FOI Police Building Entry Procedure (0248-2022/23)
Request
This general request that applies to the police force nominated officer acting as a specialist locksmith.
SPECIALIST LOCKSMITH ENABLING ACCESS TO CLOSED PROPERTIES WITHOUT SMASHING AN ENTANCE
In particular, I am interested in:
a) Clearly the police, on occasion, are obliged to gain access to a property where the owener is not available and need to access the property to establish that all is well. Rather than smashing their way in I would presume that they have a specialist locksmith officer that could open the lock without damage.
b) If they do, given the pressure of operating police budget, do you lend out the specialist locksmith policeman to other neighbouring forces which of course would reduce the budget pressure further.
c) If there is such an officer it may be that the force could offer the officer to the general public, on special occasions for a set fee. Should this be the case I would suggest that the public are advised of this specialist facility.
d) Should the above proposal be of relevance perhaps you could detail the name and rank of the officer together with the usual police station he may be based at.
Response
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 the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.
North Yorkshire Police do not have a specialist locksmith officer. Some officers are trained in various methods of entry techniques and will always seek to cause minimal damage however, lockpicking is not one of the techniques used.
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.