Investigative Skills: Packaging Procedures (Police College)

Police College INV02 INV02 Investigative Skills Packaging Introduction You have looked at the procedures in relation to lost and found property. We will now look at items that can be described as evidential property, sometim...

Police College INV02 INV02 Investigative Skills Packaging Introduction You have looked at the procedures in relation to lost and found property. We will now look at items that can be described as evidential property, sometimes referred to as special property. Evidential property can be defined as property which: Relates to a crime; or Has been removed from the scene of a road traffic collision. The handling of this property is of great importance. From the moment it comes into police possession we must be able to: Identify each specific piece of property Identify who took possession of this property Identify where and when it was taken into possession Identify when possible from whom it was taken Account for that property’s movement Package it correctly to preserve the integrity of the item Property is recovered from all imaginable sources, and anything imaginable can be recovered. We recover property from crime scenes, collision scenes, businesses, people; suspects, victims, witnesses, and police themselves will create property in the course of an investigation. Unlike found property we have legislation available to us to empower us to seize and retain property. Some specific legislation allows us to seize property e.g. the Theft Act (NI) 1969 allows us to search for stolen property and to seize it. Most of our powers will come from Police and Criminal Evidence (NI) Order 1989, as amended 2007. Article 21 of PACE gives us a power of seizure. Article 24 of PACE gives us power of retention. OFFICIAL [SENSITIVE] Page 10  Police College INV02 INV02 Packaging procedures We need to package items for a number of reasons. One of the primary reasons will be to preserve forensic material. The packaging will contain any forensic material that we may wish to examine. The packaging is constructed and sealed in such a way that it contains the potential evidence in a manner that allows us to extract it if required. Another reason is for health and safety. We may recover weapons or items which, if not contained correctly, could cause damage to ourselves, others or other property. Packaging allows us to safely store such items as knives, broken glass, etc. Packaging also allows us to preserve the integrity of property we recover. It provides a chain of integrity whether items are examined or not and ensures that we as an organisation are accountable for our practices and procedures. Please see Classis for examples of packaging. Integrity To ensure the integrity of items we will create an integrity seal. This seal is in place to show that the integrity of the item is intact – nothing has been added to it, nothing has been taken away. Paper bags and boxes will require the officer to place a small signed adhesive label onto the join, over which adhesive tape will be placed. This seal should never be broken even if items are subsequently examined, proving integrity back to the moment an item was created. Tamper evident bags provide this integrity with the self-sealing adhesive. There is no requirement to place a white label on these. Once sealed, the item can only be accessed by cutting the packaging, preserving the integrity. Continuity It is imperative that when evidential property comes into police possession that a trace can be made of every police officer possessing the item. To that end all property will have a continuity label. This label will contain an identification number, description, date and time details, and other identifiers. In addition it will also contain information of every officer who has physically possessed the item, no matter how short or long for. OFFICIAL [SENSITIVE] Page 11  Police College INV02 INV02 Every person who has the item will print their details on and sign the continuity label. It is imperative that we can account for every movement of the item to provide a chain of continuity and account for every movement and action involving the item. If there are any queries raised in relation to an evidential matter relating to the item a defence team will seek to explore this continuity chain and ask questions of every person involved. If there are any breaks in the chain or we are unable to account for the item at any time it will open the possibility of refuting any evidence that comes from that item. It is imperative therefore those items of property are always stored properly. Storage All items of property will be recorded on Niche. Initially the information from the continuity label will be uploaded against an occurrence by a trained property officer or station enquiry assistant. Items will be held in storage within your local district property offices. A number of departments also have their own property stores. Any subsequent movement of the item will also be recorded on Niche. So as well as signing the physical continuity label on the item, a computer log will also be maintained showing your possession of an item. Property stores will have the adequate level of security however there are occasions when you may need to take possession of an item, e.g. to show to a victim for identification. On such occasions you must ensure that items are secured when in your possession and not left where others can access them. Personal Protective Equipment for DNA17 When seizing an item with the intention of submitting it to FSNI for DNA17 testing, the minimum PPE to be used is: Facemask (put on first and must cover the nose) 2 x pairs of gloves The outer pair of gloves must be changed when any subsequent item is being seized. OFFICIAL [SENSITIVE] Page 12  Police College INV02 INV02 Packaging Material The type of packaging will depend on