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Mark-Larson
(@mark-larson)
Posts: 3
New Member
Topic starter
 

http//www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11989225

 
Posted : 14/12/2010 8:27 pm
(@joethomas)
Posts: 65
Trusted Member
 

I'm surprised this hasn't got more replies. It's shocking. I have no idea how the police are going to cope. Surely it's more expensive for them to have to set up their own labs, hire people and train then, buy equipment, etc, than to employ an external service?

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 1:20 pm
(@benuk)
Posts: 42
Eminent Member
 

Presumably it'll all just be outsourced at vast expense. Police forces certainly won't be hiring anybody new in any role for a good long while.

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 1:24 pm
(@xennith)
Posts: 177
Estimable Member
 

Surely it's more expensive for them to have to set up their own labs, hire people and train then, buy equipment, etc, than to employ an external service?

Nope. This is why the FSS is leaking money. Big forces can do it in house for less, small forces can get it done privately for less.

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 1:40 pm
(@benuk)
Posts: 42
Eminent Member
 

Surely it's more expensive for them to have to set up their own labs, hire people and train then, buy equipment, etc, than to employ an external service?

Nope. This is why the FSS is leaking money. Big forces can do it in house for less, small forces can get it done privately for less.

I don't know how small forces can do it privately for less - forces currently pay for each submission they make to the FSS, who now appear to have been operating at a loss. I'd be interested to see how their fees compare to those of the companies that move in once they're gone.

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 1:50 pm
(@dficsi)
Posts: 283
Reputable Member
 

If ANY force can do the work for less why do they put out tenders? It can't just be to clear backlog.

The article on the Independent's website said that the police have assured MPs that they will continue to cut outsourcing costs.

I doubt FSS will be the last to go by any means. I don't see how people can do police work for less than £1000 per computer and still turn a profit AND do a good job.

I wonder what will happen to FSS' newly acquired MET computer forensic contract?

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 2:17 pm
(@jonathan)
Posts: 878
Prominent Member
 

I doubt FSS will be the last to go by any means. I don't see how people can do police work for less than £1000 per computer and still turn a profit AND do a good job.

Exactly. Certainly appears that the recent Met contract awards favoured price over quality. Am relieved that I'm not involved with contracted police work, as it looks like it's turning into a race to the bottom.

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 3:30 pm
(@benuk)
Posts: 42
Eminent Member
 

I suspect that outsourcing costs will be cut by simply not investigating as many crimes, and doing a reduced job on the crimes that are investigated.

Various parts of our in-force forensic capability (not digital, before I get ripped apart by jackals sending me PMs bidding for my carrion) are likely to be nuked in the next few weeks to save on staffing costs, and other forces are in the same boat. We've got a total freeze on external recruiting, there's absolutely no chance of whole new technical departments being formed.

We're all doomed. Doomed, I tell you!

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 3:55 pm
PaulSanderson
(@paulsanderson)
Posts: 651
Honorable Member
 

I made a concious descision many years ago to not bid for any of these contracts as I also believe that a thorough proper job can not be done for under £1K.

I still do some work for a few forces but it is often work that has been outsourced and not done properly (I guess due to the pressure of getting the disk(s) through the sausage factory) the first time around. or interestingly internal investigations that the police do not want to outsource.

The companies that do take in large scale outsourced contracts will undoubtably benefit from this decision

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 4:20 pm
(@xennith)
Posts: 177
Estimable Member
 

I doubt FSS will be the last to go by any means. I don't see how people can do police work for less than £1000 per computer and still turn a profit AND do a good job.

Thats just the thing, they dont do a good job, I've seen a couple of reports from <unnamed large company 1> and they were… shocking. Terrible, unusable, unsafe, and required us to effectively throw away all the work we received and start fresh to get anything even approaching the standard we work to.

I've also seen defense material from Evidence Matters that was quite good (no problem naming them while singing their praises I assume). But they spent a lot more time on the case, and the budget was much larger than the 1k that most people charge.

The FSS apparently charged more than the private sector did for the same work, so I'm not surprised they would lose money, nobody has that kind of money (except defendants with legal aid).

 
Posted : 15/12/2010 5:22 pm
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