2011 Annual Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner
United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA); and the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre
(CEOP).
In 2011 my inspection team conducted 43 inspections of police forces and law enforcement
agencies. Generally the outcomes of the inspections were good, and the inspectors concluded
that communications data was being obtained lawfully and for a correct statutory purpose.
Figure 8 illustrates that 72% of the police forces and law enforcement agencies achieved a good
level of compliance overall. This represents a 14.5% increase on the previous year. However this
percentage should be treated with caution as the public authorities being inspected are not the
same every year.
Figure 8 – Comparison of Police Force and LEA Inspection Results, 2010 vs. 2011
Poor
Satisfactory
2%
10%
26%
2011
32.5%
2010
Good
72%
57.5%
My inspectors found that the vast majority of police forces and law enforcement agencies had
fully implemented their previous recommendations. As a consequence, an overwhelming number
had either improved or sustained their good level of compliance with the Act and Code of
Practice. The four police forces and law enforcement agencies that emerged poorly from their
2010 inspections were revisited in 2011 to ensure that they had improved their standards. I am
pleased to report that they had all worked hard to achieve their recommendations and that
three emerged from their 2011 inspections with a good level of compliance. The remaining one
emerged with a satisfactory level of compliance.
“The vast majority of police forces and law enforcement agencies had
fully implemented their previous recommendations. As a consequence, an
overwhelming number had either improved or sustained their good level of
compliance with the Act and Code of Practice”
In fact only one police force emerged poorly from their 2011 inspection and I am pleased to
report that this public authority has already been re-inspected and is now achieving a good level
of compliance.
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