Victims Rights, Road Policing & Hate Crime Flashcards
What is “immediate family” as per S4 VRA?
Me3mebr of the victims family/whanau who is in a close relationship with the victim at the time of the offending. Includes partner, siblings, children, parents, grandparents
What is “incapable” as per S4 VRA?
Lacks either the capacity, partly or wholly, to understand the nature of decisions regarding their care or has the capacity but cannot communicate it.
Includes people in a coma
Who is a “victim” as per S4 VRA?
- A person against whom an offence is committed
- A person who suffers physical injury or property damage/loss due to an offence by another person
- A parent of a child who is a victim
- An immediate family member who dies or is incapable because of an offence
For purposes of S7 and S8 only
- A person who suffers emotional harm
- A parent of a child who suffers emotional harm
- A person who has suffered family violence
- A child that lives with someone who has suffered family harm
What is S7 VRA?
Any person who deals with a victim should
- Treat the victim with courtesy and compassion
- Respect the victims dignity and privacy
What is S8 VRA?
A victim or member of a victims family who has welfare, health, counselling, medical or legal needs arising from the offence should have access to services that are responsive to those needs.
For Police this is usually done via Victims Support, Womans Refuge etc referrals and through the Courts Victim Advisor. This is why the CSV1 is essential for first appearance
What is S11 VRA?
As soon as a victim comes into contact with an agency they must be given information about programmes, remedies, services available to the victim through that agency
Relates only to the services provided by that Agency (EG Police don’t need to provide info on ACC entitlements)
Info comes through CAFs and Victim Support. Should record in the victim contacts node.
What is S12 VRA?
Victims must be kept updated on progress of investigations and the Court process including Prohibition and Suppression orders. Only Police have this statutory responsibility. Must record in the victim contacts node.
What is a Victim Impact Statement?
Information ascertained from a victim to be submitted to the Court and includes photos, drawings, recordings etc
What is the purpose of a Victim Impact Statement?
- To enable the victim to provide information to the Court regarding the effects of the offending
- To assist the Court in understanding the victims views regarding the offending
- To inform the offender about the impact of their offending from the point of view of the victim
What information is to be ascertained from the victim for a Vitim Impact Statement?
- Any physical or emotional harm suffered by the victim
- Any loss or damage to property suffered by the victim
- Any other effects of the offending suffered by the victim
- Any other matter consistent with the purpose of the victim impact statement
Children who were present should be included in the victim impact statement the same as the primary victim
Whose words should the Victim Impact Statement be in?
The victims. No Police jargon etc
When should a Victim Impact Statement be on the file?
Ideally by first appearance but mandatory for second appearance
How should a Victim Impact Statement be updated?
Added to the bottom of the original like a jobsheet
Under S18 of the VRA what must you inform a victim of prior to taking a Victim Impact Statement?
- That the information is being ascertained for a VIS
- That any information they give must be true
- That they are informed as to who may see, make/keep copies of the VIS and any orders/directions/conditions of it that may be made
- That any views that the victim has on whether the prosecutor should apply for orders/directions/conditions are ascertained
For sentencing are a victims views the primary consideration?
No. The victims views are a consideration however the circumstances and public interest etc also need to be weighed
What is S29 Victims Rights Act?
Lists the specified offences that prescribes victims eligible to go onto the Victim Notification Register. Sections 30 - 48 apply only to these offences
Specified offences
- Offences of a sexual nature
- Offences of serious assault
- An offence that resulted in serious injury/death or a person becoming incapable
- An offence of another kind that led the victim, on reasonable grounds, for their physical safety or that of an immediate family member
If a victim is eligible to go onto the VNR then it is Polices obligation to inform them of that and provide the form. This must be recorded in the victim contact node. Police must determine that they are an eligible victim as soon as possible
What is S30 of the VRA?
Police must ascertain victims views on bail and inform the Court of those views.
What is S31 of the VRA?
Police must give notice to victims that they can appoint a representative to be the point of contact for the VNR rather than the victim. They will get all the updates RE bail, release, appeal etc.
What is S49 of the VRA?
If a victim considers that they have not been afforded their Rights under the Victims Rights Act they may complain to the Police or IPCA (if it relates to a Constable)
Any complaint must be dealt with promptly and fairly
This is why it is important that CSV1 documents are completed and the victim contact node kept updated
When should exhibits that don’t belong to offenders be returned?
As soon as possible
What is the intermediate target of Road to Zero?
A 40% reduction of deaths and serious injuries on our roads over the next decade
What are the Road to Zero focus areas?
- Infrastructure improvements and speed management
- Vehicle Safety
- Work-related road safety
- Road user choices
- System management
What are the three ways to measure success under Road to Zero?
- Intervention Indicators. Measure progress of specific action plan initiatives and updated each action plan to stay relevant.
- Safety Performance Indicators. What the Govt wants to improve. Stay fixed
- Outcome Indicators. Relate to the overarching goal. Stay fixed
How do Police approach our goal of Safe Roads?
Working with our partners to prevent death and injury resulting from crashes so everyone who leaves home in the morning can return home safely
How much funding do Police get from Waka Kotahi for the Road Safety Partnership Programme?
$440 million
How will Police implement the Safe Roads Control Strategy?
- General deterrence
Three factors. Dosage, unpredictability, whole network coverage - Specific deterrence
Targeting repeat high risk drivers
To enable deliver of the Safe Roads Control Strategy we need to deploy efficiently. What critical command information is used?
- High risk driver reports
- Road policing deployment dashboard
- Road safety partnership (working with partners)
- Tasking and coordination
- OnDuty (Development of additional functionality)
- Local stakeholder partnerships
What is the intent of performance metrics?
