Scottish Government

Relatively Speaking
A thematic inspection of Family Liaison in Scotland

CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION

What is Family Liaison?

1.1 In essence, family liaison is a formalised relationship between the police service and a bereaved family. While dealing with the families of victims is a traditional role for the police, codified arrangements on how this should be undertaken are recent developments. In fact, the first training course in the subject was only held at the Scottish Police College (SPC) in the summer of 1999. Development of the FLO role is detailed within Chapter 2 of this report.

1.2 Dr Raj Jandoo's report on the death of Surjit Singh Chhokar, ¹ and the subsequent liaison between his family and criminal justice system agencies, includes the recommendation that HMIC give early priority to conducting a thematic inspection on police family liaison. ²

1.3 His report encompasses the extent to which the police, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service fell short of meeting the needs of the murdered man's family, who are members of a minority ethnic community. The effectiveness of police family liaison arrangements is dealt with in some detail.

1.4 This study flows directly from Dr Jandoo's recommendation, but its focus is, of necessity, much wider than arrangements in cases of murder. The police, on a daily basis, come into contact with relatives of the victims of a variety of traumatic, and often tragic, incidents. These are literally life-changing events for relatives, and coming to terms with them can undoubtedly be helped or hindered by the relationships developed with representatives of the various agencies they have to deal with as the investigation and the legal processes move forward.

1.5 Traditionally, legal processes of this nature have been undertaken in the public interest rather than the interests of victims or their families. It is important to realise that whilst a victim or family can feel very much part of the crime or occurrence, they can feel detached and ignored by the enquiry itself. More recently there is an acceptance of a role for victims in the process - that they have a right to be made aware of developments and advised, if not consulted, on decisions made which affect their case. For the police service this presents additional challenges in terms of collating and managing the available or required information and conveying it to the victim's families - and ensuring that, at an appropriate time, responsibility for informing the family of developments transfers seamlessly to the appropriate agency. It presents training requirements for Family Liaison Officers (FLOs) with appropriate monitoring to ensure that their welfare is secured when dealing with such traumatic duties.

Coping with Trauma

1.6 The development of such an ethos has implications across the spectrum of police involvement in dealing with death - from the patrol officer delivering a death message to a family home, to formal family liaison in a complex murder investigation. It encompasses violent crime, victimisation, fatal accidents, sudden deaths and suicides. In the past the necessary responsiveness and compassion have often been spontaneous, unscripted and inconsistent even if sincere and well intentioned.

1.7 Frequently, expectations of the extent of police knowledge and capacity to provide continuous post-incident support have been unrealistic, with a lack of definition where the boundaries of police involvement might legitimately end and the inclusion of other agencies' relevant roles and responsibilities might properly conjoin and be best placed to deal with the future needs of the family.

1.8 This report highlights on-going progress and good practice in the continuing development of the family liaison dimension of modern policing, suggesting areas for further improvement. The need for proper liaison and communication with relevant agencies including the Procurator Fiscal and community groups is underlined as is the need for a clearer grasp of the roles and responsibilities of individual agencies in providing coherent family support at appropriate times.

Dealing with Diversity

1.9 The observations contained in Dr Jandoo's report, to an extent echo and develop issues articulated by Sir William MacPherson in his report 3 on the death of Stephen Lawrence.

1.10 HMIC suggests that while these considerations have a heightened sensitivity in matters of racism, the professional response must be comprehensive, consistent and relevant to the wider needs of the diverse society. Dr Jandoo also recommended that HMIC review progress made by the Scottish Police Service since publication of a previous HMIC Report entitled 'Without Prejudice?' 4 which dealt with police race relations. This is being undertaken as a separate Thematic Inspection due for publication early in 2003, however, it has already been established that there are many areas of commonality in the issues which have to be addressed in the two studies. They are effectively linked and together should provide a harmonised strategic direction for the Scottish Police Service in dealing with people whose vulnerability derives from aspects of diversity or as a result of a traumatic experience - or both.

Resourcing a Victim Focused Approach

1.11 It is clear that dealing more effectively with victims and their families will have significant resource implications for criminal justice agencies. The recently published HMIC Thematic Report 'Narrowing the Gap' 5 highlights that to meet changing and expanding demands of this nature on the police, in the absence of additional funding, mechanisms have to come into play to reduce the demands which non-core functions are placing on the Police Service.

1.12 From the perspective of the public, the requirement for an enhanced service from the police applies equally to the different types of traumatic incident. The family will have a clear need for information irrespective of whether the victim has died as a result of violent crime, cot death, road death, train crash or other tragic incident. The criminal justice process can be a cause of major secondary trauma and therefore families of homicide victims are in a particularly difficult position and may have special needs arising from that situation. There is also a need to ensure that service delivery throughout Scotland, and from agency to agency, is fully integrated with seamless transitional arrangements.

1.13 It must also be recognised that Scottish forces will be called upon to provide these services to families where the death occurred in other parts of the world, or provide information and assistance to foreign police agencies in relation to deaths occurring here. Recent examples of the resource implications and complexity of the former are apparent from the involvement of Scottish forces in liasing with families of victims of the September 11th 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre, New York - and a graphic example of the latter was dealing with the families of those who died in the Lockerbie bombing.

