New figures show the shelf space they need to store it totals a massive 1.3km, or just short of a mile. That covers all files required to be held under the Management of Police Information Guidelines.

According to Police, the documents are ‘weeded’ annually, but fresh files are added to the load every year.

They are currently held in a specialist ‘offsite’ facility as part of a rental agreement with Jersey Property Holdings.

The storage space also includes an overflow training facility, crime scene investigation examination bay for sterile vehicle examinations and ‘major incident equipment’.

paperwork records bureaucracy files documents

Pictured: Police are required to maintain the records under Management of Police Information guidelines.

Around one fifth of that space, which costs £74,500 per year, is dedicated to paperwork alone.

The FOI response explained that keeping those records in the same location, rather than at a specialist commercial document storage facility, saves the Police up to £25,000 yearly.