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Listen
Relatively Speaking
A thematic inspection of Family Liaison in Scotland
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION
The Future
6.1 The operational police officer of today is of necessity multi-skilled, and requires to be capable of working on his or her own initiative or as part of a team structure. Officers must display patience, understanding and sensitivity when called upon to interact with people who have been traumatised. When death has occurred violently or unexpectedly, particular care is required in carrying out the necessary initial enquiries. In such incidents the operational officer who responds to the scene, sets the tone for the following investigation.
6.2 Whenever a police enquiry team is formed to investigate a death, whether a homicide, suspicious death, road death, cot death, death in custody, or in any other abnormal circumstances, a Senior Investigating Officer will be appointed. The SIO will be expected to deploy a Family Liaison Officer to provide a personal link between the family and the investigation. Police forces must ensure that they have a sufficiency of trained FLOs to meet demands.
6.3 The police service is called upon to respond to many sudden deaths that do not require a dedicated enquiry team to carry out an investigation of the circumstances. In such cases FLOs will not be deployed, and it is therefore incumbent upon the officers who are in direct contact with the relatives to display no less sensitivity to their needs.
6.4 Of course FLOs may be deployed in cases other than death where it is not possible to establish full contact with the victim for some reason. The objective of such a deployment is still that of linking victim and/or family to a remote police enquiry team. FLOs are drawn from the ranks of experienced officers who have proven ability in an investigative field, and as valuable but limited resources their use must always be well-reasoned and clearly-intentioned to ensure that those members of the public who have greatest need benefit from their special skills.
6.5 Officers who deal with victims of more routine incidents must endeavour to provide a high quality of service to each and every victim. Quite simply, they should treat others, as they themselves would wish to be treated. It is the responsibility of supervisory officers and police managers to ensure adherence to such standards.
6.6 When multiple death occurs, such as at the Ladbroke Grove train crash and at the World Trade Centre, the challenges for the police service in terms of family liaison may be enormous. While such incidents will always attract the services of trained officers, forces must recognise that sheer scale may direct that officers drawn from outwith the FLO cadre are utilised in the family liaison role.
6.7 Training for FLOs is based on the concept of an intense, awareness heightening, shared experience, which naturally lends itself to a small group of participants. The concept cannot easily encompass a significant increase in the numbers of officers who can be trained to such a standard, notwithstanding the availability of suitable volunteers for training.
6.8 The Scottish Police College currently provides only limited training to constables on the topic of death, specifically the traumatic effects, which it can generate in the bereaved. HMIC believes that the basic training course for probationary constables provides the best opportunity for enhancement of general police awareness of the effects of trauma, and how they may be countered as positively as possible. The operational officers, often relatively young or inexperienced, who invariably provide the first response of the police service to traumatic incidents, would undoubtedly benefit from increased understanding, hopefully leading to an increase in the quality of service provision to the public.
National Family Liaison Strategy
6.9 The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) through its Crime Committee, has carried out work throughout 2001-2002 on the preparation of a Family Liaison Strategy Manual with the intention that a single document will address the guidance needs of the police service (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) in relation to any incidents that require a family liaison strategy to be implemented. Publication of the manual is expected in the near future, at which time it will complement the existing ACPO manuals for murder, road deaths and emergency procedures, and the ACPO Guide to Identifying and Combating Hate Crime.
6.10 There are a number of significant changes and factors that can be expected to feature in the new Family Liaison Strategy Manual. They include the following:
- principals equally applicable to homicide, road deaths, mass disaster, and non-fatal cases such as hate crime;
- guidance for Senior Identification Managers (SIM);
- enhanced aims and objectives which increase focus on the needs of the family;
- introduction of the role of Family Liaison Advisor;
- formalised risk assessments for FLO deployment;
- guidance in relation to deaths abroad.
6.11 The new strategy manual will provide the base upon which guidance on family liaison is founded. Whilst each of the ACPO documents referred to, will include information which is specific to particular types of incident, it is envisaged that the generic manual will be the principal source of reference for information to direct the formulation of a family liaison strategy. An example is the inclusion of detailed references to the role of Senior Identification Manager (SIM) which would be filled in a case of multiple death, to ensure control of all aspects of victim identification.
6.12 The aims of the police service, in discharging its responsibility for family liaison, are described as:
- to analyse the needs, concerns and expectations of the 'family' in order to identify relevant and realistic action that should be taken, in the context of their human rights and the obligations set out in this document;
- to work with the 'family' in order to comply with their right to receive all relevant information connected with the enquiry, subject to the needs of the investigation, while seeking conclusively to gather all information and evidence from them which assists the investigation, in a way that is proportional to their fundamental right to privacy and family life.
6.13 The objectives arising from these aims are:
- to provide information to and facilitate care and support for the family, who are themselves victims, in a sensitive and compassionate manner in accordance with the needs of the investigation;
- to gather evidence and information from the family in a manner which contributes to the investigation and preserves its integrity;
- to secure the confidence and trust of the family thereby enhancing their contribution to the investigation.
6.14 Whilst these aims and objectives have yet to be finalised it is arguable that, in comparison to those within the Murder Investigation Manual, they effectively shift the focus of family liaison from the needs of the investigation to the needs of the family.
6.15 The role of Family Liaison Advisor is an entirely new one, which is introduced by the manual. It is envisaged that a supervisory officer with family liaison experience would fill the post and assist the SIO in the initial stages of an investigation with formulation and implementation of a family liaison strategy. It is recognised that the post would be optional given that the Family Liaison Co-ordinator may be in a position to provide this type of support.
6.16 The process of risk assessment for FLO deployments is detailed within the manual, which will be a responsibility of the Senior Investigating Officer in every case.
6.17 The issue of deployment of FLOs in response to the death of British subjects outwith the United Kingdom, is one that has come to the fore a number of times in recent years, most notably post 11th September 2001. The growing realisation of the police role in such cases is reflected by the inclusion of a significant volume of guidance with regard to the roles of FLO, FLC and other agencies.
6.18 The publication of the ACPO Family Liaison Strategy Manual will represent a further landmark in the development of family liaison and necessitate due consideration by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS).
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