5.2.1. Difference between metropolitan and regional areas
Metropolitan police are conducting significantly more forensic procedures than regional police. This would be
expected, given there are more people and higher levels of crime incidents recorded in metropolitan areas. However,
it also appears that distance and a lack of appropriate facilities in some regional police stations may contribute to
lower numbers of forensic procedures. We also found that some regional commands may prefer to rely on more
traditional policing methods, rather than wait for long periods for DNA analysis results which constitute the vast
majority of forensic samples. 341
We also found that many police officers are quite reluctant to conduct forensic procedures, which in some areas has
contributed to a low level of use of the powers available under the Act. For example, one commander we interviewed
said that in his command, which is in a rural area, 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 conducting very few 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 length of time it takes to conduct a procedure. 342 We found this reluctance to
conduct forensic procedures in both metropolitan and regional areas, but it appears that its effect is less pronounced
in metropolitan areas as there are generally more officers who are willing to conduct procedures.
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NSW Ombudsman
DNA sampling and other forensic procedures conducted on suspects and volunteers under the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000