Day 121 - 04 May 95 - Page 57
1
2 Q. Why not? It does not say there has to be a minimum of such
3 and such.
4 A. Because it has to be reasonably interpreted.
5
6 Q. I do not know whether the stenographer wanted a break or
7 not?
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let us have it, five minutes break.
10
11 (Short adjournment)
12
13 MS. STEEL: How long are incident report forms kept for?
14 A. I do not think there is any rule on it; it would depend
15 upon the subject matter. They are now recorded on
16 computer. I would have thought that record is kept for a
17 lot longer than the actual form is kept, unless the matter
18 requires retention, and that decision be made by the
19 department who is affected by the subject matter.
20
21 Q. If it was a matter relating to Personnel?
22 A. Personnel are not great receivers of incident report
23 forms. They do get some. I would have thought until the
24 subject matter had been dealt with and put to bed and then
25 they are probably shredded.
26
27 Q. But it would be on the computer?
28 A. Yes, there would be a reference on the computer.
29
30 Q. What about for the Security Department?
31 A. The Security Department would tend to keep it longer
32 primarily, I think, because they are staffed by policemen
33 and policemen hoard paperwork for ever.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Old habits die hard.
36 A. Yes, I think it is traditional for policemen to hang on
37 to stuff for ages. They have a store file on every store
38 within their region. The Head Office department, I
39 believe, has a file on every store in the country, so there
40 is duplication, and they just happen to pop stuff in
41 there. Every now and again they will go and have a
42 reduction in paper within those files, but I would have
43 thought -- I am hazarding a guess -- the whole file is
44 cleared at least once every two or three years unless there
45 is reason to keep it.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Hold on a moment, because I do not know how
48 much of this is directly to the point. What I suggest is
49 you put the matter you are aiming at, because I cannot
50 imagine several pages of my judgment being written about
51 how long incident reports are kept. So I need to know what
52 actual incident which may be significant in the case you
53 are directing yourself at.
54
55 MS. STEEL: It was actually something Mr. Nicholson said the
56 other day. He said something about an incident report form
57 was filled out for something, and I have a note of the
58 question and I cannot remember what it was.
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I know, but if Mr. Nicholson said he always
