Usefulness of these stickies?

[ikor]

There is no need for a street cop to be an expert on criminal law, but he / she does need a solid 'working knowledge' of same. Things such as the basic elements of the crime at hand should be burned into their brain, i.e. 'Robbery'...'The taking by force, or implied force of money or property from any person or persons with the intent to deprive them of same' (US Version) If such force is a deadly weapon, then it becomes 'Armed Robbery'...a higher class of felony. (a felony being any crime that is punishable by more than one year in a State Prison)

Now what that means is that you cannot 'rob' an empty house, and thus for detectives, robbery is always a 'Persons' crime rather than a Property crime. It also means that smash and grabs from occupied cars, or purse snatchings ARE robberies, etc...

What tends to actually happen is that cops only remember clearly the crimes / situations they deal with on a regular basis...and why not? That is simply human nature. A very useful technique is to have small laminated cards, etc. that can be carried , say, in pool vehicles or with the member for those incidents that are seldom encountered but in which the correct actions of the initial responding officers are critical...such as Death Investigations. A 'cheat sheet' if you will.

Many agencies also require a 'Field Training Program' be completed by new hires before they are turned loose on their own. My old agency has designated Field Training Officers for this and the program lasts 12 weeks minimum. It has turned out better officers than the old 'sink or swim' method us old dogs were presented with, no doubt.

[miklin]

It might not get an overwhelming response immediately, but they really are a useful resource to come back to every now and again. Even if they don't attract intense discussions, I think they are still very valuable.

Spot on. Agreed.

[white_ræbbit]

Just before the Scorpions were disbanded they were looking for junior prosecutors to accompany them on arrests etc, to make sure the suspect does not get acquitted on a technical error. We actually spoke of training with them and all, and I was making my plans to join them. And then politics happened.

It's a pity. I think it would do wonders for the SAPS, and also save them a fortune on wrongful police action damages.

They could even just train up a few members PROPERLY, and then have them filter the knowledge down.

[white_ræbbit]

There is no need for a street cop to be an expert on criminal law, but he / she does need a solid 'working knowledge' of same.

In South Africa, I tend to disagree here a bit. By not being well versed in the sections that I've dealt with so far, regarding search and seizure, arrests, etc, you can very easily get yourself in very hot water. Especially wrt wrongful search and seizure. As far as I know damages awarded for this can range from R100k to R600k, for which you can be held personally liable. I don't have that type of money lying around, and certainly do not want to sit at the receiving end of that stick for providing a service free of charge and at the expense of my own time, money, and family life.

But I do consider good knowledge of these topics, mostly handled in the criminal procedure act, as the most basic, rudementary knowledge. There are a lot of acts that cover various things like domestic abuse, the firearms control act, to menial things like littering and whatever else. I agree that expertise on ALL of these is not always a very attainable goal.

What tends to actually happen is that cops only remember clearly the crimes / situations they deal with on a regular basis...and why not? That is simply human nature. A very useful technique is to have small laminated cards, etc. that can be carried , say, in pool vehicles or with the member for those incidents that are seldom encountered but in which the correct actions of the initial responding officers are critical...such as Death Investigations. A 'cheat sheet' if you will.

I compiled a set of these for myself a few months after I started. It contained things like what you must include in the SAPS5(Investigation Diary), complaint codes, important notes for statements, definitions of crime, etc. It's very useful and gets referred to in almost every shift.

[ikor]

I don't think we disagree WR. I mean that a good working knowledge of all things the guys will need to do on a more or less regular basis is needed, and certainly search and seizure fits that bill.

The other thing is that if there is a questionable situation and time, the call on things like that should and can be made by a supervisor. If radio is not secure enough, everybody is carrying cell phones now and that'll usually work just fine if there is no reason for a supervisor to be on scene or if he / she is tied up, etc...

[white_ræbbit]

I don't think we disagree WR. I mean that a good working knowledge of all things the guys will need to do on a more or less regular basis is needed, and certainly search and seizure fits that bill.

The other thing is that if there is a questionable situation and time, the call on things like that should and can be made by a supervisor. If radio is not secure enough, everybody is carrying cell phones now and that'll usually work just fine if there is no reason for a supervisor to be on scene or if he / she is tied up, etc...

Agreed on all counts :-)

[Skaaphaas]

important notes for statements

Let me guess, the SAPS standard ending of "that is all I wish to state at this stage" is in there?

[white_ræbbit]

Mine goes more like "That is all I can declare" :-p

[Skaaphaas]

Mine goes more like "That is all I can declare" :-p

Rather don't put that in. If the witness then says anything in testimony that is not in the statement, that paragraph will come back to bite them in the ass.

[white_ræbbit]

Rather don't put that in. If the witness then says anything in testimony that is not in the statement, that paragraph will come back to bite them in the ass.

Noted. Thanks for the tip!