NEW technology is piling pressure on police digital forensic services and creating backlogs of up to two years in getting evidence for prosecutions.

Earlier this month, four police forces in the south west combined their digital forensic units for Operation Sprite and, after a recent recruitment drive, it is hoped the service can be streamlined to speed up inquiries.

Police say the vast range of digital devices vital to investigations from murder and kidnap to drug offences, mean the workload is constantly growing.

“We want to streamline the process and get rid of red tape,” said Steve Slater, head of digital forensics for the south west.

“We have 25 investigators, who will deal with any digital device which contains user data, which could range from indecent images, terrorism, murder and kidnap.

“The range of work has grown massively and compared to ten years ago there are so many different devices which could contain crucial evidence.

“A lot of the time this evidence can massively reduce the footwork of other officers.

"In a death by dangerous driving prosecution, a Sat-Nav can record the speed, distance covered, and map the journey every three seconds.”

Steve said every force in the UK is suffering from backlogs in their hi-tech crime units, but high risk cases will always be given priority.

“As technology has grown, it has become more involved in every day offences, and takes over a lot of investigations,” he said.

“In the back end of 2001, the cases we were dealing with would include child abuse, fraud, and a bit of drugs. Today it is everything. The demands have massively increased.

“There is a problem in all hi-tech crime units with backlogs.

"Once cases come in they are risk assessed, and if there is a low risk around future abuse of a victim, other cases with threats to life or property take precedence and jump to the top of the queue.

“In a worst case scenario there will be a 14 or 15-month backlog, while other forces can run 18 to 24 months behind."

A recent recruitment drive has bolstered the numbers in digital forensics which should help tackle the backlog.

“We have just recruited 36 staff across south west forensics, and 18 vacancies in hi-tech crime after we had a reduction where existing staff went through a consultation process," Steve added.

"We couldn’t recruit new staff while putting existing staff at risk of losing their job. We were outsourcing work and using agency staff, but kept our work going.”

Meanwhile, a Swindon man, who asked not to be identified, has been on conditional bail for almost two years after being arrested last January on suspicion of possessing indecent images.

Most recently he was fourth in a list of 72 locally waiting to be assessed by hi-tech crime officers.

“They arrested and interviewed me and said they needed to check my computer,” he said.

“That is for them to find out, and it's better they do that and find nothing.

“They admitted me as low priority, and while I am in the queue to get my computer checked I have had my bail extended until January next year.

“They admitted there are a lot of other people in the same situation, but I have not been charged and I am being punished.

“I am under conditions not to be unaccompanied with children, and for four weeks that would have been fine, but I have Godchildren I need to spend time with and I can’t.

"I need to apply for security clearance for my job, which I can’t.

“I can’t be with my family for two years, which is unbelievable.”

Steve said plans to streamline forensic reporting – including presenting simplified reports to courts rather than going into great detail which would be irrelevant, and a new case management system to connect all four forces – would be the first moves towards eradicating the backlogs.

All units now use a national child abuse database, which has approximately 200,000 images uploaded and classified by each force every week, he said.