Interview Plan and Bail

When interviewing a person the officer needs to ensure that they establish a rapport with the interviewee. Establishing rapport means ‘getting into communication with’ and it allows communication to flow easily. It is not a friendship it is just ‘the development of a trusting relationship.’ In some cases this could be the first time that a person is inside a police station, and due to being in new and unusual surroundings it can make them feel nervous and uncomfortable. This can cause them to close up, panic and not necessarily remember everything regarding the incident that they saw. The key to gaining rapport with an interviewee is to give a friendly first impression but still appear professional. Treating the person as an individual by taking the time to find out their needs and concerns, which means the officer is more likely to get a response and succeed in the interview.  Something so basic such as making sure you know the person’s name that you are interviewing can make a massive difference, because an interviewee could feel that there is no point them co-operating with the officers if they get their name wrong, or make them feel uncomfortable in anyway. Explaining the reason for the interview and the procedures that are to be followed means that the interviewee has a good understanding for why the questions need to be asked, so they are more likely to give a accurate response.  Whether interviewing a witness, suspect or victim there should be the same courteousness used for them all individually. For example when dealing with a suspect, if they have been arrested at their house and have been dragged out of bed straight to the police station they are unlikely to co-operate. On the other hand if the suspect was allowed chance to get dressed, possible sort out the children if they have any before being taken to the police station they may be more likely to co-operate with the questioning as they have been treated with respect from the start.  It is a good idea to try and empathise with victims who have suffered a fairly stressful or traumatic experience to make them feel more comfortable about talking. Empathy means to try and understand how that person is feeling as a result of their experience, but whilst doing this the objective of the interview must remain.

In some cases the interviewee will tell lies, and it is almost an automatic response for the officer to challenge that lie especially if they know what the truth really is, but the disadvantage of doing this means that the flow of communication will stop, and no further information will be gained from the interview, some of which could be valuable. If it is suspected that the interviewee is lying, it can work as an advantage to allow them to continue with what they are saying, but put something in the notes of the interview about what they said and that they were suspected of lying. Sometimes the interviewee contradicts themselves and trips themselves up as they forget what lies they have already told, but if they do not, then the suspicions can be taken up at the end of the interview to allow the flow of conversation to continue as long as possible. After all the planning has been completed the interview can take place. When dealing with a suspect they need to be allowed to answer the allegations made against them, but a witness can simply recall what they saw.  

There are five basic rules to consider when questioning a suspect, witness or victim. These are:

• Vocabulary – making sure that wording is kept simple so all parties can understand
• Relevance – each question must have a purpose and not used to fill up some time
• Pace – allow the interviewee time to consider the question and the answer and then deliver it
• Interruptions –by stopping the flow of communication some information and important facts may not emerge
• Control – if the interviewee strays from the point they need to be directed back to the question

Once all of the relevant questions have been asked the interview should be summarised. This gives the interviewee opportunity to correct or clarify what has been said in the interview. By doing this it means that it makes it difficult for deceptive interviewees to successfully claim in court that they meant something differently.  The time of an interview is important, and when possible the interviewer should arrange it for a time that is suitable for all parties involved but at the earliest possible so the facts are still fresh in their minds.

        When interviewing any person there is a sequence of questions that must be asked which are; what, where, when, how, why and who. The interviewer must be prepared to encourage the witness to expand on their account, but not by using leading questions. This usually depends whether they were a witness to a live event such as an eye witness to a robbery and encourage them to re-live what they saw for a better recollection, or a factual matter such as a formal report for a burglary and use open ended questions to encourage a free narrative.

