FOI 0150-2025/26 Digital Forensics
Request
I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, in relation to your force's Digital Forensics Unit.
Q1.Device Submissions and Backlog
- The number of devices currently awaiting examination.
b. As of the present day, the number of devices that have been awaiting examination for under 30 days, 30 days - 3 months, 3 – 6 months, 6 months – 1 year and 2 – 3 years, 3 – 4 years, 4 years +. - Your force’s target turnaround time for completing forensic investigations.
Q2.Staffing and Capacity
- The number of full-time equivalent staff currently working in the DFU, broken down by role if possible.
b. Any vacancies or staffing shortfalls affecting the DFU in the last 12 months.
Q3.Accreditation and Quality
- Whether your DFU is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, and if so, for which types of digital forensic activity.
Q4.Efficiency Measures
- Whether your DFU uses triage processes or tools to prioritise devices or speed up examination.
b. Whether your force uses any form of AI or automation to support digital forensic work.
c. Whether any part of your digital forensic workload is outsourced to external providers, and if so, approximately what percentage. - Please disclose any regional or national forensic units you've collaborated with within the past year.
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police.
I can confirm that some of the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.
Q1a. 415 devices.
Q1b. Information is not held in the requested format. However, as a goodwill gesture, we can confirm that in the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 North Yorkshire Police Digital Forensics Unit examined 3101 devices, 67% of which were completed within the stated SLA timescales (see response to Q1c). Reasons for devices being overdue are generally the result of additional work being required, e.g. time taken bypass pinlock/passwords, defeat encryption, repair of damaged devices prior to examination or other complexities with exhibits. On average, exhibits completed within the agreed SLA were -65 days under the total quoted SLA timescales. Those overdue were on average 33.33 days over. The average SLA completion across all exhibits was -34.18 days under the combined SLA.
Q1c.
Q2a.
Police Staff - Mobile Phone Investigators - x18
Police Staff – Computer Investigations x6
Police Constable - Digital Investigation Officers – x6
Police Staff - Technical Manager x1
Police Staff - Deputy Technical Manager – x2
Police Staff – Digital Records Assistant – x2
Police Staff - Digital Forensic Technician – x2
Police Staff – Victim ID x2
Police Staff - Digital Forensics Assistant – x2
Q2b. x1 Police Staff Mobile Phone Investigation post & x1 Digital Forensics Assistant vacancies currently on hold. No other staffing shortfalls over the last 12 months with all posts filled.
Q3a. This information is publicly available and as such, is exempt pursuant to Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) – information reasonably accessible by other means.
Please see the below link to the requested information:
9773Testing Single
Q4a. North Yorkshire Police Digital Forensics Unit currently uses triage tools to prioritise computer examinations. Testing is currently underway of additional software to extend this to mobile phone examinations also.
Q4b. Yes.
Q4c. North Yorkshire Police outsourced approximately 85 devices to external providers between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, therefore of the 3101 exhibits examined, this equates to 2.74% outsourced.
Q4d. North Yorkshire Police have not actively collaborated on any specific projects or initiatives other than partaking in quarterly Forensic Force Improvement Working Groups & Quality Management Meetings with other Yorkshire & Humber forces. We use these meetings to share best practice and learning across the region.
Exemption Explanation
Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means
Section 21 is an absolute class based exemption and I am not required to consider the harm or public interest when applying this exemption.
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.