Interviewing victims of crime requires a careful balance between compassionate, trauma-informed care and rigorous evidential standards. In this intensive, 60-minute operational webinar, policing practitioners will refine their approach to victim engagement and interviewing—learning how trauma impacts memory and disclosure, how to apply Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) and PEACE principles effectively, and how to build trust from the very first contact.
Why Join the Course
- Built for Operational Reality: Designed around busy policing schedules—gain practical rapport-building strategies, questioning techniques, and safeguarding insights in just one hour.
- Trauma-Informed & Victim-Centred: Understand the neurobiology of trauma and how shock, fear, or fragmented recall can affect a victim’s presentation and timeline—preventing misinterpretation as inconsistency.
- Aligned with National Guidance: Reinforces College of Policing PEACE principles, Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) standards, and the Victims’ Code of Practice.
- Reduce Victim Attrition: Learn practical communication techniques that minimise secondary trauma, manage expectations, and keep victims engaged throughout the criminal justice process.
Why It Matters
How a victim is treated and interviewed during their initial contact with police directly shapes both the quality of the evidence gathered and their willingness to support a prosecution. Poorly paced questioning, lack of empathy, or failure to spot vulnerability early can result in incomplete accounts, compromised admissibility, and avoidable victim withdrawal.
By embedding trauma-informed interviewing practices across frontline and specialist teams, officers and staff capture stronger, court-ready accounts while upholding the dignity, safety, and confidence of victims.
Who Should Attend
This webinar is tailored specifically for serving police officers, police staff, and investigative practitioners, including:
- Response and Neighbourhood Policing officers taking initial victim accounts and MG11 statements
- Public Protection Unit (PPU), Domestic Abuse, and Sexual Offence investigators (including RASSO teams)
- Trainee detectives, PIP Level 1 and PIP Level 2 investigators, and CID officers
- Force Control Room (FCR) call handlers and Victim Care / Witness Care officers
- Sergeants and supervisory officers reviewing case files, ABE strategies, and victim engagement
Learning Objectives
By the end of this 60-minute session, attendees will be able to:
- Understand Trauma & Recall: Recognise how psychological trauma affects memory encoding, chronology, and victim behaviour during disclosure and formal interviews.
- Apply ABE & PEACE Frameworks: Plan and conduct structured, non-leading victim interviews that maximise free narrative and satisfy Achieving Best Evidence standards.
- Identify Vulnerability & Special Measures: Assess eligibility for video-recorded interviews, Registered Intermediaries, and Special Measures at the earliest opportunity under the Victims’ Code.
- Prevent Secondary Victimisation: Use empathetic active listening and clear expectation-setting to build trust, reduce victim attrition, and capture robust, court-ready evidence.
