NEWS RELEASE
14 December 2011
SCOTTISH POLICE SERVICES AUTHORITY WELCOMES FINDINGS OF FINGERPRINT INQUIRY
The body responsible for delivering fingerprint services in Scotland has today welcomed the report by Sir Anthony Campbell of his Inquiry into Fingerprints in Scotland.
The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) accepts all the Inquiry's findings and all of the recommendations made of it by the Inquiry. SPSA Forensic Services will be developing an action plan with the aim of making the necessary improvements in time for fingerprints to integrate into the new single Scottish Police Service in 2013-14.
Welcoming the Inquiry's report, SPSA's Director of Forensic Services Tom Nelson said:
"The breadth and depth of the Inquiry's scrutiny of this issue has been without parallel and beyond the scope of any individual organisation past or present to have carried out. As a result it has gone much further than any previous reviews and we believe it is of fundamental significance for fingerprint practices across the world.
"It challenges the infallibility of fingerprint evidence and we accept that this will be a huge cultural challenge for fingerprint examiners across the world. However, as an organisation we welcome that and we agree with the Inquiry's view that ‘acknowledging fingerprint evidence is not 100 per cent certain need not detract from the true value of this type of evidence'.
"As an organisation, we accept the findings of the Inquiry and we expect all of our staff members to do the same. We accept that Shirley McKie did not make the mark known as Y7. We have today apologised directly to the McKie family for the errors that took place in the late 1990s and for the subsequent pain that has caused them.
"Fingerprints in Scotland is changing and improving, and that programme of improvement has continued since the Inquiry's evidence gathering phase concluded two years ago. Embracing this Inquiry's work gives us an opportunity to capitalise on the head start we have already made and put Scotland at the forefront of global advances in this field.
"Today, our examiners have common training that is consistent with that across the rest of the UK. Fingerprint staff have their competence checked more stringently and more regularly. Transparency has improved so that more information on how fingerprint examiners reach their conclusions is written down, and variances in conclusions revealed to the Crown. In January we will launch a new approach to specifically and separately deal with complex fingerprint marks, in line with the recommendations of the Inquiry today. Local fingerprint bureaux have also in the last year become a national service and this structural reform is crucial to accelerating work underway to bring consistency to procedures and standards.
"We welcome the fact that the Inquiry's recommendations support the direction of SPSA's ongoing programme of modernisation. The Inquiry has recognised that progress has been made and that in key areas like external accreditation SPSA is leading the way in the UK.
"However, we accept that there is further improvement to be made and we accept the recommendations set out today by the Inquiry. We will be working within our available resource and with our partners such as the Crown Office to implement them.
"This Inquiry makes clear that ‘fingerprint comparison continues to serve as a valuable source of evidence' but it challenges the fingerprint community to shake off long-held assumptions and beliefs. I believe that if we can embrace that approach then today marks a watershed. I want a decade of division to be put behind us and to unite to improve the quality and understanding of fingerprint evidence. Working together we can ensure that while fingerprint practices change, they still remain as valuable a part of the criminal justice process in the decades to come as it has unquestionably been throughout the 20th century."
NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS
1. SPSA took on responsibility for fingerprint services in April 2007. Fingerprint staff in Scotland operate as part of SPSA Forensic Services and are now part of a national Physical Sciences operation which also includes drugs, firearms, paint, glass and document examination.
CONTACT:
Angela Hughes 0141 534 8962
Caroline Garrad 0141 534 8906