Police 'misusing national computer'
Kablenet.com
Published: 16 Jul 2004 12:00 BST
Misuse of the Police National Computer (PNC) by officers is undermining public confidence in the police's ability to handle data, according to the deputy chair of the police complaints commission.
Speaking on 15 July, 2004, John Wadham said that the failure to retain and pass on data is a "misconduct" issue for police, as much as the misuse of PNC data which has been a "consistent problem" over the last 20 years.
Wadham referred to cases where officers have misused the PNC to find information on a partner's estranged husband, to check out a daughter's boyfriend or to gain evidence for civil proceedings. He said there is a "perennial problem of data being sold to private detectives".
"Each and every officer has a moral duty to protect the data entrusted to him or her and to use it lawfully to prevent crime. Where one officer is misusing the Police National Computer, there can be serious implications for other officers," said Wadham.
"If all this information is going to be floating around, particularly in sensitive areas such as unproven criminal allegations the public need to have confidence that the police are going to use that data correctly."
Wadham said that the Independent Police Complaints Commission has a role to play in investigating the misuse of data in order to help tackle the failures highlighted by the Bichard inquiry following the Soham murders.
He said it could help ensure that information is shared between different organisations. One area particularly in need of improvements is the use of data to prevent deaths of people held in police custody, he said.
Wadham referred to cases where there had been a failure to record that a detainee was at risk of attempting to commit suicide.
"It is plainly unsatisfactory that the prison service often has information about an individual's history of self-harm, but the police service does not know as the PNC is not updated," he said.
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