Investigation Policy
Page 1
CASEWORK MANAGEMENT (ENGLAND & WALES)
1.
PURPOSE
The aim of this policy is to ensure that adequate controls are in place to maintain standards
throughout investigation processes.
2.
LINK TO ACCOUNTABILITIES
Security Managers
3.
POLICY
3.1
REPORTING STANDARDS
•
Industrial Tribunals have criticised the practice of refusing to disclose investigation
reports to interviewees on the grounds of privilege. As a consequence, it is now business
policy to release investigation reports to the subjects of those investigations during the
disciplinary process. It is therefore essential that consistent standards are applied by all
staff in the Security Community when compiling investigation reports to comply with
business requirements whilst avoiding unauthorised disclosure of sensitive material.
•
As a consequence of this criticism there is now a necessity for Security Managers to
prepare two reports, both of which are to be included within the case file. One report is to
be clearly marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ : (insert name of business) and addressed to our
Legal Services. The second report is to be marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ : (insert name of
business) and addressed ‘For the attention of the Discipline Manager’. This is known as
the Conduct report.
•
Conduct reports should detail the facts of the case, including admissions and denials,
and only contain al egations against an individual that can by supported by the evidence
collected during the course of the enquiry. Care should be taken not to express
unsubstantiated personal opinions, which might unfairly influence subsequent
disciplinary action.
•
Reports addressed to Legal Services must contain the same information as the Conduct
Report and also include the following:
• Accusations, suspicions or opinions which are unsubstantiated but nevertheless need
to be considered by Legal Services
• Al egations or suspicions directed against individuals not yet questioned
• Information or opinions concerning the reliability of witnesses
• Disciplinary findings against witnesses
• Personal details of informants
• CRO numbers
•
A copy of the Conduct report and a summary or transcript of the interview wil be
submitted to the relevant discipline manager who wil release a copy of the report to the
individual concerned during the conduct procedure in accordance with the business
conduct code. To preserve the integrity of the decision making process, reports wil be
sent directly to the decision making manager concerned. This wil be done by the
Prosecution Support Office.
•
The Prosecution Support Office wil ensure that al investigation reports are vetted for
content before copies are supplied for disciplinary purposes.
Policy Title
Casework Management
Version
4.0
Date
October 2002
Investigation Policy
Page 2
CASEWORK MANAGEMENT (ENGLAND & WALES)
•
In England and Wales, Legal Services wil decide what information wil be disclosed to
the Defence in compliance with the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996.
•
If during the course of an enquiry, failures in security or operational procedures are
identified which may or may not be directly connected with the offence/s under
investigation, ful detail must be included within the report to Legal Services. If
necessary, any urgent remedial action can be notified to the appropriate operational
manager verbally. If a report is either requested or deemed necessary then this must be
out with the Investigation file. Legal Services must be notified of any communication
between the Security Manager and the operation.
•
The issue of dealing with information concerning procedural failures is a difficult one.
Some major procedural weaknesses, if they become public knowledge, may have an
adverse effect on our Business. They may assist others to commit offences against our
Business, undermine a prosecution case, bring our Business into disrepute, or harm
relations with major customers. Unless the offender states that he is aware that
accounting weaknesses exist and that he took advantage of them, it is important not to
volunteer that option to the offender during interview. The usual duties of disclosure
under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 stil apply.
•
When reporting the outcome of an enquiry, sufficient details should be provided for an
offender record to be made in respect of persons:-
- who have admitted offences
- who have been charged with an offence
- against whom a summons or warrant for arrest has been issued
- who resign to escape dismissal
- who are debarred for criminal reasons
The procedure for reporting criminal offences to Police is detailed at
Appendix 15.
•
Investigation reports should be marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL’: (insert name of business) in
cases where the honesty of a member of staff may be in question and an appropriate
privacy marking should be used in al Children and Young Persons cases.
•
The standard preamble for investigation reports is set out at
APPENDIX 6.
3.2
PROSECUTION CASEWORK
•
Details of evidential requirements, casework preparation and submission timescales are
set out in the
Prosecution Guidelines (under review Oct/2002).
•
To maintain standards and ensure consistency, official forms should always be used in
preference to local y produced forms and proformas.
•
Casework should always be presented in standard SIS-supplied file jackets, with ‘Urgent
Today’ label CS104 attached.
•
Reports, including any preliminary incident reports, should be single sided and placed in
the file in date order with each page numbered consecutively in pencil at the top right
corner.
•
Typed tape summaries and statements should be paged in immediately fol owing the
main investigation report in the order in which the interviews are conducted.
Policy Title
Casework Management
Version
4.0
Date
October 2002
Investigation Policy
Page 3
CASEWORK MANAGEMENT (ENGLAND & WALES)
•
Legal Services wil not recommend prosecution in respect of offenders who have not
been suspended from duty or dismissed therefore a copy of the disciplinary papers
should be placed in the file or forwarded separately to Legal Services immediately they
are available.
•
Enclosure envelopes should be used to enclose the following supporting documents:-
(a) Appendix A
•
Copy Statements and, where appropriate, copies of original exhibits *
(b) Appendices B, C etc.
