Victims of Police and what they are allowed to know

dibdabable

Hi I wonder if anyone has any knowledge here. If a victim brings a case to the Police and the Police arrest the suspect and believe there;s enough evidence on the face of it to colllect further evidence etc, how much is the victim kept abreast of things.
For axample would the victim be allowed to know if the Police had found additional evidence against the suspect which would help her case. Would the Police normally keep the victim up to date with all that happening going to happen and the significance of findings.
Would youe xpect the Police to have given the victim some idea about how these things usually proceed and what the likely time spans are and give the victim of what to expect generally during the initial stages of the investigation.

Also I believe that it was the Police's job to being a case against and find any evidence against the suspect and take statements from any potential witnesses that would deem to have information that could help the victim's case?

I'd really appreciate any thoughts,thanks.

Vikipollard

Not an expert, but I would have thought that the victim and officers would have agreed a means/timescale to keep informed. If they haven't, the victim could contact the officers to request an update.


I doubt they would be able to give details of further evidence, but they may be able to say they have sufficient evidence to charge.


Reference timespans, that might be a bit of a how long is a piece of string, depending on what the alleged offence is. But the victim can ask to be kept informed.


Your last paragraph confused me:
"Also I believe that it was the Police's job to being a case against and find any evidence against the suspect and take statements from any potential witnesses that would deem to have information that could help the victim's case?"


The Police's job is to investigate the allegations and seek to gather evidence to support - or refute - those allegations. They aren't the ones who make the decision on whether or not to take it court though.


I would have thought statements would have been taken from witnesses by appropriate personnel from the police service - assuming they are made aware of who the witnesses are ~ again assuming they are prepared to give a statement. Not everyone is, sadly.

growler834

If someone reports a crime to the Police & they think there is enough evidence to support an arrest then the victim should be kept informed of the stage of the enquiry. It doesn't mean, however, that they will contact the victim at every step or that they will always reveal evidence other than that which the victim has provided.

Should an arrest be made it is up to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide if there is enough evidence for it to proceed to court. When this decision is made the victim will be informed, especially as the defendant may plead not guilty & the victim may be required to give witness evidence at court. If the victim is not required to attend court or it doesn't get to court because the offence can be dealt with by way of a caution then the victim will be informed of the result of the case.

The Police should explain at the outset how an investigation may progress in general terms, however they can't give time scales as every investigation is different - some can be more complex than others, have more witnesses, require scientific evidence to be gathered etc & this takes more time.

I'm guessing that the OP isn't happy about how an allegation of crime is being dealt with by the Police & they are being made to feel that they need to get more evidence, witnesses etc before the Police will act? Unfortunately the Police have to have a certain amount of information provided to them to prove that an offence has been committed before they can start investigating it. If the victim can't provide this, and not knowing what type of offence the OP is referring to, I can only suggest to explore the idea of taking out a civil prosecution.

dibdabable

Thanks both. Yes you got it right not very happy really, however this is not because of lack of evidence. My comment about time wasn't really intebded to sound as it did, I understand completely that these things can take a long time. No our problem has been from the beginning a seeming reluctance to take the case despite there being evidence and a seeming reluctance to call those others who would willingly be witnessess and give statements but haven't been asked. Does anyone know if there are guidelines as to how certain crimes particularly sensitive ones should be followed up?

DUTR

dibdabable wrote: »

Thanks both. Yes you got it right not very happy really, however this is not because of lack of evidence. My comment about time wasn't really intebded to sound as it did, I understand completely that these things can take a long time. No our problem has been from the beginning a seeming reluctance to take the case despite there being evidence and a seeming reluctance to call those others who would willingly be witnessess and give statements but haven't been asked. Does anyone know if there are guidelines as to how certain crimes particularly sensitive ones should be followed up?

I'm sure they are dealing with the enquiries as per book, think about it the other way, a burglar may have entered 9 properties but not the 10th (somebody else done that) so if they were convicted of the 10th one, there would be a miscarraige of justice.

dibdabable

Well you can be as sure as you like but considering I'm one of those witnesses I can categorically state they haven't approached me and I don't know what relevance your following comment has?

Would really like to know if there are guidelines which are accessible to the public.

Errata

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/253831/pace-code-d-2011.pdf
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Tiddlywinks

You need to change the title of this thread... you are not talking about 'victims of police' are you?

The police are not the ones that committed the crime.

Yorkie1

The Victims' Code sets out what you can expect from the police and other agencies in the criminal justice system at each step of the investigation.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-code-of-practice-for-victims-of-crime

This includes decisions about bringing charges (the police now make more decisions about charge now, though not in the more sensitive cases alluded to by the OP). I would not expect the police to update a victim about evidence routinely during the investigation - it risks contaminating the investigation.

dibdabable

Errata wrote: »

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/253831/pace-code-d-2011.pdf
.............

Excellent thanks.

Thanks you're absolutely right the title is misleading. Not sure how I cahnge it though?

Thanks Yorkie. I think I've probably watched and read too many Police Dramas etc!!