When interviewing a witness there are five stages that should be followed which are:

1. Explain the procedures – reasons and structure of interview, what is required of the witness, purpose for a witness statement and what is likely to happen after the interview 
2. Witness’s initial account – ask witness to describe what they saw in their own words and time.
3. Expand their account – either use the free recall by asking them to concentrate and possibly imagine the event happening again or free narrative by allowing them to talk with no interruptions to see if there is anything that the witness has missed.
4. Deal with objectives – ensure that all of the objectives have been covered that were stated in the plan for the interview.
5. Review – go over everything that has been said so both the interviewer and interviewee are clear on what has been said. Allow the witness to correct any mistakes or misinterpretations

To gain the most out of the interview itself, all of the procedures that can be found in the Codes of Practice in PACE, should be followed as closely as possible. Time should be taken to ensure that the right person is conducting the interview so that they can get the best possible result. If the interviewee has any questions at the beginning or end of the interview the officer, should try and answer them to the best of their knowledge, but if that is not possible then offer to find out the information that the interviewee wants. This will make them feel more comfortable, which in turn will lead them to relax during the interview. This is all down to a good rapport, and ensuring that all the information possible is gained from the interview.

Bail

The definition of bail for the purpose of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) can be found in part IV of the Act, where it states that ‘the term ‘bail’…means bail subjected to a duty to appear before a magistrates’ court at such time and such place or to attend at such police station at such time as the custody officer may appoint: s47(3)’

        Once a person has been arrested, as soon as practicable, the custody officer needs to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to charge that person with the offence he has been arrested for which enables the officer to detain that person at the station in order to do so. This is set out in S34 (2) of PACE 1984, which deals with the requirements for immediate unconditional release without bail. This states that ‘if at any time a custody officer becomes aware…that the grounds for the detention of the person have ceased to apply and; is not aware of any other grounds on which the continued detention of the person could be justified’   If there is insufficient evidence relating to the person and the case, then the person must be released on bail with or without charge.

        Sufficient evidence must be available before charging a person with an offence or releasing them. It is for the custody officer to determine whether ‘there is sufficient evidence in accordance with the threshold test’ which is where in all circumstances of the case there is a reasonable suspicion against that person of having committed the offence. It must also be in the public interest to proceed.

If a person has been released on bail without charge it means that although they were arrested for an offence such as a ‘breach of the peace’ there was insufficient evidence to charge that person. Being released on ‘bail’ means that although there is no charge against that person there are certain conditions that they have to adhere to whilst they are on bail.

Bail conditions are given if the Police or the Court believes that a person will continue to offend or that they will not appear at court or at the specified police station when asked. The conditions can also be imposed if they believe that the person could interfere with the ongoing case by talking to victims or witnesses. There are a number of conditions that can be imposed including:

• They are to live at a particular address determined by the court
• They must ensure that they are available at the request of the court for the purpose of any report
• They must report to the local police station at a certain time, of a particular day, every week, for an allocated period of time. For example at 3 o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon for 3months.
• They might have to surrender their passport and / or driving license to stop them from leaving the country, as well as to try and stop them from driving.

When a person is released on bail, they are given conditions with that bail. For example they are asked to attend a police station, and if they fail to do so they can be arrested without a warrant.

If a person that has been put on bail, fails to stick to their conditions for whatever reason, they are then in ‘breach’ of their bail. This means they are likely to be arrested which could lead to the bail being withdrawn, and are remanded in custody. In cases where a person has been in breach of their bail conditions, it follows that they are unlikely to receive bail n the future. A person that has been released on bail under S37(7), can be arrested without the use of a warrant if a police officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that, the person has broken any of the bail conditions that were implied when they were released.

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA) made no alterations to the legislation regarding persons released on bail without charge, so it remained that there was no power to impose conditions under S3(6) apart from requiring sureties. A new power was introduced to ‘impose non-surety/security conditions in the case of persons released on bail without being charged.’ This was enacted by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 S28 sch 2 which replaced S47(1A), which permits that now ‘the normal powers to impose conditions of bail to be available’ for the custody officer when under S37(7) the person is going to be released on bail without charge.

There is certain criteria that needs to be addressed to be able to impose conditions on bail. These are found under part IV of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. It states that if a constable wants to grant a person bail in a case where normal powers regarding conditions are available then it appears that they can only do so if it is necessary for the purpose to prevent that person from:

1. failing to surrender to custody; or
2. committing an offence while on bail; or
3. interfering with witnesses or otherwise obstructing the course of justice, whether in relation to himself or any other person

Interview Plan word count  1937

Bail word count 874

Total word count 2811

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