NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED

Transcription

1 Force Procedure No: 166c Replaces Force Procedure: Procedure Owner: Records Manager IMTD Date Procedure Approved: July 2010 FORCE PROCEDURE: Review, Retention and Disposal (RRD) (Ver 1.0 July 2010) This procedure has been drafted in accordance with the Human Rights Act 1998, Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the principles underpinning it. It is suitable for public disclosure

2 1 ABOUT THIS PROCEDURE 1.1 The primary purpose of review, retention and disposal procedures (RRD) is to protect the public and help manage the risk posed by known offenders and other potentially dangerous people. 1.2 Reviewing information to determine its adequacy and continuing necessity for a policing purpose will ensure that information held by the force is held lawfully and is also a reliable means of meeting the requirements of the Data Protection Act The RRD process is set out in detail in the MoPI Guidance 2006 and the IMPACT RRD Process Definition Chart This is a national process designed to ensure consistency across the police service in the way information is managed within the law, to help ensure effective use of available information within and between police forces and other agencies. The force has a responsibility within the RRD process to assess risk, prioritise higher risk offenders and protect the public. 1.4 The RRD process is the application of four key principles: i) Retain records for a period determined by the risk of harm to the public ii) Disposal of records which are not necessary for a legitimate police purpose or where retention is no longer necessary iii) Assist the Force to achieve and maintain a workable approach to the management of information iv) To ensure records are fit for purpose, allowing effective decision making across the police force 1.5 The foregoing principles require that police records are linked to a nominal and in a format that is searchable. This allows reviews to be nominal focused rather than based on information held in disparate business areas. 1.6 This procedural guide has been drawn up with due regard to: Management of Police Information (MoPI) Code of Practice Management of Police Information (MoPI) Guidance 2006 Management of Police Information (MoPI) Threshold Standards Human Rights Act 1998 Part V of the Police Act 1997 Criminal Procedure & Investigation Act 1996 Data Protection Act 1998 Supreme Court Appeal - 5 chief Constables V The Information Commissioner RISK ASSESSMENTS / HEALTH & SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS 2.1 There is an inherent risk to the Force through litigation if records are not managed in an appropriate manner. Adherence to the Retention Review and Disposal Policy and Procedures will reduce the risk to the force. 2.2 There is a risk of damage to the Forces reputation if it does not comply with Data Protection (DP) and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests due to mismanagement of records 2.3 Risk Assessments including Health and Safety Assessments will be carried out to identify risks to staff by the appropriate line manager. Page 2 of 7

3 2.4 Records are the Force s organisational memory, providing evidence of actions and decisions, and represent a vital asset to support the Force s daily functions and operations. It is essential that Divisions and Departments ensure that MoPI Checklist 1 is adhered to when creating or amending nominal records. This will reduce the risk to West Mercia Police. 3 PROCEDURE 3.1 Scope This procedure applies to all police information as defined in the MoPI Guidance The review process relates to nominal records. For the purposes of this guidance this means nominal records held on the force Genie System. 3.2 Risk Rationale A group of in house experts were consulted in 2009 in order to reduce risk to WMP and as a result a risk model was developed to determine priority in the RRD process. This selected the areas of most concern and risk to the organisation ultimately demonstrating the commitment of protecting our communities through effective information management The strategic aim of the risk based approach was to strengthen confidence, protect the vulnerable, having the capability to address major and serious crime, bring offenders to justice and use resources effectively and efficiently Withheld under FOI sec Withheld under FOI sec Withheld under FOI sec ViSOR nominal s are subject to a separate management process conducted through regular audit Reviews will take account of information recorded since 1 st April 2006, which is the date after which MoPI guidelines require compliance. However tactical decisions may need to be made as the process evolves Withheld under FOI sec Initial Input The quality of information is fundamental to successful information management. It is essential that all information is recorded properly. Failure to get it right at the outset will create additional work, compromise the accuracy and reliability of force information, and ultimately affect the ability of the force (and other forces and agencies who may use it) to protect the public. Good quality information assists fully informed decision making to ensure that the appropriate action is taken, this means that information can be shared with other forces and agencies and used with confidence It is the responsibility of all staff that receive information, and/or, enter information onto a record, to ensure as far as practicable, that the information is recorded for a policing purpose and conforms to the following data quality principles. Page 3 of 7

