Alan Stanley Robertson Naylor Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh August 2008. Thesis submitted to Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh in accordance with The Regulations for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

List of Contents Page

Title 1

Abstract 3

Contents 4

Appendices 9

List of Cases 11

Acknowledgements 12

1.0 Introduction

1.1 The police in society

1.2 The Start of Crime and Intelligence recording

1.2.1 A definition of Crime

1.2.2 A definition of crime from an epistemological Viewpoint

1.2.3 The non existence of a British legal system

1.2.4 Sources of Primary Legislation

1.2.5 The Declaratory Power

1.2.6 A definition of crime from the United States of America

1.3.1 The Start of Crime Recording in Europe

1.3.2 The early crime recording model in France

1.3.3 The philosophy of crime, criminality and liberty

Chapter Two The Role of the Police in Scotland 56

1. 
   Crime Recording in Scotland before local
   

2.2 An explanation of Beat Complaints

2.3 The mechanics of crime recording

2.4 Criminal Intelligence Recording

2.5.1 Legal Obligation to record Crime

2.5.2 Legal response

2.5.3 Administrative Arrangements

4. 
   Influences on Chief Constables to standardise data
   

2.5.5 Legal Influences on the police

2.5.6 Influence of the Courts

2.5.7 Influences furth of Scotland Advisory

2.5.8 Influences furth of Scotland Administrative

2.5.9 Influences furth of Scotland Operational

2.5.10 Wider definition of Solved Crime

2.6.1 Is all crime recorded?

2.6.2 Police use of data

3. 
   Origins of the war against crime
   

2.7.1 Other Agencies recording crime

2.7.2 RSPCA

2.7.3 SEPA

2.7.4 More statistical collections

2.7.5 Non Civil police statistics

2.7.6 Further statistics from other police forces

2.7.7 Other crime investigating agencies in Scotland

2.8.1 The specificity of crime and intelligence recording

2.8.2 Texts relating to the recording of crime

9. 
   Alternative views on the control of statistics in the
   

2.10.1 The miscellany of papers, letters and manuscripts

2.10.2 Academic considerations of manuscripts

2.11 Conclusions

3.1.1 The Home Office Risk

3.1.2 A high level review of computing circa 1976

3.2.1 Risk to three police forces

3.3.1 Risk to the computer Industry

3.4.1 Conclusions from Chapters One and Two

1. 
   Introduction
   
2. 
   Background to the research
   

1. 
   Overall approach to the study
   

1. 
   Different methods used in this study
   

4.3.3 New Analytical Tools

4.3.4 The policing approach to systems management

4.3.5 Lothian and Borders Police semi structured interviews

4.4 Literature Review

4.5.1 Introduction to Case studies

4.5.2 Case Study theory

4.6 The Analysis of the study

4.7 The ethical issues in the study

4.8 Limitations of the study methods

4.8.1 Research Philosophy and methodologies

4.8.2 Introduction

4.8.3 Positivism

4.8.4 Empirical Realism

4.8.5 Critical realism

4.8.6 Interpretivism

4.8.7 Objectivism

4.8.8 Constructionism

4.8.9 Action research
Chapter Five

5.0 Introduction 163

1. 
   Interviews and Triangulation
   

5.2.2 Survey Analysis

5.3.1 Second Questionnaire Analysis

5.4 Summary of Chapter Four

6.1.2 The Feasibility Study

6.1.3 The Operational requirement

4. 
   The Detailed Operational Requirement
   
5. 
   The Computer Contract
   

6.3 The Home Office Initiative 1976

6.3.2 The Structure of the Home Office

6.3.3 The Scottish Police Input

6.3.4 View from the Under Secretary of State

6.3.5 Police Influences on F7 Division Home Office

6.3.6 F7 Division Strategy

6.3.7 F7 Division Constraints

6.3.8 The Home Office first initiative

6.3.9 Command and Control systems

10. 
    Home Office involvement in Command and Control
    

11. 
    Analysis of the Home Office initiative
    

7.2 The Case studies

1. 
   Proposals from Kent County Constabulary and
   

2. 
   The Home Office letter
   
3. 
   Kent County Constabulary computer plan
   
4. 
   Computing in Kent County Constabulary 1976
   
5. 
   Perceived limitations of these systems
   
6. 
   Long term strategic view of these proposals
   
7. 
   Critical Decisions in police computing
   
8. 
   The Home Office perspective
   

7.4.2 The vision takes shape

7.5 The Joint Project Proposals

7.5.2 Initial reaction from the forces

7.5.3 Description of the forces

7.6.1 The Initial meeting 9th May 1979

7.6.2 Analysis of the meeting

7.6.3 Administrative arrangements to progress the Joint Project

4. 
   Details of the Joint meeting
   
5. 
   Technical address to the meeting
   
6. 
   The forces’ proposals
   
7. 
   Centralised Input of crime reports
   
8. 
   Details of the applications
   
9. 
   Team Report Criminal Information Systems
   