where it goes. If you are seizing an item for safekeeping that does not require examination, then a label tied on it can suffice. Cardboard Box If an evidence box is to be the primary packaging, only ONE integrity label should be used at the closure and all seams and holes covered with sellotape. If cable ties are used to secure the item to the box, cover the holes made with sellotape. If this is done through a printed label on the box, draw a line through the label and attached a 38/30 label. If a box is not the primary packaging, then the box should be sealed with a piece of sellotape – no integrity seal - draw a line through the label and place the box into a tamper evident bag, seal the bag and complete the TE bag label. Rigid containers (boxes, sharps tubes, etc.) are used for: Firearms Sharp objects Paper for ESDA analysis (Electrostatic Detection Apparatus, to examine for indented writing) Items for fingerprinting Liquids Paper bags are used for: Clothing Footwear All plant material (e.g. cannabis plants) Miscellaneous items There is no need to wrap sellotape three times around the fold of a paper bag; just ensure that there are no gaps around the fold. It is important to note that very wet (including heavily blood stained) clothing or footwear should never be placed directly into a paper bag – unsurprisingly, that will result in disintegration of the bag. OFFICIAL [SENSITIVE] Page 13  Police College INV02 INV02 Place a tamper evidence bag into the paper bag (unsealed and unlabelled) and place the wet items into that. Then seal the paper bag as normal. Ensure you mark the item as “WET” in the description field, and submit the item within 24 hours of seizure to FSNI for specialist drying. Tamper evident bags are used for: Paper items (not ESDA) Bullets and cartridges cases Drugs (tablet, resins and powders) Paint Hair Additional Drugs Packaging If you seize fresh plant material such as cuttings from cannabis plants it must be packaged in paper exhibit bags to prevent the material rotting. Small amounts of dried herbal material (rolled joints) can be packaged in plastic tamper evident bags as can powders/tablets/etc; although you may wish to put powders into a plastic vial before placing in the bag. This will prevent any problems of spillage when attempting to submit to FSNI for examination. Nylon bags used for: Liquid accelerants (petrol, white spirit, etc) Cartridge discharge residues Explosive residues A nylon bag kit contains eight bags, heat-sealed into an outer nylon bag. These should only be used by trained personnel. OFFICIAL [SENSITIVE] Page 14  Police College INV02 INV02 Mobile Phone Packaging It is policy that, save for circumstances of urgent risk to life or similar critically urgent circumstances, all mobile phone handsets should be turned off at the point of seizure by the seizing officer and any decision to the contrary and justification of same should be recorded by the officer concerned. Ordinarily the battery is kept in the phone, however, with Blackberry devices, after switching the phone off, batteries should be removed from the Blackberry. The switching off of handsets at the point of seizure ensures compliance with legislation and the subsequent packaging of the handset in the approved cardboard box prevents unintentional reactivation of it. If in doubt consult your local DESU or CSI. If a handset is seized under the exceptional circumstances of urgent risk to life, it should be placed in a Faraday bag at the very earliest opportunity to prevent further interaction with a network and transported to e-Crime at the earliest opportunity. Colleagues should consider that when a handset is placed in a Faraday bag the battery life of the handset diminishes rapidly as the device increases its effort to connect to a network. Faraday bags are available in limited numbers from CSI. Ordinarily, phones seized should be packaged only in the approved mobile phone card board box packaging in accordance with the directions given. Please see Classis for examples of packaging and further guidance in relation to digital evidence. Cash Seizure There may be times when you have to seize cash. When bagging and sealing cash, it is advisable to ensure that: Gloves are worn; Photographs are taken; Cash is double bagged and sealed, using clean bags; OFFICIAL [SENSITIVE] Page 15  Police College INV02 INV02 The amount of cash found is estimated; The cash is sealed in the presence of the subject and an entry is agreed in the officer’s notebook, if possible; Two officers are present and both sign the exhibit labels; The cash is lodged in a safe until it can be sent for analysis (e.g. mass spectrometry for drugs, contaminations from explosives or for fingerprints) or paid into the bank; If cash is found during a search, it is logged as recovered property on the record of search form; details of the location of the ‘cash find’ should be entered on the search log. Officers should not count the cash as this might cause contamination and spoil any subsequent tests carried out (unless it is decided at any early stage that the money is not to be forensically examined). There may be circumstances where it is necessary to remove the cash from its container without counting it. The container should be preserved in the same manner. While the issue of counting the cash is to preserve forensic evidence, it is also to protect the officer’s integrity. It is also advisable to avoid the following: Taking the cash to a custody suite that is potentially contaminated with drugs, explosives or other substances. Placing property on floors or contaminated surfaces. Using officers who have recently been, or could have been, in contact with drugs, explosives or other substances. Handling cash more than necessary. Letting the person found in possession of the cash touch it. Removing the cash from its wrapping, container or bag. OFFICIAL [SENSITIVE] Page 16