Exeter to be home of South West forensics
Exeter is set to be the regional leader in crime scene forensics serving the whole of the South West saving as much as £6.6 million by 2019.
Exeter will be the home of the main chemical and fingerprint lab in the South West replacing the individual labs run by each of the regions five police forces.
A second chemical lab will be set up in Gloucestershire and a second finger print lab will be opened in Portishead to provide a complementry service.
The current system costs the five forces around £10.8m and it is forecasted that the move could save up to £6.6m by 2019.
The sites chosen ensure there is no further investment needed. By using existing estate, capacity and current accreditation levels the five forces expect to immediately save around £1.9 million.
The agreement was reached at Wednesday’s (27 November) regional PCCs and chief constables meeting after months of negotiation between the regions five Police forces.
Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg said: “The decision follows several months of negotiation between the forces as part of their efforts to reduce budgets and increase efficiency for the future. It will mean forces sharing systems and services and adopting a similar process to inter force systems already in place in other parts of the UK.
“The fact that Devon and Cornwall is the only Force chosen to host two of the laboratories is testimony to the expertise and quality of those providing the forensics service for the peninsula.”
Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Shaun Sawyer said: “The decision to collaborate follows several months of negotiation between the forces in an effort to reduce budgets and increase efficiency for the future. It will mean forces sharing systems and services and adopting a similar process to inter force systems already in place in other parts of the UK.”
As part of the plans, the new service will be headed up by a Head of Forensic Services for the South West region.
The new arrangements will complement existing regional initiatives such as Zephyr (the dedicated team set up to combat serious organised crime); Special Branch; and regional procurement.
Further plans for collaboration between the forces forensic sciences are expected to be improved in the future with discussions over Digital forensics and crime scene investigations due to take place in the new year.
This collaboration programme will now continue to look at Phase 2, Digital Forensics, and Phase 3, Crime Scene Investigation, during 2014.
