The failure of Scottish policing our our bodies to doc the ethnicity of arrested people it takes DNA samples from means there isn’t a such factor as a fashion of constructing whether or not or not minority groups are over-represented in policing databases, warns Scottish biometric commissioner Brian Plastow.
Following a Joint Assurance Overview into utilizing DNA for jail justice and policing features, Plastow revealed a report alongside together with his findings on 26 February 2025, which well-known the failure of every Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority’s (SPA) Forensics Service to suitably doc the ethnicity of those it retains DNA for is “relating to”.
He moreover found that Police Scotland does not have a clear strategic roadmap setting out what it hopes to realize with DNA or completely different biometric data and utilized sciences, and questioned the “terribly prolonged retention durations” for DNA data (which Police Scotland can retain until on the very least a person’s a centesimal birthday or three years after their lack of life, whichever comes sooner).
Plastow said that whereas publicly obtainable data on the UK’s Nationwide DNA Database (NDNAD) permits observers to see if any ethnic group is over-represented with reference to their DNA being taken and saved, this is not attainable with the Scottish DNA Database (SDNAD), as a result of it does not doc any particulars about a person’s ethnicity.
“We now have carried out an in depth overview into the use and retention of DNA for jail justice and police features in Scotland, and thru our fieldwork, the Scottish Police Authority Forensic Suppliers and Police Scotland have been unable to provide us with any reliable administration data on the ethnicity of anyone held contained in the Scottish DNA Database, as a result of the database is nearly 30 years outdated and was not designed to doc this data,” he said.
“The reality that SPA Forensic Suppliers and Police Scotland are failing to appropriately doc and publish data on the ethnicity of arrested people whose biometric data is then held is relating to, in opposition to the context of the earlier and current chief constables having stated publicly that issues with institutional racism persist inside Police Scotland.
“Accordingly, now we’ve got been unable to establish whether or not or not there’s any over-representation on the grounds of ethnicity or each different protected attribute in Scotland.”
He added that appropriately recording such data, would assist Police Scotland’s equality duties, along with help preserve public confidence and perception.
Info inside the UK NDNAD reveals that black people within the the rest of the UK are significantly over-represented, as whereas they account for 7.5% of the database entries, they make up merely 4% of the overall inhabitants, in accordance with the 2021/22 census.
Whereas 1.3% of the inhabitants said they’ve been of black heritage inside the 2022 Scottish, there isn’t a such factor as a fashion of realizing what share of DNA samples inside the SDNAD have been taken from this group.
Although Plastow’s overview report well-known that DNA solely helps clear up solely a small number of crimes in Scotland yearly (0.34%), these usually tend to be most likely essentially the most extreme sorts of crime.
“DNA is not going to be used routinely in police investigations. It is usually solely a attribute of crimes akin to murders, extreme assaults, housebreakings and sexual offending,” he said, together with that whereas DNA provides few investigative leads, these leads could also be “spectacular” of their outcomes: “It is not attainable to search out out what variety of crimes DNA helps clear up in Scotland; nonetheless, it might almost definitely be fewer than 1,000 crimes yearly.”
In his options, Plastow said that Police Scotland should overview its procedures for recoding the ethnicity of people whose biometric data is held on the SDNAD following arrest, “with a view to utterly recording and publishing such data in assist of equality duties and to promote public confidence”.
Given the dearth of a clear biometric data or know-how approach inside the drive, Plastow moreover actually helpful that Police Scotland – along with the SPA Forensics Service – should full the occasion of a documented approach outlining its biometrics plans over the next three, 5, or 10-year interval.
“The plan must be accredited by the Strain Govt and the Scottish Police Authority and be in place by no later than 31 October 2025,” he wrote.
Writing regarding the DNA retention interval, Plastow said: “It is endorsed that in rising a model new retention protection, Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority should discontinue the blanket comply with of retaining the DNA of people previous frequent life expectancy in Scotland in circumstances the place they’re admonished or given an absolute discharge beneath summary course of, providing that they have no earlier convictions.”
He added that whereas an admonishment or absolute discharge beneath summary course of are technically convictions, “it’d seem further proportionate to the commissioner for the retention interval of such data to be aligned with prescribed retention durations for direct measures akin to recorded police warnings”.
Laptop computer Weekly contacted every Police Scotland and the SPA about Plastow’s report.
“The Authority welcomes publication of the Biometric Commissioners report which provides crucial notion to inform the Authority’s oversight of policing and Forensic Suppliers in Scotland,” said an SPA spokesperson. “We stay up for considering the report and proposals intimately and listening to from the Commissioner himself at a Forensic Suppliers Committee in Might.”
Assistant chief constable Steve Johnson of Police Scotland added: “We admire the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner’s thorough and detailed overview and proposals into our assortment, use and retention of DNA data. We’ll consider the options in full and with a view to every appropriateness and proportionality, working with SPA Forensic Suppliers.
“A lot of the options are already being progressed, as an example, a overview of our retention durations and the benefit of upgrading lower commonplace DNA profiles. Ethnicity data is recorded on our Jail Historic previous System, we’re going to consider the proportionality of aligning this and our assortment of biometric data.”
In January 2024, Plastow previously warned that Scotland risked “sleepwalking” proper right into a surveillance state that areas every citizen in a eternal digital line-up if it does not deviate from the UK authorities’s then-data reform plans in 2024.
Whereas the UK authorities beneath Labour has dropped these plans in favour of a new data reform bill, Plastow described the state of affairs on the time as “a Biometric Wild West the place police forces are doing irrespective of they want”.
He added that the UK authorities was using “moral panic” spherical, as an example, migration and shoplifting to justify bigger ranges of surveillance, and that his fears spherical bulk surveillance have crystallised in present months because of actions of presidency ministers.
This included a proposal from then-policing minister Chris Philp, who often known as in October 2023 for data from the police nationwide database (PND), the Passport Office and completely different nationwide databases to be built-in with facial-recognition know-how to help catch shoplifters and completely different criminals with the “click on on of 1 button”.
Responding to Philp’s proposals at the time, Plastow said he thought of “this egregious proposal as unethical and possibly unlawful”, and extra condemned it “as a gross violation of British privateness guidelines”.