Fed detective lead gives views to #SimplifyDG6 progress

6 February 2025

In 2022, a targeted effort was launched to appeal for change in data protection laws which currently require information to be redacted by detectives before they submit a case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

This movement was born in the PFEW’s National Detective Forum, on which Stephe sits for West Mercia alongside representatives from all 42 other Federations and associated forces in England and Wales.

And it took a big step at the end of last year, when an amendment to the Data Protection Act 2018, backed by the PFEW, was brought before the House of Lords for debate in the coming weeks.

Stephe broke down what this amendment would mean for policing: “We want to see this need to redact data eliminated from the CPS’ pre-charge stage for a few different reasons.

“Most crucially, the process of removing material from a case is extremely time-consuming for detectives and takes hours away from them. We believe it is simply a poor use of time.

“The change being put forward is exactly what us detectives need so we can focus time on other areas of our job and give a more effective, well-rounded service.”

Data

The specific alteration being pushed by the campaign concerns the Act’s Data (Use and Access) Bill and the introduction of a clause which would allow unredacted data to flow freely between the police force and the CPS at the pre-charge stage.

Once the clause proposal was legally approved, it was formally tabled to the House of Lords by Baroness Morgan of Cotes.

Giving her reaction to this breakthrough, Stephe continued: “It’s very pleasing that we have got to this stage, and I’d like to think at this point, there’s a serious chance it [the amendment] progresses.

“For me, it’s about everyone involved in the criminal justice system pulling in the same direction – we all know how important it is to protect sensitive information, but why should the police have to do so much of that work?

“There should be a joint working practice towards this, and while we know data has to be redacted at some point, we think there are more appropriate stages in the process to do this.

Detectives

“Overall, I just think we want more of an appreciation for the many things detectives do and taking away this extra layer of bureaucracy from them would show that.”

Since the beginning of 2021, an annual average of 365,000 policing hours have been accounted for by the redaction of case files pre-charge.

According to Stephe, this puts more pressure on detectives, who she believes are already “worse off for more work”.

The 47-year-old, who became detective lead and a workplace representative for the Federation six years ago, says officers in the role do not receive pay reflective of the lengths they go to – be it handling serious risk in cases with vulnerable people, making sacrifices with unsociable hours and shift allowance, or even as simply as having to buy their own work uniform as plain-clothes cops.

“Of course, I’m fully aware of injustice for all sorts of officers across the board. I wouldn’t be a Fed rep otherwise,” she said.

“But right now, purely having my detective head on, I know the real consequences of these redaction issues.

“They might seem only like practical ones in terms of time management, but there’s an emotional impact too – detectives know if they don’t get disclosure right, it can massively affect a case.

Crime

“For many reasons, detectives are going home from work wondering if they’ve done enough, despite giving everything to the job.

“And this just adds to the reality that there is not enough of an incentive to join the rank nowadays, as I see it.”

This all without touching on the hours lost for supporting victims of crime, which Stephe was then drawn on.

She added: “The weight of expectation around redacting data means that we risk victims getting fed up with no justice being achieved and withdrawing from active participation in a case.

“There should always be thought for the victim attached to the end of a case, and we can never lose sight of that.

“And I think that sums up the issue quite nicely, really – whether it is officers, victims, or whoever else, we always need to look after the people before we look after the process.

“A real positive step has been made towards this with the campaign reaching its furthest stage yet in Parliament, so let’s watch this space.