Protocols at present for eliciting earwitness testimonies

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.030964

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please could you provide me any information you may have for Q. 1 and 2

1) Does the police force have any in-house or nationwide protocols at present for eliciting earwitness testimonies?
If yes, what document, guidelines or tools are used?

2) What training is in place for how police officers conduct an initial account from a victim/witness when taking an earwitness testimony?
It would be helpful to know if there are any procedures in place for this type of evidence. If there isn't, it is also helpful to know this too.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Although the below answer for Q1 refers to visually impaired witnesses this guidance would also apply to ear witnesses.

Q1 - Does the police force have any in-house or nationwide protocols at present for eliciting ear witness testimonies?
If yes, what document, guidelines or tools are used?

There is no specific national guidance on interviewing witnesses who are visually impaired although there is guidance in ABE (2022) regarding the categorisation of a witness. The possibility of witnesses with a visual impairment being regarded as ‘vulnerable’ within the meaning of section 16(2) Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act is very reasonable, however not all witnesses will be happy about being categorised as ‘vulnerable’ as having a physical disability or disorder is not enough in itself to class someone as being ‘vulnerable’. The physical disability or disorder has to be such as to diminish the quality of the witness’s evidence (section 16(1)(b) of the Act) (NB: the quality of a witness’s evidence refers to its completeness, coherence & accuracy as per section 16(5)). That’s why, for example, not every wheel chair user would be considered ‘vulnerable’ for the purpose of getting access to special measures. In these circumstances, being visually impaired does not in itself qualify the witness for special measures; there would have to be something about it that impairs the witness’s ability to communicate.

Q2 - What training is in place for how police officers conduct an initial account from a victim/witness when taking an ear witness testimony?

There is, in principle, no reason why the Enhanced Cognitive Interview shouldn’t be used with ear witnesses, in the same way that it is used for eye-witnesses, when they are being asked to recall a specific event. I say “in principle” because there isn’t much research on ear witnesses who are asked to recall events or incidents and most of what there is focuses on their ability to identity whose voice it was, rather than on their ability to accurately report everything that they heard.