- S24-160 Witness Care Officer (LC5)
Lancashire Constabulary’s Criminal Justice Department is seeking a Witness Care Officer to be based at Chorley.
Being a Witness Care Officer (WCO) is not your average role. Daily you will be speaking to people who may have been through one of the worst experiences in their lives.
The Witness Care Unit covers the whole of Lancashire and supports all victims and witnesses where an offender is charged and appears at court: because of this some of the cases we deal with may have distressing content.
WCOs are often the first person that victims and witnesses speak to after the Police have attended the scene of the incident and arrests made. They spend a lot of time contacting people and providing updates about what is happening with their case. They will explain the court process and guide them through the Criminal Justice System. If their case does proceed to a trial, then their WCO will explain when they need to go to court and what will happen when they are there. An assessment will be made for every witness to see if they need any extra support to help them attend the trial and it will be arranged via the relevant support agency. The Witness Care Unit works very closely with the Crown Prosecution Service ( CPS ).
WCOs use a variety of IT systems to provide and send updates to witnesses and other agencies within the Justice System so accuracy is an essential criterion.
Each WCO has a caseload of around 200 cases of which half will be live trials. On a typical day we receive a lot of phone calls and e-mails. Each enquiry is dealt with appropriately by the WCO according to the needs of the caller who may be a professional within the Criminal Justice arena or a vulnerable or distressed witness wanting information about their case. One call could be about a shoplifting offence the next could be about a very serious assault. No day is ever the same.
WCO’s have to provide daily cover for colleagues who are absent for sickness or leave as allocated trials are live and are constantly being updated. This can be demanding and the WCO’s have to be able to prioritise workloads whilst continuing to support their victims and witnesses as well as their colleagues.
Candidates applying for Lancashire Constabulary should be aware that the use of online 'Artificial Intelligence' (AI) systems such as ChatGPT to generate application answers is NOT permitted, any candidate found to have submitted an application form using online 'AI' software to generate answers will be removed from the recruitment process with immediate effect. This may result in future applications with the Constabulary also being rejected, based on integrity.
Further details of the requirements and duties of the post can be found on the attached Role Profile.
Please note, as a condition of your appointment you must undergo and pass RV Vetting Level.
Please note, candidates successful at shortlisting will be required to undertake an online assessment as part of the interview process. This will consist of a following instructions test.
Before you complete the online application, we would advise you to read the attached Information and Guidance documents.
PLEASE NOTE, AGENCY EMPLOYEES VOLUNTEERS AND SPECIALS ARE UNABLE TO APPLY FOR INTERNAL VACANCIES.
THE CLOSING DATE FOR THIS VACANCY IS THURSDAY 9TH MAY 2024 AT 10:00AM