§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if there are plans to link the vehicle and name indices of the police national computer so that the name extracted from the vehicle index could automatically search the names index; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThere are no present plans for such a project.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the trend in the use of the names indices of the police national computer; what are the reasons for the changes in frequency of use; and what steps his Department takes to ensure that each access to the names index is for a bona fide police purpose.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe number of accesses to the names indices of the police national computer increased by 13.87 per cent. between 1986 and 1987 and by 12.23 per cent. between 1987 and 1988.
The reasons for individual inquiries are not monitored centrally. This is a matter for chief officers of police, who are also responsible for ensuring that inquiries are made only for appropriate police purposes.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will describe the purpose of the extremists crime index of the police national computer; if he will define the circumstances when information is added to the index; and if he will list the items of data held within the index.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe purpose of the index is to assist the police in the detection of crimes which might have a political, religious, social or environmental motive. It can be updated only by the Metropolitan police and accessed by a limited number of terminals in regional crime intelligence offices. The index contains the following data items:
- Crime description
- Date and time of crime
21 - Modus operandi
- Property value and description (if applicable)
- Suspect details (if applicable)
- Vehicle registration mark, value and description (if applicable)
- Forensic and pathology data (if applicable)