Objectives and Methodology

1.14 The Thematic Inspection, which commenced in May 2002, sought to evaluate police/family liaison arrangements in the context of their contribution to public confidence, compassion and responsiveness in a diverse society, with a particular focus on the needs of victims rather than the needs of the police service. During the study, HMIC undertook:

• visits to police forces to examine family liaison arrangements in a small number of high profile cases;
• visits to police family liaison training staff at Avon & Somerset, and Lancashire Constabularies and the Scottish Police College;
• visits to traffic and probationer training divisions at the Scottish Police College, to examine training in dealing with death;
• structured meetings with senior staff from Crown Office, Victim Information and Advice, Victim Support Scotland, Scottish Cot Death Trust, and the Commission for Racial Equality;
• meetings with staff of PETAL ⁶ and FOMC ⁷ voluntary groups;
• consultation with voluntary groups and other agencies by means of correspondence;
• liaison and visits with key staff of the National Crime & Operations Faculty;
• circulation of comprehensive protocol questionnaires to Scottish police forces followed by force visits and interviews with senior managers and family liaison practitioners;
• the distribution of a questionnaire to every trained FLO in the Scottish Police Service; and
• qualitative research with families who have experienced the services of Family Liaison Officers, to establish how far their needs were met.

1.15 The enthusiasm and co-operation HMIC experienced from all these interested parties in undertaking this work reaffirmed the fundamental importance of effective communication between the families of the deceased or surviving victims and the agencies involved in the processes which occur after the incident.

The 'Chhokar Case'

1.16 On 4 November 1998 Surjit Singh Chhokar was assaulted in the town of Wishaw in North Lanarkshire sustaining stab wounds from which he died. Strathclyde Police carried out a murder enquiry and Family Liaison Officers were deployed to the victim's family. Three men were arrested within days. However, following two High Court trials, none were convicted of murder.

1.17 The Chhokar family raised concerns about the lack of information given to them during criminal proceedings and, at the conclusion of the second trial, the Lord Advocate announced the setting up of two Inquiries. One, by Advocate Dr Raj Jandoo, to review the liaison arrangements between the police, the Procurator Fiscal Service, and the Crown Office, and the family of Surjit Singh Chhokar, the other by the Northern Ireland Judge, The Rt. Hon Sir Anthony Campbell to look into decision making by the Crown in the case. ⁸

1.18 In his Inquiry Report, ⁹ Dr Jandoo identified failings in the liaison that took place with the Chhokar family, both by Strathclyde Police and by the Procurator Fiscal Service. These are described in detail within his report.

1.19 While the family declined to give evidence to the Inquiry, it was apparent that from their perspective, particular distress was caused through lack of information during the period when criminal proceedings were active. During this time the family had no direct contact with the relevant Procurator Fiscal's Office and there was insufficient communication between that office and Strathclyde Police to allow the Family Liaison Officers to keep the family fully informed.

1.20 In his report Dr Jandoo recommended that:

" HM Inspectorate of Constabulary make it an early priority to conduct a thematic inspection of family liaison, and that Justice Ministers give special attention to the report of that inspection."¹⁰

1.21 Prior to commencing the study, staff from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) met with Dr Jandoo to discuss in detail the rationale which underpinned the conclusions in his report, and a second meeting was held once the inspection process was under way. HMIC is indebted to Dr Jandoo for his frankness and the constructive way he contributed to the study.

Investigation of Death

1.22 To understand the role of family liaison in a police inquiry it must be considered against the background of the legal framework for the investigation of death in Scotland. This includes the functions of the police and of the Procurator Fiscal and Crown Office in relation to sudden or suspicious death or death occurring as a result of an incident where criminal proceedings may result; including suicide, road death and industrial accident.

1.23 In Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal within whose jurisdiction a sudden, suspicious or unexplained death occurs is charged with investigating the circumstances of death. That responsibility is entirely separate from the more commonly understood function of prosecuting alleged offenders in the name of the Crown. The Annual Report 2000-2001 of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) states, as regards investigation into death, that:

" Procurators Fiscal will always take into account the views of next-of-kin but the overarching criterion is the public interest."

1.24 The police force for the area where death has occurred has a duty to investigate, and to report findings to the Procurator Fiscal. In the types of death where FLOs have been commonly utilised, they are therefore acting under the authority of the Procurator Fiscal in the sense that they are part of the police enquiry team investigating the death.

1.25 Major issues such as the instruction of post-mortems, retention and/or release of bodies, and retention of body parts for further examination, are all ones where Procurators Fiscal will have the responsibility for major decisions.

Scottish Strategy for Victims

1.26 The Scottish Executive's Strategy for Victims, ¹¹ launched in 2001, aims to secure a central role for victims in the criminal justice system, and has three primary objectives that apply to each of the criminal justice agencies namely:

• to provide for the emotional and practical support needs of victims;
• to provide for the information needs of victims; and
• to encourage greater participation in the criminal justice system.

1.27 Within the strategy, the definition of a victim provides that:

" in the event of death of a victim of crime, or their incapacity in relation to criminal proceedings, the family or those sharing a family-like position may also be considered as victims".

1.28 This is a wide-ranging definition designed to encompass a diverse range of close personal relationships.

1.29 The principles underpinning the strategy are:

• a recognition of the importance of the victim and the need to provide practical and emotional support to assist the victim to recover and towards prevention of further crime or secondary victimisation;
• a commitment to provide explanations for victims about the criminal justice and other processes with which they are involved;
• a recognition that victims have a legitimate interest in the cases with which they are involved and so have a contribution to make;
• a commitment to offer victims information on the progress of their cases; and
• a recognition that victims should be enabled to have a voice throughout all stages of the criminal justice system.

1.30 The move towards a victim centred approach will have considerable practical implications for the police service and for the other agencies in the criminal justice process. There will be resource implications and a need for closer partnership working to meet increased information needs and to secure seamless transfer of responsibility from agency to agency.