Aspirational for Districts, they are not to be considered a performance measure at an individual officer level. Instead we want to measure long term outcomes such as reducing road deaths
What is a fleeing driver?
A driver that fails to stop or remain stopped having been signalled to do so.
The original reason for signalling the driver to stop is a significant factor in assessing the response to a fleeing driver
What is a pursuit?
A driver indicates through their actions or by continuing their manner of driving that they have no intention of stopping following a direction to do so
AND
An enforcement officer decides to continue to follow behind the vehicle with a view to report on its progress or stop it
What are some factors to consider when choosing whether or not to engage in a pursuit?
- Keeping the peace
- Maintaining public safety
- Law enforcement
- Crime prevention
- Community support and reassurance
TENR will be used at all times
Which fleeing driver events will be reviewed?
All fleeing driver events will be reviewed for lessons learnt and whether appropriate decisions were made
What are the two potential justifications for a pursuit under the Fleeing Driver Framework?
- Based on the threat posed by the driver/occupants as determined by an officers PCA (assaultive or above)
or
- Based on the seriousness of an offence suspected to have been committed by the driver/occupants and the risk of ongoing harm/offending/victimisation
Prior to stopping a vehicle if you identify a specific risk a driver may flee what must you do?
Request support and advise the ECC of
- the initial reason for wanting to stop the driver
- the intention to signal the driver to stop
- whether you intend to pursue if it flees
- any plan to stop a fleeing driver
What are the four anchoring factors that inform a pursuit TENR?
- Time of day
- Environment (traffic conditions, location etc)
- Driver/occupant profile
- Offence (Is offence serious enough that it requires immediate apprehension of the driver/occupants)
If you decide not to pursue a fleeing driver what must you do?
- Communicate to ECC and get a FLEE event entered
- Immediately reduce speed, stop, deactivate lights and advise ECC that you’re stationary and your specific location
- Resume duties.
Follow up enquiries are to be conducted to ID vehicle/driver which should be added to the fleeing driver report
Can you pursue a motorcycle?
Yes however you must factor it into your TENR the additional risk that comes with them
Who can direct the abandonment of a pursuit?
- Driver or passenger of lead or secondary vehicle
- Field supervisor
- Crew member of ASU
- The pursuit controller or Dispatcher
When MUST a pursuit be abandoned?
- The TENR assessment identifies that the risk of harm outweighs the ongoing risk posed by the vehicle occupants
- The pursuing vehicle has sustained loss of visual contact with the fleeing driver
- The ECC has sustained loss of comms with the pursuing units
Once the decision to abandon has been made all units must abandon. Fleeing vehicle cannot be resignalled to stop without the permission of the Pursuit controller. There must be a clear plan to stop the vehicle to reengage
What tactical options are available to monitor or stop a vehicle?
- ASU (Monitor)
- Non compliant vehicle stop (Stop)(On the authorisation of Pursuit Controller or 0A)
- Dog Unit (May be additional to primary/secondary vehicles)
- Temp road closure (Initiated by ECC)
- Cordon and contain (Initiated by ECC)
- TDD (Initiated by ECC or trained staff can self initiate. Pursuit controller permission required for deployment on heavy vehicles)
How is a FLEE event resulted?
Either K6 or K9. Consideration must be given to completing a H&S near miss or incident form.
Must be completed and submitted prior to the end of shift by the initiating unit.
Who has primary responsibility for ensuring that the fleeing driver report and subsequent enquiries are completed?
The field supervisor
Does DCC/NCCC have a command and control role in pursuits?
No. They may provide information but they are not in the command and control chain.
What does the Level 2 Pursuit Reviewer look at?
Everything
- Reviews the fleeing driver notification
- Reviews the ECC recording
- Reviews any ASU footage with an ASU rep present
- Identifies and manages or escalates any risks lessons learned etc
When can Police temporarily close a road under S35 of the Policing Act?
- Public disorder exists or is imminent at or near that place
- Danger to a member of the public exists or may be expected at that place
- An offence punishable by 10yrs or more has been committed or discovered at that place
Why do we record hate motivated crime and incidents?
It can start as minor but has the potential to recur and escalate.
What is a hate incident?
An incident which does not meet the threshold of a criminal offence. “Awful but lawful”
What is Te Raranga?
Recommendation 42 of the Royal Commission of Inquiry following the mosque attacks directed Police to revise their response towards hate motivated events
Police will
- Recognise and distinguish hate motived crime, incidents and speech
- Record and flag these incidents appropriately
- In the instances of non criminal hate incidents be focussed on the person to allay their fears and refer to appropriate support services
- In the instances of criminal hate crimes be victim focussed to allay their fears and reduce repeat victimisation
- ID repeat offenders and displaying risk indicators
- Ensure the Courts are notified of aggravating factors under S9 Sentencing Act (hostility towards a group with an enduring common characteristic)
When is a crime or incident deemed hate motivated?
When it is perceived by the victim or any otehr person as being motivated wholly or in part by a hostility based on a persons particular characteristic
What is the deal with the Human Rights Act offence of hate speech?
It needs to incite others to do harm to a group and needs Attorney-General signoff to prosecute
What are the three principles that Police need to apply to guide practice around hate motivated crimes/incidents/speech
- Recognise (ID perceived hate as a factor)
- Record (All reports, criminal or not, to be entered into NIA. You must record exact words, symbols etc so that accurate and consistent recording can ID escalations and patterns)
- Respond (Acknowledge the harm caused, let them know we take it seriously, let them know and additional process for complaint, offer support through other agencies if appropriate)
Does the Court need to take into account hate motivation as an aggravating factor during sentencing?
Yes. S9 Sentencing Act says MUST
