Police retention and storage of evidence in England and Wales
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355719891741 |
| Author | Carole McCartney,Louise Shorter |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Police retention and storage of evidence
in England and Wales
Carole McCartney
School of Law, Northumbria University, UK
Louise Shorter
Inside Justice, UK
Abstract
Central to the operation of the appellate system, is the ability of individuals who claim that their conviction is in error, to
revisit and re-examine evidence gathered during the investigation, as well as that relied upon at their trial. High-profile
miscarriages of justice have often only been remedied when there has been defence access to materials post conviction.
There is also an imperative for forces to retain evidence in investigations in which no perpetrator has been detected or
convicted, to facilitate cold case reviews. In order to give effect then to an appellate system and enable cold case reviews,
evidence needs to be retained and properly stored. If materials are not retained and stored correctly, then
re-investigations are rendered impossible. Retention is especially critical in respect of physical materials that could be
subject to forensic examination. With the progress of science and technology, and the interpretation of results, it is
essential that such physical (and now, often digital) materials are retained for future (re)evaluation. From analysis of
responses to a Freedom of Information request to all police forces in England and Wales, and qualitative interviews with
criminal justice stakeholders, this article examines the retention and storage of materials, and considers the operation and
future of the Forensic Archive Ltd. It details a worrying picture of inconsistency, with confusion over what should be
retained, and how. It concludes that justice demands that we accept that the proper retention and storage of materials is
fundamental to the fair and effective operation of our criminal justice system, and ensures that the Court of Appeal can
fulfil its remit in addressing wrongful convictions and forces can pursue justice in cold cases.
Keywords
Police investigation, evidence, criminal justice, miscarriages of justice, forensic science
Submitted 01 Jul 2019, Revise received 08 Oct 2019, accepted 08 Nov 2019
Introduction
Criminal investigations undertaken by police forces can
result in the collation of a huge volume of materials, both
physical and digital. Reports state that today, even a ‘run-
of-the-mill’ investigation can generate tens of thousands of
pages of data downloaded from multiple digital devices
(House of Commons, 2018; para 52–61). As well as often
copious paper documents, seized (and created) materials
can range from microscopic particles to large vehicles or
even body parts. It is vital for operation of the criminal
justice process that the police not only gather all possible
evidence that could assist with the identification of
individuals involved, but also shed light on the potential
criminal liability of those ide ntified suspects. Following
any resulting conviction, or decision to close an unsolved
case, there must be ongoing retention and storage of these
materials. Here, we examine police retention and storage of
materials collated during a criminal investigation.
1
In light
of huge variance in retention practices across the 43 police
Corresponding author:
Carole McCartney, School of Law, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK.
Email: carole.mccartney@northumbria.ac.uk
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2020, Vol. 22(2) 123–136
ªThe Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355719891741
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