Forensic Science • 2 mins read
Since the first police force gained accreditation for ISO/IEC 17020 for the examination of Volume Crime scenes in 2020, UKAS has been conducting further assessments of police forces with seventeen now accredited for this activity at one or more of their Incident Scene hubs.
As significant progress is being made in relation to the accreditation of Volume Crime scenes, UKAS is now looking to prepare for the next phase of Incident Scene accreditation in relation to police forces with the inclusion of the aspects related to Major Crime.
As this will be a new area of accreditation for police forces, UKAS is liaising with Bedfordshire Police (the legal entity under which forensic services are delivered to Bedfordshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Hertfordshire Constabulary (BCH)) who were the first force to gain accreditation for ISO/IEC 17020 at their Hatfield site, to explore the additional aspects that will be included in UKAS assessments and how organisations may be able to meet and demonstrate these as part of an assessment.
BCH have gained a state of readiness, not only in relation to the extent of the scope of accreditation held for inspection activities in relation to volume crime scene but also in the number of hubs that have been included in the scope of accreditation, which means they are very well placed to liaise with UKAS in this regard.
It is anticipated that the learning achieved by UKAS through this work will help to shape the manner by which Major Crime Scene applications will be progressed and potentially assessed in the future.