could easily have been obtained lawfully if these procedural breaches had not
occurred. Where necessary my Inspectors have liaised with the systems providers
to make sure the automated systems are capable of operating fully within the law
and the Code of Practice.
3.20 Part of the inspection entails checking whether the systems and processes for
acquiring communications data are being maintained efficiently and effectively.
Inherent failings and weaknesses must be identified and quickly remedied in
order to minimise the risk of errors. With one or two exceptions the police forces
and law enforcement agencies emerged well from this aspect of the inspection
although it is important that they have the right number of well trained staff in this
business area. In some instances I have been disappointed to hear that a number
of the police forces have been very slow to implement change and take advantage
of new streamlining procedures which were introduced when the Code of Practice
was approved by Parliament in October 2007. The changes were introduced to
eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and to make sure valuable police time is not
wasted. When necessary these matters are drawn to the attention of the Chief
Constables in a covering letter which is issued with each inspection report. The
responses have all been positive and system changes have generally now been
implemented to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
3.21 My Inspectorate receives good cooperation from the CSPs who have a
requirement to comply with any lawful requests for communications data which are
received from the public authorities. As part of the phase 2 inspection programme
the CSPs were asked to provide my Inspectors with details of the communications
data they had disclosed to the public authorities during a specified period. These
disclosures have been randomly checked against the records kept by the public
authorities in order to verify that documentation was available to support the
acquisition of the data. I am pleased to say that in all cases my Inspectors were
satisfied the correct process had been applied and the data had been obtained with
the approval of a designated person. I regard this as a very important check upon
the integrity of the process and it is most reassuring that it has not exposed any
instances of abuse or the unlawful acquisition of communications data.
3.22 During phase 2 of the inspections a great deal of emphasis has been placed
upon the use which police forces and law enforcement agencies are making
of the communications data which they have obtained from CSPs. They have
been required to demonstrate on a case by case basis that it was necessary and
proportionate to obtain the data and that it has been used for a correct statutory
purpose. My Inspectors are able to assess this in two different ways and when
necessary they have challenged the justifications for acquiring a specific set of
data.
3.23 First, they have carried out a random examination of applications from
various sectors of the business in order to judge the overall standard of the public
authority. The accredited officers have a responsibility under the Code of Practice to
make sure the public authority acts in a lawful and informed manner and therefore
they should return any applications which do not meet the required standard. All
of the police forces and law enforcement agencies which were inspected during
the reporting year achieved a satisfactory standard and indeed over two thirds of
them were producing good quality applications.
3.24 Secondly, in each police force or law enforcement agency the Inspectors
will look in detail at two or three operations normally where communications
data has been used to investigate major incidents or serious crime. They will
examine a number of the applications and conduct informal interviews with
senior investigating officers, applicants and analysts. If necessary they will, and
often do, challenge the justifications for acquiring the data. The results of this part
of the inspection have been very revealing and generally it is evident that good
use has been made of the communications data as a powerful investigative tool,
primarily to prevent and detect crime and disorder. It is also very apparent that
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