Adherence to Achieving Best Evidence Guidelines in Child Forensic Interviews: A Survey of Police Officers in England Eleanor Coles MSc Forensic Psychology Dr. David La Rooy School of Law Prof. Amina Memon Department of Psychology

Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) Government guidance for interviewing witnesses and victims in England and Wales Specific guidance that relates to children Under the age of 18 years Vulnerable witness

ABE Child Interview Guidelines Rapport building Ground rules Practise interview/Neutral topic Free-narrative account with open-ended prompts Specific questions Forced-choice questions as last resort Avoid use of leading and suggestive questions

Previous Research Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (2014) Child Sexual Abuse Cases Reviewed 69 recorded ABE interviews Poor compliance of ABE Guidelines Practise questions rarely used Ground rules not always covered Forced-choice and leading questions where open-ended questions could have been asked Recommended regular supervisor evaluation and feedback

Previous Research La Rooy, Lamb & Memon (2010) Child Forensic Interviews in Scotland Concerns raised over adherence to Scottish Executive guidelines 78% no refresher training 60% no feedback Informal/verbal feedback about investigation

Present Study Survey included: One-on-one interviews: Personal Information Child Interview Experience Training Feedback Specific interview techniques One-on-one interviews: Follow-up to survey Helps explain findings Adaptation of the survey used by Dando, Wilcock & Milne (2008) and La Rooy et al. (2010).

Sample 77 Respondents from 5 Police Forces 29% Male and 71% Female 87% Constables (75% Detective Constables) 80% ‘Specialist’ & 12% ‘Non-Uniform’ Average Length of Service = 16 years, 3 months (Range = 6 to 35 years) Average Time Interviewing Children = 8 years, 3 months (Range = 1 month – 25 years) 80% included Sexual & Physical Assault, Child Abuse & Neglect

Findings 95% attended Specialist Training Course (Range = 1993 to 2016) 47% attended Refresher Training (Range = 2009 to 2016) 95% Training Equipped with Necessary Skills (quite well, very well & extremely well) 88% Full Accounts Obtained (usually, almost always, always) 61% No Time Pressure (rarely, never)

Findings Regular and ongoing feedback: Maintains high standards Prevents bad habits Reinforces skills from training Self-evaluation Professional development

Findings 58% received No Feedback Verbal feedback No routine feedback Peer review Interview content only Informal At training only

Rapport Building

Ground Rules

Practise Interview

Open Prompts

Specific Questions

Forced Choice Questions

Leading Questions

Suggestive Questions

Summary General adherence to ABE Guidelines Some concerns that crucial techniques are not used as frequently as they should be Concerns with lack of practise interviews Routine feedback needed More refresher training