HL Deb 01 February 1988 vol 492 cc983-4WA
Earl Alexander of Tunis

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What new measures have been taken to facilitate crime detection.

Earl Ferrers

Responsibility for the investigation and detection of crime in their force areas rests with individual chief officers of police. With the encouragement of the Home Office, they are adopting a range of strategies, including the introduction of crime screening and the extended use of administrative support units to help improve the targeting of their resources for these purposes.

The Home Office is supporting a wide-ranging programme of work aimed at applying science and technology to crime detection. Recent developments include the application of DNA profiling to crime investigation; the application of image processing technology to the storage and retrieval of photographs, photocopying and fingerprints; the use of computers in the management of major investigations; and improvements in the management of force scenes of crime departments.