What is the best practice for conducting suspect interviews in the case of RASSO (Rape and Serious Sexual Offences) and VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls) investigations?

Background

"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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Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

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