Police must fill in seven-page form to use binoculars

British police officers must fill in a seven page form if they want to use a pair of binoculars to watch a crime suspect. The requirement has been attacked by critics as the latest example of excessive red tape, which they say is "emasculating" the police service.

Simon Reed, vice-chairman of the Police Federation, said: "There are all kinds of forms that must be filled in to do even a simple policing task. To mount a surveillance operation you have to fill in a seven page form, even if you just want to use a pair of binoculars. All this paperwork is emasculating the police service. Even if you just used your own eyesight, you would need it because that is classed as 'directed surveillance'."

The seven-page document is designed to ensure officers comply with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), the same controversial legislation which allows local councils to use surveillance powers for minor misdemeanours such as dog-fouling. In addition to the RIPA form, officers must fill out even more paperwork before they can carry out surveillance.



Mr Reed added: "You have to complete a risk assessment of the premises and then you have to do an operational order saying what staff, communications and vehicles you'll use, and so on. The authority for the surveillance operation has to be authorised by a superintendent.

"All the paperwork will take about a week to complete. We're not even talking about tackling major crime here. It will even be required to look at someone suspected of dealing drugs from their house, for example, where all the police come away with is a few bags of heroin.

"The days are gone when you got a phone call from an informant or a nosey neighbour and could just go down to have a look. It needs to be risk assessed and all the rest of it, even for something as simple as watching a suspect. Until they change that culture we are not going to make any progress. Just simplifying the forms is not the answer."