Statement taking by police officers from persons with complex communication needs who report being a victim of crime

Abstract

Persons with disability, especially those with complex communication needs, face various barriers in realising their right to access justice when a crime has been committed against them. Giving a statement to the police as a first step in this process can be challenging for various reasons. Barriers may include negative attitudes and/or a lack of knowledge and skill by police officers in taking statements from persons with complex communication needs. The study used a mixed methods sequential exploratory design to develop and evaluate a custom-designed disability training programme (Everyone Communicates Training Programme – ECTP). The programme is aimed at improving South African police officers’ knowledge and skill in taking statements from persons with complex communication needs and at improving their attitudes towards these individuals. In this study, the programme focussed on police officers who work in Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units. Phase 1 of the study comprised a systematic review of published disability training programmes provided to police officers, a quantitative disability knowledge survey with police officers (n = 98) and two focus groups (n = 16). During Phase 2 the training programme and measuring instrument were developed, incorporating recommendations from Phase 1. A Stakeholder group comprising of persons with CCN (n = 6) and two occupational therapists (n = 2) appraised the training programme. Stakeholder groups, South African Police Service (n = 2) and a healthcare expert panel (n = 11) appraised the training programme and measuring instrument (which evaluated the three dependent variables, namely knowledge, skill and attitudes) and a pre-pilot test followed (n = 10). After the necessary changes had been made, a pilot study was conducted (n = 7). During Phase 3, a non-randomised pre-test post-test control group design was used to evaluate the newly developed training programme and measuring instrument. Fifty-eight police officers completed the pre-test, after which the 29 police officers in the experimental group participated in the two-day custom-designed ECTP, based on the six andragogical assumptions of adult learning. Thereafter, the post-test was completed (n=58). The interaction between groups (comparing the experimental and control groups) and time (comparing pre-and post-test) were tested using mixed factorial ANOVAs. There were statistically significant outcomes for three dependent variables, namely knowledge about disability (p< .001), knowledge about statement taking from persons with complex communication needs (p< .001), and perceived skill in statement taking (p< .001). There was no statistically significant interaction between any variable and applied knowledge, and only an interaction between the group and attitudes towards persons with disability. The implications for practice are that the two-day ECTP can positively influence police officers’ knowledge and perceived skill in statement taking from persons with complex communication needs. Future research could focus on the value of increasing the length of training; measure the impact of including a co-facilitator with disability in the training; and determine the sustainability of this input.