Bulletin 13 - Interviews of students and staff by police and officers from Department of Communities and Justice in schools
Legal issues bulletin 13 - Interviews of students and staff at school by police or DCJ
Legal issues bulletin 13 - Interviews of students and staff at school by police or DCJ
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In carrying out their responsibility to investigate criminal matters and suspected child abuse and neglect, NSW Police and the officers of the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) may require information from schools or seek to interview students or staff at school. Principals should ensure that all staff are aware of the following matters.
For the purposes of this bulletin, “student” will also include children enrolled in government preschools, Children’s Centres and those accessing playgroups and child minding services provided by AMES.
This bulletin replaces previous bulletin 13. Staff should refer to legal issues bulletin 47 – Requests for information from other government agencies and legal issues bulletin 50 - Exchanging information with other organisations concerning the safety, welfare or wellbeing of children or young people when dealing with information requests concerning the safety, welfare or well-being of children and young people
Unless special circumstances exist, students should not be interviewed on school sites. “Special circumstances” has a wide meaning but will include the following:
If special circumstances exist, principals should ensure the following occurs:
NSW Police operational guidelines stipulate that police should avoid interviewing children at school. While the guidelines refer only to children, the same approach should be adopted in respect of all school students who are under the age of 18. Unless special circumstances exist, the police should be advised they will need to arrange to interview the student at a time and place outside of school hours.
Interviews by JIRT personnel will usually be by way audio and or video recording. Aside from this aspect, the steps to be following by principals will be the same as previously outlined.
Any student who is required to be interviewed on school premises is entitled to be given the opportunity to have a support person present. If the JIRT indicates that this opportunity is not to be offered, then the principal should not consent to the interview taking place on the school site.
DCJ or NSW Police are responsible for communicating with parents or carers about any matters related to an interview. Any person making an inquiry or complaint concerning an interview with a student should be referred to the relevant officer from DCJ or NSW Police.
Sometimes DCJ officers will obtain statements or oral information from staff as part of their investigations into child protection issues. If the information provided by department staff is subsequently to be used as part of any legal proceedings, DCJ has agreed to the following process being followed:
Principals must not interfere with any decision of the police to arrest a student. If arrested, the student must accompany the police and the principal must immediately notify the parents or caregivers unless instructed not to by the police.
If police do wish to arrest a student, as far as possible arrangements should be made to safeguard the privacy of the student concerned. Suitable arrangements should be made to minimize any disturbance and or distress to the student concerned and other students and staff at the school. Principals may contact the department’s School Response unit for advice on what arrangements may be possible if a student is to be arrested.
Principals should ensure that students are aware that there is no obligation to accompany police from the school site unless they are formally arrested.
Again this situation should be treated to ensure as far as possible the student’s right to confidentiality and privacy. Principals should ensure the procedures set out in the Collection of students by the Department of Communities and Justice, procedures Department of Communities and Justice, procedures are complied with.
In the absence of special circumstances, police should be asked not to conduct interviews of staff on school premises unless they have been called to the school in response to an incident. If no other suitable alternative is available, principals should endeavour to implement strategies that have regard to the privacy considerations of the staff member and the sensitivity of students. Principals should also take into account the views of the relevant staff member concerned when determining whether an interview should take place at the school.
Staff will generally be permitted to have a support person with them during any interview provided the presence of the support person does not interfere with the process. The support person is not permitted to answer or suggest answers to any questions. Staff should also be made aware by Police that they do not have to answer any question that may be asked by them.
While there is no compulsion to provide a statement to the police, generally it will only be in unusual circumstances that such a request would be denied.
If police are conducting criminal investigations and staff are asked to provide a statement, the request for the statement should generally be supported.
In circumstances where police are conducting an investigation on behalf of the Coroner as a result of a death of a person during school activities, any request for a statement should be supported. It should be noted however that the ability of some members of staff to provide a statement on the same day as the relevant incident may be affected because they are distressed. In these circumstances police should be asked to defer obtaining any statement until a reasonable period of time has elapsed. Prior to making any statement to police in respect of coronial investigations, staff should seek advice from the department’s Legal Services.
Staff should be aware that they should not sign any statement until they have read through it and are completely happy with its contents. If changes are considered necessary, staff should bring this to the attention of the police. If staff are in any doubt about their obligations or rights in respect of providing statements to the police, they can seek advice from Legal Services.
Staff need not accompany police away from the school site unless they are formally arrested or otherwise agree to leave. If police attend with the specific intent of arresting a staff member, the principal should ensure that suitable arrangements are made to minimize any disturbance and or distress to students and other staff as well as preserving as far as possible the staff member’s right to confidentiality and privacy. principals can contact the department’s School Response unit for further advice on what arrangements may be possible if a staff member is to be arrested.