FOI 13069-25 Custody photos of convicts
Request to Northamptonshire Police:
1) Are custody photos published on the force's web site? Do they remain there indefinitely?
2) Are there restrictions on who custody photos are made available to? Can any member of the public request them? Can press organisations?
3) What criteria are used in determining the release/publication of a custody photo of a person charged with/convicted of an offence? Is there a minimum sentence length requirement for photo publication?
Response:
1) Yes. No, they are removed after a period of 12 months from the published date.
2) Yes. No. Yes
3) A custodial sentence of 12 months or more except in exceptional circumstances. In some cases, the Officer In Charge (OIC) will request that we do not use custody photos at the request of victim/s. This is usually in domestic-related offences. They are also used for posting people on Criminal Behaviour Orders. We do not release custody photos on charge, only when someone has been convicted and sentenced to 12 months or more in prison.
Custody photos of defendants under the age of 18 are only allowed to be issued or published if the judge lifts reporting restrictions on conviction, this tends to be in the most serious cases such as murder – although not guaranteed. In cases of domestic-abuse or sexual offences – we always make sure that the OIC is aware if the media has requested the image. Or will ask them to seek the victim’s permission if we plan to publish it.