How new technology is supporting the collection and submission of legally admissible evidence to policing
Each year over 5 million criminal offences go unreported. On average, 50% of victims never report the crime they suffer, according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales. This rises to 63% in cases of domestic abuse, and 84% in cases of sexual offences (90% if the victim is under 19).
In England and Wales, an ‘evidential difficulty’ prevents further action in 77% of recorded domestic abuse cases.
Just 4% of those reported for domestic abuse, and less than 3% of those accused of a sexual offence are convicted, which, putting it another way, means abusers and sexual offenders have more than a 95% chance of getting away with it.
This is completely unacceptable, and the ground-breaking kulpa app has been developed to do something about it. Forensic science expert Simon Franc, along with a team of 15, created the kulpa app. With two important international UKAS accreditations [ISO 270001 and BS 10008] for information security and evidential weight and legal admissibility of electronic information, users can collect and store evidence on secure and compliant servers with the assurance that it is verified and legally admissible.
The app presents users with a number of ‘folders’ in which they can store all types of evidence.
In a 2019 British Home Office report, it was estimated that domestic abuse in England and Wales, alone, has an economic and social cost of £66billion per annum, and that was believed to be an underestimation. We have also all seen the evidence which shows that the Covid pandemic has increased these pressures.
We have to remember that justice means different things to different people and that’s why kulpa gives users options. For some just documenting and storing the evidence may be enough for them to start their recovery. Some may want to pursue a civil action such as a restraining or protective order or seek custody of children in the family courts and so the app provides the option for users to send their case to a civil lawyer of their choosing or send their case to a kulpa accredited firm who will be able to offer free advice and support. Some may of course want and need police involvement and a criminal action and so, via the app, users can also choose to send their case and evidence to the police.
In these circumstances the app should enable better policing outcomes, using fewer resources. The app aims to increase the number of successful prosecutions and will relieve the burden of much of the evidence gathering process for police personnel.
This technology is not just about speeding up the collection of evidence, but also the speed at which that evidence can be presented by police in interviews and moving forward into the prosecution process. The system will automatically populate all of the evidence into an exhibiting report format which is legally compliant with the Criminal Procedure Rules. No longer will officers have to conduct interviews with a distinct lack of evidence because they are still waiting for it to be collected, compiled, verified and/or exhibited. Instead, they will have everything they need; a package of verified legally admissible evidence, in a matter of minutes, thanks to kulpa.
Perpetrators tend to submit early guilty pleas when faced with irrefutable evidence. With kulpa it’s in your hands.
Author:
Simon Franc, Chief Executive Officer, Kulpa
Georgie Morgan
Georgie joined techUK as the Justice and Emergency Services (JES) Programme Manager in March 2020, then becoming Head of Programme in January 2022.