Recommendations - Surrey Police, April 2020
A member of the public contacted Surrey Police to express concerns that his partner was intending to end his life due to a breakdown in their relationship. Officers attended at their home address and commenced a missing person investigation, which was assessed as medium risk. One of the attending officers reviewed a series of whatsapp messages between the couple and updated the duty officer. Actions were taken overnight and the following morning an officer from the missing persons unit (MPU) attended the home address to take further details. After reviewing the same messages, the MPU officer felt the risk should be increased to high. Before a review could take place, the body of the missing person was located in a burial ground close to the home address.
IOPC reference
Recommendations
The IOPC recommends that Surrey Police considers developing and issuing a forcewide communication or bulletin in order to highlight the practical uses of this piece of equipment.
When responding to the initial report, an officer reviewed a large number of messages exchanged between the deceased and his partner. These messages were summarised and interpreted by the officer, who in turn reported his interpretation to the duty officer. The officer did not share the actual messages with the duty officer. The officer was in possession of a mobile data terminal, which could have been used to capture images of the messages and upload them for review by the duty officer when making decisions on the level of risk.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Having reviewed the recommendations and discussed them with relevant departments it is my belief that in this case these are individual learning points, rather than an organisational learning points. I believe this is supported by a different officer subsequently using the photo functionality of their MDT to obtain images of the messages.
With that said, I accept the principle of ensuring that Surrey Police makes best practical use of the technology available to frontline officers with the goal of ensuring the right information is available to support decision making. It is my belief that Surrey Police has a number of things in place to ensure that officers have access to information which helps them make that best use of technology.
Surrey Police has a Joint Mobile Data Team (joint with Sussex Police) responsible for promotion and enhancement of Mobile devices and software. This team runs regular Skills Workshops across both forces areas, with a particular focus on practical tips and shared learning.
That team manages a network of ‘MDT Super Users’. Generally each operational team has a dedicated Super User within, or one readily available to them. This network is used to promote developments in mobile policing tools, together with new ways to use software and devices.
Furthermore, the Joint Mobile Data Team has been used to target operational teams with bespoke ‘upskilling’ in the form of crewing with staff and demonstrating, in operational situations, how the devices can be most effectively utilised.
The use of operationally experienced officers within this team is important as it brings real life practicalities to the inputs they’re giving.
I believe this overall ‘continuous improvement’ approach covers the desired outcome from this Recommendation and is most effective in terms of long term learning and improvement than if we were to issue individual communications bulletins.
The IOPC recommends that Surrey Police training and/or policy on the use of mobile data terminals is reviewed to ensure officers are aware of the practical uses this piece of equipment can provide.
Surrey Police provide a three hour training session detailing how to take a missing person report and the early actions which officers might need to consider or undertake. In this investigation, whilst the officers attempted to obtain all relevant information they do not appear to have considered taking images of relevant evidence on their mobile data terminals (MDT) in order to share with the duty officer who is the decision maker for the level of risk posed.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
I have discussed this specific recommendation with an Inspector within Learning & Development. Having discussed with initial recruit training staff, and having reviewed current lesson plans, they state the following:
I’m confident that in response to the IOPC’s direct recommendation - The IOPC recommends that Surrey Police initial training and/or policy on the use of mobile data terminals is reviewed to ensure officers are aware of the practical uses this piece of equipment can provide – this is already covered by the current training course.
In the initial training phase, what is currently covered is:
- Practically taking a photo
- How that would be stored on the MDT and as part of a PNB entry
- Using photos in the context of the NDM and GDPR
- Use of images with / without permission
They are then practically expected to go away and take images as part of an exercise.
In addition, all this learning should then be reinforced and used practically with their Coach once they enter the coaching phase and in the operational environment.
So, whilst this obviously doesn’t cover the very specific circumstances of that particular incident, the broader use of the equipment has been taught, and I would expect officers to be able to apply their learning around MDTs in the situation described