Family Liaison Officer Flashcards
What is the responsibility of the Family Liaison Officer (FLO)
The appointment of a Family Liaison Officer (FLO) will smooth this process and provide the vital conduit between the family and the Police investigation throughout the investigation phase, prosecution and beyond. It is very important that the person appointed is the most appropriate for the role and is available for the duration of the investigation.
What the FLO Role involve?
The role of the Family Liaison Officer (FLO) involves the day-to-day management of the partnership between the family of the deceased and the Police investigation.
The primary function of an FLO is that of an investigator and not a support person.
However, in performing this role, the FLO must also offer, facilitate and co-ordinate support that addresses the needs of the family.
What is in a Family Liaison Plan?
- Selection of the FLO and criteria employed for the selection
- Exit plan for the FLO
- Objectives of the family liaison
- Assessing the most appropriate methods of conducting interviews with family members, including the use of specialist interviewers, where appropriate
- Information to be released to and withheld from, the family
- Requests made by the family which have not been agreed to, and the reasons for this
- Complaints made by the family and the OC Investigation’s action to progress and resolve the issues raised
- Any member of the family who could be considered a suspect, to enable the OC Investigation to determine whether or not this is the case
- Liaison with Victim Support and other support services.
What is covered in the term “Family”
- Includes partners, parents, siblings, children, guardians, whänau and any others who have had a direct and close relationship with the victim
- Includes ‘chosen’ family
- Should reflect the victim’s culture and lifestyle.
Risk assessments before deploying an FLO
The OC Investigation must continuously review the appointment of an FLO and consider:
- The suitability of the officer for retention in the role
- Whether additional FLOs should be appointed
- The needs and wishes of the family.
Considerations where there is a suspect within the Family
The OC Investigation must review the plan regularly, which should consider:
- The FLO’s welfare and safety
- Increased monitoring of the FLO’s work and interaction with the family
- The level of information disclosure to the FLO and, in turn, the family
- The process by which any intelligence that arises from FLO contact with the family will be managed
- The need for the FLO to be clear in their interactions with the family
- The importance of fully documenting all contact and interactions with the family
- The possibility of deploying a more experienced FLO if appropriate
- The deployment of a deputy FLO for corroboration issues in addition to supporting the principal FLO
- Not using the FLO in any search or arrest of a family member
- Investigative or evidential impact of deployment
- Whether or not the FLO will reside with the family. (This may be an option in cases of kidnap for ransom where Police negotiators are in contact with the suspect.)
Actions of FLO on appointment
- Liaise closely with the OC Investigation regarding parameters of information to be shared with and/or held back from the family
- Familiarise themselves with the enquiry
- Familiarise themselves with all information established concerning the family, including known family dynamics, cultural and lifestyle considerations, religious beliefs and communication requirements, e.g. language or disability
- Familiarise themselves with available information and intelligence which could impact on the liaison role, such as previous Police involvement with the victim or family
- Establish what contact the family has had with Police since the incident/death
- Establish what information has been given to the family
- Establish what information concerning the incident is already in the public domain
What financial support is available to Families of Victims.
Through Victim Support, the Government provides financial assistance on behalf of the Crown Solicitor for victims of serious crime towards the costs of dealing with the incident and attending court and other criminal justice processes.
This includes:
- A discretionary grant of up to $1500 for families of homicide victims
- Free counselling for families of murder and manslaughter victims. (Initially six hours are approved with the option to increase to 15 hours. Counselling up to a maximum of 30 hours may be approved if required.)
- ACC can help towards the costs of their burial, cremation and related ceremonies. Families of victims are able to claim a top-up to the existing ACC funeral grant where the death is confirmed as the result of murder or manslaughter and the maximum ACC funeral grant has already been claimed.
Sources of Information to be obtained by the FLO (People and Passive)
People data:
- Friends
- Colleagues
- Partners
- Associates
- Social Media Contacts
-Hobbies and Habits
- Travel Movements
- People along the routes they were known to take
- Customers or suppliers
- religious leaders or associates
- Cultural associations
- Other people that they come into contact with
Passive Data:
- NIA
-Medical History
-Mental Health Records
- Human Source Management
-Mobile telephone records
- Internet usage
- Vehicle details
-Diaries, letters and personal documents
-Photographs and video footage belonging to family, friends and the Victim.
-Passport and immigration data
FLO Returning Property to the Family
Property should be returned to family members by the FLO.
When authorised by the OC Investigation, the FLO should liaise with the OC Exhibits regarding the return of property.
These issues should be considered:
- What property does the family wish to be returned?
- How do they want the property returned, for example do they wish items to be cleaned?
- Are there likely to be any delays in the return of any property?
- Property should be inspected to ensure all Police and Court exhibit tags have been removed.
The role of the FLO relating to the media.
The FLO must not issue any statements to the media unless specifically requested to do so by the OC Investigation, in consultation with the Media Liaison Officer. The family should be prepared for possible media interest and the FLO should take steps to:
-Prepare the victim’s family for the anticipated level of media interest and provide them with a copy of the “Media information letter to family of the deceased”
-Establish the family’s views on any media appeals
-Request the family to nominate a spokesperson, at an early stage
-Consult the family before the release of personal details relating to the victim
-Where possible, provide copies of media releases to the family before distribution
-Inform the victim’s family of significant developments in the investigation before releasing such information to the media, where it is appropriate to do so
-Appraise the OC Investigation of media activity around the family
-Request approval from the victim’s family to release a photograph of the victim and where practical, respect their choice of photograph.
*** What is the expectation on the FLO in terms of familiarisation with cultural origins?
FLO identify cultural origins of victims family and ensure they are familiar with relevant cultural belief and protocols
*** Who is responsible for taking the VIS and what are the timeline requirements?
The FLO should give the Victims (surviving family members) the opportunity to make a written statement about the impact the crime has had on them.
The statement must be avialable for sentencing and should be no older than 28 days at the time of sentencing
** What steps are to be take in a formal identification process
- Ensure things are prepared prior to viewing (no clash with post morgen examination, you have the right body, it is presentable and in suitable location etc)
- Complete Deceased Person Identification Form -POL265A
- Take witness to the body and expose the face- let them have an unhurried look.
- Ask the questions:
“Do you identify this person?”
“Have you any doubt?”
“What was their address?”
“How long have you know the deceased?” - Cover the body
- If they ID’d the body, have them sign the POL 265A then witness their signature.
- Complete the Portrait Facial Identification Photograph
