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Cold cases: Police must improve procedures
DETECTIVE work has been transformed thanks to advances in forensic science but police procedures, at least in West Yorkshire, are clearly still to catch up.
Storing samples from suspects and car crash victims alongside ice
cream in unsecured freezers is plainly a dreadful blunder.
On top of this, according to inspectors who carried out a routine check, officers were confused about which blood and urine sample belongs to which suspect.
As they point out, the management of samples needs urgent attention otherwise it will undermine prosecutions.
The inspectors also found the force was potentially missing opportunities to bring offenders to justice and solve old cases by leaving samples apparently forgotten in freezers.
The police do a difficult enough job, with the odds often stacked against them, and it would be disgraceful if criminals were allowed to escape scot-free due to simple procedural errors.
Lawyers nowadays are quick to use the law to jump on any mistake and should not be given the opportunity to undermine prosecutions, particularly when forensic details are so crucial in cases where little other direct evidence exists.
A number of criminals in other parts of the country have evaded capture due to mistakes in handling evidence and it would be a tragedy for victims if this was to happen here.
The public must have confidence in the police and the courts must have confidence in the evidence.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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