❓ A WA parliamentary question investigates police procedures regarding stolen vehicles, including towing, forensic examination, and retention of owner's DNA/fingerprint data. The response details standard practices, contractor information, and legal justifications for data retention.
AnsweredQoN 2964Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(a) when police locate a stolen vehicle is it standard procedure to contact the vehicle owner and enquire if the owner wishes to have the vehicle towed to a secure location;
(b) if yes to (a), do owners have a right to not have their stolen vehicle towed by police contractors;
(c) do stolen vehicle owners have a right to arrange their own towing or recovery of their vehicle;
(d) does the police service have more than one towing contractor engaged to tow/recover stolen vehicles in the metropolitan area;
(e) if no to (d), what is the name of the stolen vehicle towing/recovery contractor;
(f) if yes to (d), what are the names of the stolen vehicle towing/recovery contractors;
(g) is the address of the secure storage location of the contractor listed or advertised in the phone book;
(h) is the contract for towing/recovery of stolen vehicles tendered out by the police service or any other Government department or agency;
(i) if yes to (h), how much is that contract worth;
(j) what is the daily fee charged to vehicle owners while their vehicle is in secure storage;
(k) what is the length of the term of the contract to the successful tenderer;
(l) when a stolen vehicle is located by police, is it standard practice for police to forensically examine/test every stolen vehicle;
(m) if DNA and fingerprinting is done on stolen vehicles, and noting that the owner’s DNA and fingerprints are possibly recovered from their stolen vehicle, what happens to the DNA/fingerprint samples of the owner;
(n) how long are the DNA/fingerprint samples of the owner retained by the police service;
(o) are the stolen vehicle owner’s DNA/fingerprint samples destroyed after the stolen vehicle case is closed; and
(p) if the answer to (o) is no, why not?
(b) if yes to (a), do owners have a right to not have their stolen vehicle towed by police contractors;
(c) do stolen vehicle owners have a right to arrange their own towing or recovery of their vehicle;
(d) does the police service have more than one towing contractor engaged to tow/recover stolen vehicles in the metropolitan area;
(e) if no to (d), what is the name of the stolen vehicle towing/recovery contractor;
(f) if yes to (d), what are the names of the stolen vehicle towing/recovery contractors;
(g) is the address of the secure storage location of the contractor listed or advertised in the phone book;
(h) is the contract for towing/recovery of stolen vehicles tendered out by the police service or any other Government department or agency;
(i) if yes to (h), how much is that contract worth;
(j) what is the daily fee charged to vehicle owners while their vehicle is in secure storage;
(k) what is the length of the term of the contract to the successful tenderer;
(l) when a stolen vehicle is located by police, is it standard practice for police to forensically examine/test every stolen vehicle;
(m) if DNA and fingerprinting is done on stolen vehicles, and noting that the owner’s DNA and fingerprints are possibly recovered from their stolen vehicle, what happens to the DNA/fingerprint samples of the owner;
(n) how long are the DNA/fingerprint samples of the owner retained by the police service;
(o) are the stolen vehicle owner’s DNA/fingerprint samples destroyed after the stolen vehicle case is closed; and
(p) if the answer to (o) is no, why not?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
31 January 2008
Responded by
Minister for Police and Emergency Services
Response time
63 days
(a) Yes. The owner of the vehicle is contacted and advised of the location and condition of the stolen vehicle and asked about their towing preferences. There are occasions however, that the vehicle's location is in a dangerous position or there are forensic requirements and therefore the vehicle may be towed to the Police secured holding yard.
(b) - (c) Yes. The owner has a right not to have their vehicle towed by Police contractors and may arrange their own towing or recovery of their vehicle. However, as stated in (a) there may be occasions such as the vehicle being in a dangerous position or forensic requirements which may require that Police use a contractor.
(d) No.
(e) AAAC Towing Pty Ltd.
(f) Not applicable
(g) Yes, AAAC Towing Pty Ltd is listed in the phone book under two addresses (Cannington and O'Connor) which do not specify that these are storage locations.
(h) Yes. The Department of Treasury and Finance in conjunction with WA Police.
(i) $450,000.
(j) $22.
(k) Five years.
(l) No. The decision to forensically examine a stolen vehicle is made at a District level and is based on the requirement of the investigator, whether it was known or suspected to have been involved in another offence and the seriousness of the offence.
(m) DNA/fingerprint samples from the owner are crime scene samples and as such are submitted for forensic analysis. DNA profiles are then uploaded to the Western Australia DNA Database and exist as the profile of an unknown person in accordance with the
Criminal Investigation (Identifying people) Act 2002
. Fingerprints from crime scenes are uploaded to the National Automated Fingerprint Identification Database (NAFIS) and retained permanently.
(n) All crime scene DNA/fingerprints are retained permanently. The
Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act 2002
does not distinguish between crime scene profiles that match the owner and crime scene profiles that match someone else. There is no provision in the Act for deleting crime scene profiles from the database even if they are known to match a reference DNA profile of the owner.
(o) No. If the laboratory has been provided with a volunteer reference sample from the owner of the vehicle, their name and DNA profile will be removed from the Western Australia DNA Database, only if that person makes a formal request to the Commissioner of Police for it to be destroyed, under section 69 of the
Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act 2002
.
(p) Any crime scene DNA profile or crime scene prints, including that of the owner will remain on the WA DNA and NAFIS databases as they are crime scene evidence that may be required for future evidentiary issues or appeals.
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(b) - (c) Yes. The owner has a right not to have their vehicle towed by Police contractors and may arrange their own towing or recovery of their vehicle. However, as stated in (a) there may be occasions such as the vehicle being in a dangerous position or forensic requirements which may require that Police use a contractor.
(d) No.
(e) AAAC Towing Pty Ltd.
(f) Not applicable
(g) Yes, AAAC Towing Pty Ltd is listed in the phone book under two addresses (Cannington and O'Connor) which do not specify that these are storage locations.
(h) Yes. The Department of Treasury and Finance in conjunction with WA Police.
(i) $450,000.
(j) $22.
(k) Five years.
(l) No. The decision to forensically examine a stolen vehicle is made at a District level and is based on the requirement of the investigator, whether it was known or suspected to have been involved in another offence and the seriousness of the offence.
(m) DNA/fingerprint samples from the owner are crime scene samples and as such are submitted for forensic analysis. DNA profiles are then uploaded to the Western Australia DNA Database and exist as the profile of an unknown person in accordance with the
Criminal Investigation (Identifying people) Act 2002
. Fingerprints from crime scenes are uploaded to the National Automated Fingerprint Identification Database (NAFIS) and retained permanently.
(n) All crime scene DNA/fingerprints are retained permanently. The
Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act 2002
does not distinguish between crime scene profiles that match the owner and crime scene profiles that match someone else. There is no provision in the Act for deleting crime scene profiles from the database even if they are known to match a reference DNA profile of the owner.
(o) No. If the laboratory has been provided with a volunteer reference sample from the owner of the vehicle, their name and DNA profile will be removed from the Western Australia DNA Database, only if that person makes a formal request to the Commissioner of Police for it to be destroyed, under section 69 of the
Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act 2002
.
(p) Any crime scene DNA profile or crime scene prints, including that of the owner will remain on the WA DNA and NAFIS databases as they are crime scene evidence that may be required for future evidentiary issues or appeals.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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