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The chapter on Disclosure is an interesting one in that it is very practical, but also very dull. That sadly does not mean it will not be tested. Negative Information is an interesting subject, and the time limit for Primary/Initial Disclosure is a most interesting area. Blackstones says’ While there are provisions to set time periods by which primary initial disclosure must be met, NONE CURRENTLY EXIST’. Remarkable!!! The law talks about ‘within a reasonable time’ That is all you need to know, because that makes it a very difficult area to test. What is reasonable to you, but may not be to me, so how do you test it?
I do think it is worth while getting to know the Roles and Responsibilities under the 1996 Act, and following on from that the Duties of the Disclosure Officer. This may well be best laid out in a chronological table,. What is the first task, and what follows and so on? I would like to hope you would not get a question that is a straight ‘What is the second task of the Disclosure officer?’ but a clear understanding of the duties will help you deal with any questions from there.
As the chapter progresses through the duties of Disclosure Officer so should you and create different lists for each section. The section on Definitions is an important section to get to know, but again the list of examples is just that, and is preceded by the words ‘might be considered’ so if I were you I would not pay too much attention to the list.
I would certainly take some time to understand the section on ‘Complaints Against Police Officers Involved in the Case.’ This is a practical section and relevant too. However on the whole this chapter like the previous one this month is full of uncertainties and as such will prove a very hard area for a question writer to test. My advice is to after you have done as suggested above, read the chapter carefully twice and move on. If you are tested it will not be a lot of questions and if it were me I would just guess.
As I have indicated previously there is a lot of revision to build into the study programme and this is a good week to do some of that. Either check out something form the early weeks of something you found hard top revise.
Top Tip
I once had to write hundreds of multi choice questions for one of the exam based study tools available to you. In that process I learnt so much law properly it was untrue. If you really want to understand the law you are studying try writing a question about it. There are only so many ways to test subjects and who knows, your question, or something very similar may come up.
Please remember that I do not have any inside track as to the content of your exam, I can only give you pointers. The only sure fire way to pass is to know all four books really well. Hopefully at the end of this programme of learning that is what you will have done. Keep at it, it is worth it when the results are published and your name is on that list.
Article written by Phil Waters, Cert Ed. Phil is an ex Surrey Inspector from their Training School and was a training consultant for National Police Training. He now runs Time Training, assisting officers studying for the OSPRE Part 1. Details can be found on the OSPRE Assistance Page.
Finally, if your Blackstone’s are anything other than the new 2009 series, you can get a new set from the Police Promotion Books section.
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