What's NewNovember 2025We've added a new menu for Dealing with Image Related Offences. A reminder that earlier in the year we added a guide that will be of particular interest to policing students and recently appoint officers, to Situational Awareness in Conflict Prone Settings, which simply put gives you a framework to apply when just walking down a street or beginning to deal with an incident. October 2025We've added guidance to our Soft Skills Toolkit about Hosting, Attending and Presenting Remote Meetings, and the benefits of implementing Scrum Meetings, and their application in investigative contexts. September 2025Just a reminder that early this year we added guidance particularly of interest to those involved in investigating domestic abuse, stalking, sexual offences and vulnerable adult abuse, on conducting Evidence-Led Prosecutions (ELPs), i.e. how to push forward with a prosecution without the cooperation of the victim. Forest Lodge (and its grounds), Windsor Great Park, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 2BU, becomes a site protected under Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 from 29 September 2025 as the new home of the Prince of Wales and his family. July 2025We're now working hard at preparing all the new and amended offences, police powers and other guidance associated with the proposed Crime and Policing Act. As soon possible after the Act receives Royal Assent we will publish the new or revised pages and add the implementation dates, CCCJS and HOCR Codes into the pages as soon as they are known. From 1 August 2025 Ninja Swords (defined here) become a weapon to which section 141(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 applies. Certain defences apply. A Government funded compensation scheme is currently in force. From 5 July 2025, Palestine Action, Maniacs Murder Cult and Russian Imperial Movement are proscribed organisations. We've updated our calendar of Major Religious and Other National Festivals to the end of 2027. June 2025We've added additional material to our RASSO NOM and Domestic Abuse Toolkits:
May 2025We've developed a new RASSO (National Operating Model) Toolkit. It sets out the rationale of the Model and contains links to guides designed to assist everyone investigating RASSO offences. We've added a guide to the Police (Vetting) Regulations 2025. We've amended our guides to the Police (Performance) Regulations 2020, to reflect the changes which apply from 18 May 2025. We have retained the version that applied to that date here. We have removed our guide to the Police (Performance) Regulations 2012 as it is no longer likely to be used. We've made other consequential amendments to the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2020 and the Police Reform Act 2002. April 2025To add to our original perpetrator behaviour/offence grid for Violence Offences, we've developed 4 new ones for:
We've also added additional aggravating factors to our 5 VAWG Evidence Checklists. We've updated the Home Office Counting Rules to reflect the recent changes, please see the summary of historical amendments for details. March 2025We've expanded our guide to Trauma-Informed Communication to include guidance on:
We've added 5 new VAWG Evidence Checklists for:
February 2025There's been some slight changes to the Youth Gravity Factor Guidelines and to some of the Gravity Factors contained within individual Points to Prove. In particular references to remorse and gang links have been removed. We recommend that you check them carefully until you are familiar with them. The original document can be found here. We've added 2 more guides to our Questioning Techniques Toolkit regarding:
We've added new Sentencing Council aggravating and mitigating factors to the points to prove for blackmail, kidnapping and false imprisonment. Don't forget that when dealing with offences involving indecent images being stored on phones, tablets and/or computers, following an offence of upskirting, voyeurism, revenge pornography or the sharing of indecent images every effort should be made to have the justice or judge consider making a Deprivation Order, depriving the offender of the device and the images it contains. January 2025From 24 February 2025 some additional offences are added to the list of offences for which a fixed penalty may be issued, relating to:
We've added:
We've also added new guidance particularly of interest to those involved in investigating domestic abuse, stalking and sexual offences, on:
A number of additional drug compounds become controlled from 15 January 2025, including:
We have added the offences and police power of entry, search and seizure by warrant to premises in connection with the use of glue traps to trap rodents. December 2024We've updated our calendar of Major Religious and Other National Festivals to the end of 2026. November 2024We've repacked and expanded our Hate Incidents and Crimes Toolkit to include comprehensive guides to Recording Non-Crime Hate Incidents and Processing Personal Data When Recording and Retaining Non-Crime Hate Incidents. A pilot of the new Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders will commence on 27 November 2024 in Greater Manchester Police, the Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and Bromley in the Metropolitan Police area and with the British Transport Police. September 2024From 31 October 2024 it becomes an offence to Interfere with Access to or the Provision of Abortion Services. The offence is not recordable. August 2024From 24 August 2024 it is an offence to abduct a pet dog or cat. The two offence are similar but do have some differences. Both offences are notifiable. July 2024As a trial we have added a printable/saveable burglary suspect interview plan aide-memoire (which contains the points to prove and the specific aggravating and mitigating factors for burglary) and another document with all the general aggravating and mitigating factors for all offences to the Points to Prove for Burglary. This is to enable interviewers to set out any particular questions next to each point to prove and to tick off any aggravating or mitigating factors which appear to apply to the offence in question in order that they can be mentioned in interview. We already provide a comprehensive guide to making a suspect interview plan together with a Suspect Interview Plan template (Word). Please let us know if you think this is useful and we will expand it to further offences. In a recent case the High Court has held that forms MGDD may be admitted into evidence provided they are referenced in a statement made by the officer introducing them. The definition of weapons to which Section 141(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 applies will be extended to knives and machetes of a zombie-style. Additional defences have been added in respect of these and other weapons. June 2024We've added some additional guides to our Soft Skills Toolkit:
May 2024There have been a number of minor changes to the Misconduct Procedures. These are set out in green in the pages concerned. A summary is available here. There have also been some changes to the Attorney General's Guidelines on Disclosure with additional information (shown in green) added to Material in the Possession of Third Parties and The Examination and Disclosure of Digital Material. A new page has been added concerning the Redaction of personal data in case files. April 2024Serious Disruption Prevention Orders (SDPOs) are introduced with effect from 5 April 2024. These can be issued by the court either on application by a chief officer of police or on conviction for a protest related offence. These are intended to prevent persons subject to the them from participating in disruptive protest related activities. Our guidance on the Home Office Counting Rules is now completely up-to-date. March 2024We've added new guidance to our Questioning Techniques Toolkit regarding Questioning the Victims of Non-Stranger Rape and How Consent Should Work in Relationships. We've also added additional guidance which applies to both Stranger and Non-Stranger Rape and other serious sexual offending concerning:
A number of additional drugs have become controlled. Go to our A - Z Index of Controlled Drugs and search for all drugs marked as applying from 20 March 2024. February 2024We've added guidance for charging decision makers in respect of offences committed at protests, demonstration and campaigns of civil disobedience, together with an indication in the relevant offences as to whether or not an assessment of proportionality must be conducted. We've now completed our expanded Leadership Toolkit:
We've also added a number of new guides to our Soft Skills Toolkit:
January 2024We've updated the Code of Ethics to the latest version. On 31 January 2024 the Online Safety Act 2023:
We've added some guidance to the Points to Prove for the offence of Sending a Malicious Communication arising from the appeal in R v Casserly [2024] EWCA Crim 25:
We have added an additional guide about Using Communications Aids to our Interviews With Victim and Witnesses (ABE) and Questioning Techniques Toolkits. We have updated our Major Religious and Other National Festivals calendar until the end of 2025. |