The principal responsibility of the Statement Taker is to prepare, conduct and record remote interviews of victims and witnesses. This must be delivered to an equivalent standard of the Professionalisation Investigation Programme (PIP) and in accordance with the law, PACE Code C, Force policy and with reference to the ‘Practical Guide to Interviewing 2004’.
The Statement Taker will have the ability to identify and maximise all of the available evidence from conversation with an individual and ask pertinent questions to obtain as much information as possible.
In particular to:
• Conduct remote (not face to face) interviews of victims and witnesses.
• Provide care for victims and witnesses by identifying any Risk, Harm and Vulnerability issues assessing an appropriate response or the need for onward referral (e.g. VNA)
• Adapt the communication style used to the needs of the individual, and confirm understanding of any element stated by the witness.
• Record the statements of remote interviews and ensure section 9 PACE statements are legible, meet the required evidential and quality standards and comply with the CPS guidelines.
• Complete allocated enquiries to PIP standard and within required timescales.
• Be accountable for decisions regarding all aspects of preparing, conducting and recording interviews and producing statements; referring to Force policies but also with discretion for individual circumstances.
This list of duties is not restrictive or exhaustive and the post-holder may be required to carry out duties from time to time that are either commensurate with/or lower than the grade of the post. In some posts this might include the ad-hoc provision of guidance and informal training of new colleagues.
The Statement Taker will have the ability to identify and maximise all of the available evidence from conversation with an individual and ask pertinent questions to obtain as much information as possible.
In particular to:
• Conduct remote (not face to face) interviews of victims and witnesses.
• Provide care for victims and witnesses by identifying any Risk, Harm and Vulnerability issues assessing an appropriate response or the need for onward referral (e.g. VNA)
• Adapt the communication style used to the needs of the individual, and confirm understanding of any element stated by the witness.
• Record the statements of remote interviews and ensure section 9 PACE statements are legible, meet the required evidential and quality standards and comply with the CPS guidelines.
• Complete allocated enquiries to PIP standard and within required timescales.
• Be accountable for decisions regarding all aspects of preparing, conducting and recording interviews and producing statements; referring to Force policies but also with discretion for individual circumstances.
This list of duties is not restrictive or exhaustive and the post-holder may be required to carry out duties from time to time that are either commensurate with/or lower than the grade of the post. In some posts this might include the ad-hoc provision of guidance and informal training of new colleagues.