Personnel Printouts
Friend forms
Search records
Antecedents
NPA Forms
Disclosure forms
Interview copy tape
Copy investigation reports - (3)
Copy Tape Summaries/NOI - (1)
Committal Bundles (if for Crown Court)
Copies of summons/indictments/Counsel’s advice as appropriate
•
Copies of any exhibits produced during the interview should also be enclosed in the file.
•
An encompassing Privacy Marking should be applied to the file cover and relevant
markings to any subsequent sensitive enclosures.
•
Al original exhibits must be retained securely by the officer in the case and provisions
must be in place to allow another officer access to those exhibits in unforeseen
circumstances.
3.3
CASEWORK MANAGEMENT
•
In the interests of fairness and in compliance with the Attorney General’s guidelines it is
essential that every case where an employee is given into custody or suspended from
duty must be dealt with urgently at al stages. This enables the separate questions of
prosecution and dismissal/disciplinary action to be resolved with minimal delay.
•
To reduce the risk of files becoming lost/mislaid a central register of casework should be
maintained which logs al movement of all papers. Each investigator should maintain an
individual record of investigations for which he/she is responsible and regular
supervisory checks should be made of this record to ensure accuracy.
•
Prosecution cases should be regularly monitored for compliance with timescales laid
down in the
Prosecution Guidelines.
•
A central record of offenders and action taken against them must be maintained by each
S & I unit.
•
All of our employees who are dismissed for criminal activity must be debarred from
future employment in any area of our Business and a copy of the debarment notice must
Policy Title
Casework Management
Version
4.0
Date
October 2002
Investigation Policy
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CASEWORK MANAGEMENT (ENGLAND & WALES)
be supplied to SIS Vetting Section.
•
To ensure compliance with Data Protection Legislation investigation files should not be
circulated for information purposes, accounting action etc. These matters should be
dealt with by separate proformas.
•
Team Leaders should ensure all avenues of enquiry have been exhausted and al
outstanding matters have been completed in each case before an investigation is closed
and the papers filed.
•
Any procedural failures in the investigation or prosecution processes should be
thoroughly investigated and suitable action taken by reviewing working methods and the
provision of additional training where required. Any failures considered to be due to
weaknesses in existing S&I Standards should be referred to the Investigation Policy
Manager at SIS Corporate Security.
•
The aspects to be covered in the final report on prosecution are detailed in
Appendix 4.
•
Priority Services must be used for the transmission of all files due to the sensitive nature
of information contained within. The only exception is internal mail.
•
Cases and all related exhibits should be securely retained as follows:-
1. Flag or cases that attracted special interest, i.e. media/POSTCOMM 8 YEARS
2. Cases that resulted in appeals or complaints
" "
3. Al offender cases
5 YEARS
4. Unresolved cases of major loss/incident
" "
Cases where a member of our staff has come under suspicion
of dishonesty but guilt has not been proved
" "
5. A series of systematic offences against our Business where the
offender/suspected offender is an outsider
" "
6. Al other cases
3 YEARS
3.4
POLICE (PROPERTY) ACT 1897
•
Many inquiries relating to any of our property that has been stolen, are undertaken by
Police who are, of course, fully aware of the provisions of Sections 24 and 28 of the
Theft Act 1968. Investigators should do what they can to ensure that the opportunity to
recover official property in Police prosecution cases is not lost by default - e.g. through
the absence of a Business applicant or through inadequate liaison arrangements with
the Police force concerned.
•
Applications for recovery of property obtained dishonestly where the property is in the
hands of the Police can be made under the Police (Property) Act 1897. Legal Services
must be informed if an action is contemplated. It is important to remember that time is of
the essence for making such applications because there is a six month time limitation
period from the time that the matter of complaint became due for commencing
proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court under the 1897 Act. In addition, there is a
separate six month time limitation period from the date of an order under the 1897 Act
for a person to commence legal proceedings against any person in possession of
property delivered by virtue of an order for recovery of the property under the 1897 Act.
3.5
CRIMINAL BANKRUPTCY
In cases involving large sums of money advice concerning criminal bankruptcy should be
Policy Title
Casework Management
Version
4.0
Date
October 2002
Investigation Policy
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CASEWORK MANAGEMENT (ENGLAND & WALES)
sought from Legal Services
4.
Links to other reference material (policies, processes and procedures, etc.)
Title
Author
Located Version
Type
Policy
No.
4.1
Criminal Procedure &
HMSO
1996
Act
3.1/3.3
Investigations PO Code of
Practice
4.2
PO Prosecution
Guidelines 3.2/3
5.
Document details
5.1
Author :
5.2
Owner :
Head of Corporate Security
5.3
Audience:
Security Community
5.4
Enquiry point :
Programme Manager, Law & Legislation, Corporate
Security, 4th Floor, Impact House, 2 Edridge Road,
CROYDON, CR9 1PJ
5.5
Effective from :
February 2002
5.6
Review date :
February 2003
5.7
Last updated :
November 2001
6.
Assurance Details
6.1
Name:
6.2
Business Unit:
Legal Services/P.O. Ltd.
6.3
Assurance Date:
29 November 2001
7.
Final Review
7.1
Approved by
7.2
Documented (Hard Copy)
YES/NO Location:
7.3
“ (Electronic)
YES/NO Location:
Policy Title
Casework Management
Version
4.0
Date
October 2002