I wouldn't describe this as "incompetent", I'd describe this as "the phone security working".
There are techniques for tethering the phone and then downloading data from it, but arguably these rely on loopholes that Apple can and should be fixing.
Phones don't have a concept of PACE. Until we can agree on a legal and technical system whereby the police have access to phones if and only if it's part of a criminal investigation, there are only two possibilities: too much police access, or no police access.
There are techniques for tethering the phone and then downloading data from it, but arguably these rely on loopholes that Apple can and should be fixing.
Phones don't have a concept of PACE. Until we can agree on a legal and technical system whereby the police have access to phones if and only if it's part of a criminal investigation, there are only two possibilities: too much police access, or no police access.