Bin Sifting for evidence!!

B

Batty609

Full Registered User
Firstly this is my first thread so i will say hello to all that read it and welcome myself to you all.

Ok, the question.....................................................

As a private investigator am i legally entitled to sift through the rubbish of my target to gain valuable information if the case i am following is of a criminal nature i.e- fraud??

there is no clear line on this and even though i am ex-job i am unable to obtain any set rules/laws regards this. Any response is welcome.

Many Thanks!!
 
My understanding is that it is still theft or theft by finding, specifically so if the items are placed into a council bin (such as retail outlets) where the item is then deemed to be in the ownership of the council. Funnily enough I had this discussion the other day with 2 ex job lads and an ex RMP SIB lad, and we all had differing opinions! I guess it boils down to your intent and any value???
 
Well this is where we all agreed to disagree, some thought it was as soon as it was disgarded, but I have nicked people who have "stolen" from retail bins, although this was easier to prove as their rubbish went into a contractors bin so was never in effect thrown away. It is a grey area and I think would vary force to force and case to case.
 
There is a stated case on this with regards to benny the bin man, a notorius bin sifter.
I work to the rule if the bin is on the pavement then it is in the public domain and therefore not theft, also you can always take rubbish away sift through it then put it back, that way the intention to permanently deprive is null and void.

fbg
 
Sh*t, yes, I do remember him, he was / is the fellow who spends all his time going through celeb bins isn't he fbg?
 
Yep thats the one, they even made a documentary about him. He sell the info he finds on celebs to the red top rags.

fbg
 
I would have thought the same that if the rubbish is on the kerb awaiting collection then it is in public domain. Entering into a garden to remove or sift rubbish I would have thought been trespass. I would personally remove the bag and ideally substituting it with a similar bag so not to make it obvious that a bag has been removed prior to collection. It is more common here for people to sift through your rubbish not for information gathering but for general scavenging, more so Pacific Islanders and Chinese that seem to do this.

For companies that have commercial waste collection, it is still the sites property until the contractor removes the bin when it becomes their property. Same goes for council tips in the UK. I think people are becoming more aware of bin sifting in the UK and sales of shredders certainly would bare this out. What does amuse me is the same people that meticulously shred their documents are often the same people that put all and sundry in the Internet about themselves which I find rather ironic!
 
This is a question I've been asked many times during my time as an adviser in law enforcement so hopefully I can help. The first point to make is that, at all times, the bin and its contents are 'property' in its legal sense. This means that someone always has possessory rights over the items, i.e. they are always 'owned'. The owner can therefore takle a civil action against any other person who interferes with them without consent. Furthermore, criminal liability may also arise where anything is removed from the bin with an intention to permanently deprive the owner of it.

When the bin is on the householder's premises, they have exclusive possessory rights and they are the people who can sue. Once it is on the street for collection it becomes the joint property of the householder and the local authority responsible for its collection. Either party could then sue. Once collected it becomes the property of the local authorty alone.

In practical terms then, removing something to photocopy and return would therefore not fall to be criminal conduct. It would, however, be an actionable trespass to goods under civil (tort) law.

Sorry about the long answer but hopefully this helps.

RIPA Training
 
Many thanks for all your replies, the guys i work for and with are all ex job (some pretty high up) so live and work pre-PACE where anything goes to get a result!!
Time will tell i guess.
 
Hi Batty -
Nice post from Blueonezero.
Nicked a bloke once for doing the same ( 1989 ), he was a member of the press and only way to get it thru CPS was to get a complaint from the VIP's house. Several days later, it was withdrawn.
Years down the line end up doing the same :(
 
Might be relevant, but article 8 of the HRA might be relevant if the person knew their privacy was being compromised.
 
Article 8 of the European Convention certainly impacts in a number of ways upon the use of covert techniques but I'm not convinced it would apply here. it is also important to remember that, at the moment, it is only public authorities who fall within its coverage. I say, "at the moment" because I firmly believe that additional regulation is on the way for the private sector in this area. I can see the day coming when private investigators will need to seek an order from a court before they can conduct any 'privacy interfering' surveillance, for example. Watch this space!
 
I watched a TV programme recently about ID theft and the chap was showing how easy it was and went bin sifting. But when he presented evidence at the Police station they nearly arrested him as apparently it is classed as theft :eek:
 
Still serving - bin sift is treated as the same level of trespass upon expectations of privacy as other RIPA apps: key copying, etc. Don't stop it happening, but it has to be a considered logical step of justifiable, proportionate and necessary means.

The potential for anything so acquired to be excluded under the Unfairness Principle means that anything subsequently discovered can also be excluded, which might jeopardise a whole job.

RIPA is such bread and butter that it takes only minutes to prepare the application. Conversely, we will engage the local authorities to suspend bin collections after major incidents just to get a bit of breathing space. Beware the self-test, where something so sexy is deliberately left as a throw-down for you that you just have to take action, thus confirming the surveillance is in place anyway. NTON.
 
i know it happen when i first started,it was a good way to I.D your subject

but what a crap job! i hated being bin sifter!!
 
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