Recommendation 1
The IOPC recommends that Surrey Police updates relevant force policies relating to complaint handling [and body worn video (BWV) if appropriate] to include searching for BWV footage relevant to a complaint received and marking it as evidential as part of the initial handling of that complaint. This update should be communicated to all officers who may be involved in handling complaints.
This follows an IOPC review where BWV was viewed by the complaint handler, but was then auto-deleted from the force system after 30 days as it had not been marked as evidential in order to be retained for a longer period. This meant that it could not be viewed by the reviewer of that complaint, or for a subsequent complaint related to the same incident. While force policy states that footage should be retained as evidential if it assists with investigating public complaints, it does not provide any guidance about when this could be done during the complaints handling process.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Addressed to: Surrey Police
Linked bodies:
Surrey Police