FOI 516/25 Crime Scene Clean Up
Enquiry Reference: 516-25
I write in connection with regards to your Freedom of Information request, firstly please accept my apologies in the delay in responding. Below is your request and our response.
Does your force have an established policy or procedure regarding arranging professional cleaning of a property following a forensic investigation (e.g., after fingerprint dusting, bodily fluid collection, or other invasive evidence-gathering activities)?
If yes, please provide a copy of the current policy or procedure.
- No
For each of the past six calendar years (2020-2025), please provide:
The number of cases where professional cleaning was arranged by the force following the investigation.
The types of location (eg residential property) for which trauma cleaning was arranged
The types of incidents where trauma cleaning was arranged (eg homicide, suicide)
Total costs for the trauma cleaning jobs
|
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 (To date of FOI) |
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
£779 |
£530.00 |
£1320 |
|
£455 |
|
Has your force received any formal complaints from victims or property owners regarding the condition of their property after a forensic investigation in the same period? If so, please provide:
The number of complaints per year.
- 1in 2023-2024
A summary of the nature of complaints (if available).
- See exemption below
Which companies or contractors has your force used to carry out professional cleaning services following forensic investigations in the past five years?
- Norton Cleaning
In cases where your force did not arrange professional cleaning, is there a policy or guidance that leaves responsibility for cleaning to the victim or property owner? Please provide details or a copy of this guidance if it exists.
- No
Has your force encountered situations in the past five years where professional cleaning should have been arranged but was not? If so, please provide a summary of any internal reviews, findings, or actions taken as a result.
- No information held
Having made enquiries within the Force the above information is all the information we can disclose and for anything else we would rely on the following:
Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 places two duties on public authorities. Unless exemptions apply, the first duty at Section 1(1) (a) is to confirm or deny whether the information specified in a request is held. The second duty at Section 1(1) (b) is to disclose information that has been confirmed as being held. Where exemptions are relied upon, Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act requires that I provide the applicant with a notice which: a) states that fact b) specifies the exemption(s) in question and c) state (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
Cleveland Police can confirm we hold the information pertinent to this request as the duty in Section 1(1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply, by virtue of the following exemption:
Section 40(2) Personal Information
Section 40(2) is an absolute exemption which does not require me to evidence the harm that disclosure would cause and does not require consideration of a public interest test in justification of its use.
This exemption is engaged where disclosure of information could lead to the identification of an individual, either from that information alone or combined with other information from within the Police Service or public domain. In this case, because of the very low numbers it could be likely to identify the individuals concerned. Such a disclosure would breach an individual's rights under Article 5(1) of the GDPR.
The Cleveland Police response to your request is unique and it should be noted that Police Forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures to capture and record data therefore responses from Cleveland Police should not be used as a comparison with any other force response you receive.
If you are not satisfied with this response or any actions taken in dealing with your request, you have the right to request an independent internal review of your case under our review procedure. The Freedom of Information Code of Practice (see below link) states that a request for internal review should be made within 20 working days of the date on this response or 40 working days if extenuating circumstances to account for the delay can be evidenced. Public authorities are not obliged to accept internal reviews after this date.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-code-of-practice
Yours sincerely
Information Rights Decision Maker