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Relatively Speaking
A thematic inspection of Family Liaison in Scotland
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 While this study was prompted by a recommendation made by Dr Raj Jandoo in his report on the death of Surjit Singh Chhokar, its focus is much wider than the issue of family liaison in a murder enquiry. It also examines the needs of the families of people who have died in other circumstances where there is police involvement, such as cot death, road death, industrial accident, non-suspicious sudden death and, more recently, serious hate crime (whether or not the victim has died).
2 It was conducted against a background of a sea change in criminal justice policy in Scotland, with the Scottish Executive's 'Strategy for Victims' seeking to develop a central role for victims, and in the event of their death or incapacity "those sharing a family-like position".
This in itself will provide significant resource implications for all parts of the criminal justice system, particularly the police; not just dealing with the needs of families, but also creating an information management system to ensure that timely and accurate information on the current situation in a case can be made available to the family, initially through the Family Liaison Officer (FLO), thereafter by whichever agency is appropriate as the legal processes progress.
3 Family liaison in its formal sense is a relatively recent development. The generic role definition was produced in 1998 and states that it exists:
"To establish and maintain a relationship which links the family and the enquiry team in order to facilitate an investigation into the family's loss."
4 More recent developments, in keeping with the victim centred approach, have questioned that focus, suggesting that it should also service the needs of the family rather than just the needs of the enquiry.
5 Liasing closely with a family in trauma is an emotive and emotional role, rendering the welfare needs of the FLO particularly important. It is a task for volunteers and there is a responsibility on forces to equip them with adequate training and support to ensure that fulfilling the role does not have an adverse personal impact. It is also a service which needs to be properly administered; and a hierarchical structure has developed, involving the FLO, a Family Liaison Co-ordinator (FLC), Family Liaison Mentor (FLM), with a possible future function for a Family Liaison Advisor to assist the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) in the case. Appropriate mechanisms for recruitment, selection and training are crucially important for each role.
6 But in the wider field, a more professional approach to cases where formal family liaison is required turns attention on how a quality service can be provided in those instances where FLO deployment is not considered appropriate; from a beat officer passing a death message through to the non-suspicious death situations, where the same compassion, understanding and tact are required and where the family have on-going (if less demanding) information needs which should be addressed.
7 Within the functional responsibilities of forces, there has been a tendency for the concept of family liaison to develop in a somewhat diverse way in terms of the nature of the incident resulting in death. The principal strategic documents that currently exist are: the ACPO Murder Investigation Manual, the ACPOS Racial Diversity Strategy and the 2002 Lord Advocate's Guidelines to Chief Constables on race related issues. The ACPOS Road Death Investigation Manual, due for publication early in 2003, will contain a substantial commitment to the provision of family liaison in circumstances of road death. It is important that together this guidance, which affects how family liaison is to be carried out, provides a logical and rational approach to service provision so that the needs of the family are met irrespective of the circumstances leading to their loss.
8 Allied to this is the need for internal force structures, policies and strategies to be more standardised, to secure an equality of service provision throughout Scotland; and for forces to maintain a pool of FLOs which is adequate to ensure appropriate levels of cover. Here there is a need to balance tendencies for over-use of some officers and under-use of others; to ensure that skills are up to date without risk of 'burn-out'. Issues such as ensuring an officer's routine work is managed in his or her absence on FLO duties must be addressed and there must be some acknowledgement in the appraisal system that they are not merely 'abstracted' from their real duties, but are making a valuable contribution to the operation of the force in their specialist role. There are significant training issues for senior investigators on the changing role of family liaison and how the needs of the enquiry can be balanced with the needs of the family and of the FLO.
9 Research undertaken with families who have experienced deployment of a FLO provided an interesting dimension to the study. In all, the recipients of such liaison have at the outset little or no expectation of what the FLO is there to deliver, since almost always it is a one-off experience. They are generally complimentary of how the FLO performed and recognise that many of the frustrations they feel are outwith the FLOs control. More difficult to deal with for the FLO was the 'exit strategy' since families grew to trust and depend on them. The report looks at the services provided by other agencies, many of them in the voluntary sector, and outlines the perspective they bring from their experience.
10 The roles and responsibilities of the other statutory agencies are considered; but it is recognised that addressing the Victims Strategy Action Plan is at an embryonic stage, so many existing procedures are in the process of being amended to take account of this. It has become clear that to be effective, all officers involved in the provision and delivery of the family liaison service need to be provided with appropriate information on the case so that they can brief the family effectively. In addition, practitioners must be comprehensively aware of the availability of groups and agencies that could be able to offer support to bereaved families.
11 Matters continue to progress at a pace, with significant learning points from high profile cases and major disasters. The ACPO Family Liaison Strategy Manual is due for publication in the near future and consideration of this by ACPOS should add to the professionalisation of family liaison in Scotland.
12 In essence, in the last 4 years, family liaison has moved on rapidly at a time when efforts to refocus the criminal justice system towards a victim centred approach have been moving at a similar pace. For the FLO to service the needs of the family as well as the needs of the SIO, there requires to be some further thought given to how FLOs are recruited, selected, deployed and supported. All of this will present resource implications for forces, but enhance the service provided by the police to these vulnerable members of communities. This will then have the knock-on effect of requiring the police service to further professionalise the interaction between officers, who are not fully trained FLOs, and members of the public who are in the process of coping with a loss which does not require formal deployment of a FLO. In this case there is little need for liaison to service the needs of the enquiry but a very similar need on the part of the family.
13 The history of the FLO has been one of significant progress within the Scottish Police Service; but it establishes a new plateau for minimum standards of service in the interactions between the police and the public in terms of fatalities and serious hate crime. If a victim centred approach to the investigation of crime, in keeping with a victim centred approach to criminal justice, is to develop further, the resource implications for the police service will be significant, but the 'value added' to victim support will be substantial.
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