§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will now consider instructing the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to establish counting procedures for the number of informal identification parades completed each year in underground stations and public places;
(2) how many formal identification parades were undertaken by Metropolitan police officers in each year since 1979; how many of the suspects identified in this form were subsequently prosecuted; of this number how many were convicted and acquitted; and how many of those parades produced a false identification at the time of the identification parade where the suspect selected was an ordinary member of the public invited to stand in the identification parade;
(3) how many suspects were identified by informal identification procedures for each year since 1979; how many of those suspects were subsequently acquitted or not charged; how many false identifications were made at the time of the informal parade; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Giles ShawI understand from the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis that each occasion on which a formal or an informal identification parade is held is recorded in the local police station occurrence book. This information is not collected centrally and I see no justification for asking the Commissioner to do so in the future. The position is similar in provincial forces. However, a special survey conducted in the Metropolitan Police in 1982 and 1983 showed the following approximate results: 279W
Formal Parades Informal Parades 1982 428 74 1983 430 131 Information about the outcome of cases which have involved an identification parade is recorded only in the papers relating to the individual case.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider advising the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to review the force general order on identification parades to tighten up procedures relating to informal identification parades to eliminate the opportunity for bias and error in identification.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis will be reviewing his force general orders on identification parades in order to meet the requirements of the code of practice on identification to be made under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.