10. 
    Team Report Crime Recording System
    
11. 
    Team Report Police National Computer Interface
    
12. 
    Conclusion of the Joint Meeting
    
13. 
    Record of the Joint Meeting
    

7.7.2 Home Office Thoughts

7.7.3 The Joint Project Decision
Chapter Eight The Lothian and Borders Police Sole Project 232

8.1 Reasons for the new system

8.2.1 The Feasibility Study

8.3.1 Computer Procurement commences

8.3.2 The Operational requirement dated July 1979

3. 
   Project management
   

8.3.5 Operational Requirement detail

8.3.6 The functionality

8.3.7 The system detail

8.3.8 Crime Recording

9. 
   Data Capture Proposals
   

8.3.11 Property Data

8.3.12 The Scottish Law Commission Report on lost property

8.3.13 Criminal Intelligence

1. 
   Software
   

8.5.1 Negotiation with contractors

8.6.1 The Detailed Operational Requirement

2. 
   The Home Office concerns about Lothian and
   

3. 
   Evaluation of the proposals
   

1. 
   The Implementation Process
   
2. 
   The Pursuit for a suitable search engine
   
3. 
   The Search Engine is named STATUS
   
4. 
   Implementation of STATUS
   
5. 
   Additional use of the new search engine
   

1. 
   The practical use of the new system
   

1. 
   Introduction 4 July 1979
   
2. 
   The development of an Operational Requirement
   
3. 
   Performance requirement from the new system
   
4. 
   Lack of progress note dated 2 February 1981
   

5. 
   Police reaction to the criticism
   
6. 
   The Operational Requirement is issued to the computer
   

1. 
   The selection of a short list
   
2. 
   The problem of free text searching
   
3. 
   The problem of addresses in searching for criminals
   
4. 
   The imposition of a Kent solution to the addresses problem
   
5. 
   Background to the Kent decision
   
6. 
   Background to the theory of addresses from Chicago
   

9.3.2 The Home Office solution to Project management

9.3.3 Police staffing

9.3.4 A new Project Director 25 May 1982

9.3.5 Changes to the Operational Requirement

9.3.6 Support from CCTA

7. 
   Detailed Operational Requirement issued to 2
   

8. 
   Invitation to Tender issued October 1982
   
9. 
   The contract is awared to Software Sciences/
   

8. 
   Other forces implementing crime recording systems
   

8. 
   Project progress
   

1. 
   Implementation Plans 28 February 1983
   
2. 
   Testing of the system May 1985
   
3. 
   Another new Home Office Project Director 23 May 1985
   
4. 
   Yet another new Home Office Project Director July 1985
   
5. 
   Progress meetings 1986 – lack of a credible system
   
6. 
   Meeting with contractors 24 June 1986
   
7. 
   ‘This unfortunate Project’ by the Under Secretary of
   

8. 
   Brief Analysis of the case studies
   

1. 
   Introduction
   
2. 
   Objective One
   
3. 
   Objective Two
   
4. 
   Objective Three
   
5. 
   Objective Four
   
6. 
   Conclusion
   
7. 
   Future Research Projects arising from this study
   
   1. 
      Universal Crime data Collection
      
   2. 
      Research Methodology in HOLMES Computing
      
   3. 
      Use of new Crime reporting technology
      

Case 80/86 Public Prosecutor v Kolpinghuis Nijmegen.

Regina v. The Chief Constable of Sussex ex parte International

Trader’s Ferry Limited (1998) 3 WLR 1260; (1999) 1 All ER 186,HL.

Smith V HMA 1952 JC 66

Khaliq v HMA 1984 JC 23

In any work of this kind, which stretches over a number of years of part time study and covers a variety of academic disciplines, there are inevitably many people who have influenced my thinking. My formative crime research years were helped enormously by my police colleagues, in Edinburgh and later in the Home Office, London. My computer skills were honed with help from practitioners – my original pure science degree from Edinburgh University in the mid 1960s, and Norman Nunn Price, the co author of STATUS (the first effective free text computer programme) and from academics especially Professor John Kerridge, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh. I am grateful for the assistance of David Gwillam, sometime of Edinburgh Napier University and St Andrew’s University, Scotland and Professor Alison McCleery, Napier University pointed toward different interpretations of geographical information. My sincere thanks are due to both Duncan Spiers, MA(Oxon).,Advocate., Lecturer in Law, and Dr Lois Farquharson, BA, MSc, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, both of Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh who took my efforts to task and guided my thinking in relation to law and project management. Dr Christopher Timpson, Fellow, Brasenose College, Oxford deserves a particular mention for his time spent discussing philosophy with me.