4 Accurate Adequate Relevant Timely Withheld under FOI sec It is the responsibility of all staff that receive information, and/or, enter it onto a police record to ensure that the record is worded to a professional standard. There is no MoPI checklist or specific definition of professional standard: ultimately it will be a matter of judgement. Consideration would be whether the standard was such that it was likely to attract criticism from a third party, embarrass the force or be subject to litigation It will be line managers responsibility to carry out dip samples to check that their staff are recording information to the required standard. Where the standard is not being met, feedback should be given, and where necessary, appropriate training or guidance arranged. (See Appendix 1) As a general principle, where errors or inaccuracies are found they should be returned to the business system owner for correction. This may not always be practical e.g. a custody record which has been closed or when records were correct at the time they were created. Records that were never correct will be amended or disposed of. 3.4 Reviews Initial Reviews: Will be the responsibility of the business system owner and will be conducted at the point of input as per the guidelines in Checklist 1 (See Appendix 1) Triggered Reviews: Will be the responsibility of the business system owner, only the trigger data being input will be reviewed at the point of input Scheduled Reviews: Due to the volume of schedule reviews, initially the process will only be carried out on Group 1 nominal s. The prioritisation of these reviews is under development. Scheduled reviews will be conducted by the RRD Team. 3.5 Disposal To enable the accurate recording deleted nominal records a disposal schedule will be maintained Where a decision is made to dispose of a nominal s record an entry will be made in the disposal schedule. The schedule will hold the date of decision, the number of records and reason for deletion. No personal details will be held within the schedule. 4 ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES 4.1 Record Review Team The Force RRD Team is established within the Information Management and Technology Dept, which will be responsible for carrying out the centralised RRD process on behalf of the force using Genie as the force system. Page 4 of 7

5 4.1.2 Record researchers will initially be responsible for the schedule review process whereby they will carry out the review recording the decision making process. As the process evolves they may conduct other types of review The RRD Manager will only authorise the review retention and disposal of records where a recommendation has been made to delete records or change a MoPI group The RRD Manager will dip sample 10% of all other reviews to ensure compliance with the RRD Working Practices Staff identified to perform RRD related roles will be trained in the review, retention and disposal process. 5 ADMINISTRATION 5.1 The review process will be managed electronically within Genie and the RRD Review Database. Review will be directly held against a nominal record and will be only be accessible by the RRD Team. 5.2 An element of the aforementioned review will be the completion of the National Retention Assessment Criteria (NRAC) form. This will be done electronically, one form for each review regardless of how many records are held in relation to that nominal. 5.3 The NRAC form provides a framework for decision making around the retention of police information. It details seven risk of harm factors posed in the form of questions. Each must be answered, in respect of the nominal under review. When the answer to any of the questions is Yes the nominal must be retained and reviewed at intervals as per the retention schedule. The NRAC must be used to ensure a consistent approach to the retention of police information. 6 MONITORING / EVALUATION 6.1 Effectiveness of the procedures contained in this document will be monitored and evaluated by the Records Manager. 7 REVIEW 7.1 This document will be reviewed annually in line with the Records Management Policy 7.2 The review will consider:- Changes to general principles underpinning the policy Changes in the law that have an impact on the policy Issues from the monitoring and evaluation process Relevance of policy objectives Challenges to the policy by events/incidents/staff Adverse effects on other departments, staff groups, or any other person Identified inefficiencies in relation to the policy s implementation Policy/procedure communication Page 5 of 7

6 7.3 The policy to which this procedure applies is the Force Records Management Policy. Definitions Police Information This is information that is required for a policing purpose. The MoPI Code of Practice defines policing purpose as: The prevention and detection of crime Apprehension and prosecution of offenders Protection of life and property Maintenance of law and order and rendering assistance to the public in accordance with force policy and procedures Review To examine a nominal record, held for a policing purpose to ensure that Checklist 1 is complied with (see Appendix 1) Retention The continued storage of, and controlled access to, information held for a policing purpose, which has been justified through the evaluation and review process. Nominal Record. A record containing the minimum of a persons forename and family name with DOB or the persons forename and family name with an address. (Deviation from MoPI) Potentially Dangerous Person (PDP) An individual who has been identified by the Public Protection Unit through their behaviour, which suggests that they have the capacity to cause serious harm as being a PDP Event. A record recorded within the CRIMES (Crime Recording Information Management Enquiry System) relating to an arrest, crime, intelligence, warrants and family protection. Event Grading. An automatic risk rating will be attributed to each event by the CRIMES database based on a force review by senior officers and analysts and a composite review list for HO codes provided by the NPIA. MoPI RRD Review Database. A database which manages the review process. It details and facilities the RRD (In full) of events and links attributed to any nominal record within the CRIMES system as well as providing MoPI groups and review schedules. Page 6 of 7

7 Appendix 1 Checklist 1 Recording Police Information Ensure information is recorded for a policing purpose. Ensure information is recorded in the appropriate format for the business area in which it is held. Ensure information is recorded according to the data quality principles accurate, adequate, relevant and timely. Ensure checks are made to avoid creating duplicate records. Ensure links are made to existing records. Ensure correct GPMS marking. Source: MOPI Guidance 2006 Page 7 of 7