Home Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Victim Support [LSP 09]
The following paper is Victim Support’s response to the Home Affairs Committee request for input as part of the inquiry on the soon to be established College of Policing.
Executive Summary
While Victim Support does not feel it is appropriate or indeed best placed to answer all of the questions listed within the terms of reference, we believe it is important to respond where relevant as the national organisation speaking up for victims and witnesses in England and Wales.
Victim Support welcomes the creation of a professional policing body at a national level but in order to deliver its goals, it will need to obtain input from key agencies that regularly work alongside police forces as part of the wider Criminal Justice System. The Home Office have outlined that the College of Policing will achieve its objectives by strengthening the links between the police service and other organisations. Victim Support would welcome the opportunity to regularly provide input to the College of Policing in order to represent the views of victims of witnesses. This will help to ensure that all police forces in England and Wales deliver the standards of services that victims of witnesses expect from their local police service.
Terms of Reference
1. How will the professional body interact with HMIC; the IPCC; ACPO; and other institutions in providing leadership and setting standards for police forces?
1.1. It is important that as part of setting standards for police forces, organisations representing the needs of their key stakeholders (victims and witnesses being one of these), can contribute to outlining the importance of delivering consistent and high standards of service that they require.
1.2. To achieve this, Victim Support would welcome the opportunity to have a senior representative to sit on the College of Policing Board as one of the non-police representatives. This will help to ensure the College of Policing serves the public interest, and specifically to speak up on behalf of victims and witnesses.
1.3. Professional standards should include police force and police officer compliance with the Victims’ Code of Practice (to be reviewed in early 2013). All police forces are currently required to (but are not made accountable for) provide victims with a minimum level of service, such as being provided with a case update every 28 days, the right to hear when a suspect is arrested, charged, bailed or sentenced. By making police forces more accountable to delivering a consistent service to victims through the Victims’ Code, we can be confident that victims are being provided the standards of service they should expect to receive.
1.4. In addition to the Victims’ Code, the soon to be appointed Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will have a statutory duty to obtain the views of victims under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act. This offers up another opportunity to ensure that police services provide a high standard of service to victims and witnesses. Victim Support looks forward to working alongside PCCs to ensure this duty becomes a reality.
2. What role should the College of Policing have in recruitment and training?
2.1. As part of their training, police officers (and where relevant, police staff) of all ranks should be fully briefed on the importance of keeping victims regularly informed about their case. Victims that are satisfied with the service they receive are more likely to report crime in the future, have more confidence in the CJS, thus encouraging more to attend court to give evidence and see more offenders brought to justice.
2.2. Victim Support would be open to assisting the College of Policing in officer training requirements specifically in relation to the professional standards that officers (and indeed staff) should be meeting when providing victims with information and other services. In addition, Victim Support staff could provide officers and staff with training to underline the importance and benefits of offering Victim Personal Statements to all victims of crime. Currently, not all victims are provided with the opportunity to provide a Victim Personal Statement to outline how a crime has personally affected them.
3. Should the professional body be responsible for civilian police employees?
3.1. Yes, the professional body should also be responsible for civilian police employees.
3.2. If victims are to receive a consistent standard of service, this needs to be embraced by all officers and police staff, ie the entire police force. Initiatives such as the “total victim care day” which was introduced by the Metropolitan Police earlier this year was an example of how important it is that civilian police employees are also fully up to speed in regards to the importance of delivering a high standard of service to victims. It is not only police officers, but on many occasions it is civilian police employees that are tasked with providing victims with the essential information they require.
Victim Support
October 2012