This problem is a UK government area of research interest (ARI) that was originally posted at https://ari.org.uk/ by a UK government organisation to indicate that they are keen to see research related to this area.
How does the use of secure digital recording devices in Voluntary Attender Interviews with suspects impact interview quality, investigation outcome and jury decisions?
Surveillance and sensing is the ability to lawfully monitor and collect data from people, activity, movements, behaviours, objects and data overtly and covertly.
We wish to develop practices that support vulnerable witnesses, victims, and suspects at interview. We seek best practices in conducting:
1. Pre-interview assessments, to identify vulnerability or intimidation (within the meaning of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, 1999), to determine which ‘special measures’ are appropriate, and to establish how best to communicate;
2. Voluntary Attender Interviews with suspects using secure digital recording devices, including understanding the impact this approach has on interview quality, the outcome of the investigation, and jury decision making;
3. Investigative interviews with vulnerable suspects, establishing the extent current national police interview models are fit for purpose when conducting interviews with vulnerable suspects, such as those who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, Personality Disorder or mental health conditions; and,
4. A suspect centric approach in RASSO (Rape and Serious Sexual Offences) /VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls) investigations to determine how to structure suspect interviews if a suspect’s previous behaviour has an impact on ‘consent’ (s74-76 SOA 2003).
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We welcome your engagement with our ARIs in the following ways:
• If you have evidence that completely or partly supports or answers one of our ARIs, we invite you to share that with us. For any ongoing research relevant to policing and crime reduction, we encourage you to register your research on the College of Policing’s research projects map, which has been designed to promote collaboration and support requests for participants.
• If you are, or plan to be, carrying out research that relates to one of our ARIs, we’d like to hear about it. While we cannot respond to speculative approaches for research funding, we will where possible act to support your ambitions, including finding you policing partners where possible.
• If you are submitting a funding or grant application that aligns with one of our ARIs, we hope that referencing policing’s ARIs will help to strengthen your case for the possible public impact of the research.
• We will use the ARI document to structure our academic engagement, prioritise events and build new connections with external partners. We will be using our ARIs in our engagement with UKRI, and we will publish any opportunities for funding via our website https://science.police.uk/
Please send any correspondence and questions to csa@npcc.police.uk, including ‘ARI’ in the subject heading.