Vacancy Information
Division / Department - Forcewide Grade - Grade 10 Status - Full Time Contract Type - Permanent Salary Grade Range - £28,023 - £30,951 Working Hours - 40.0 Hours per Week The starting salary for this role will usually be at the bottom of the salary range and will be pro-rata if the working hours are less than full time.
The Role
There is an opportunity for 7 x SOIT Officers to join the established Sexual Offences Investigation Trained Team.
Vacancies will based in the following SIU hubs but cover the Force area
3 posts based at Littlehampton SIU
1 post based at Brighton SIU
3 posts based at Eastbourne SIU
The role will form part of the Sexual Offences Investigation Trained (SOIT) team which works to provide the highest quality of care, support and information to survivors of rape and serious sexual assault. As part of this specialist team you will meet regularly for peer support and will work collaboratively with colleagues to share knowledge and best practice; becoming experts in your field.
Working within a busy Safeguarding Investigations Unit, you will be deployed alongside other SOITs and investigating officers to support victims of serious sexual assault, and to obtain high quality evidence from them. As part of your role you will be trained to respond to both recent and non-recent reports of rape, and to provide victims with expert support and care from the time of reporting through to the conclusion of the investigation.
Although you will be part of a wider team you will work autonomously. You will establish positive connections with victims who will have experienced violence, abuse and/or trauma by building rapport through empathy. Because of your excellent interpersonal skills and training, you will be best placed to act as the single point of contact between the victim and the investigation, ensuring that the voice of the victim is represented at every stage of the investigative process. This will involve relaying important information clearly, sensitively and tactfully, enabling you to gain the trust and confidence of victims to ensure they feel informed and supported over the course of the investigation.
The role balances investigation and advocacy: You will play a fundamental part in investigations into the most serious sexual assaults; with specific responsibility for securing the best evidence from victims. You will assess and explore all methods of evidence gathering ensuring the most appropriate options are chosen. You will work at all times to reconcile and balance the needs of a victim against the requirements of an investigation.
Key Responsibilities
As a SOIT officer you main responsibilities will be:
- To ensure that victims receive the highest standard of care and support throughout an investigation regardless of their intention or ability to support prosecution. To increase the confidence and trust of victims by being the single point of contact for them.
- To explain the criminal justice process to the victim and keep them informed about the progress of the investigation. To ensure information is given to the victim positively and carefully to prevent any loss of confidence in the police investigation or the criminal justice process.
- To work in partnership with staff from the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), the Independent Sexual Violence Advocates (ISVAs) and victim care agencies to ensure a first class multi-agency approach to supporting victims’ needs throughout an investigation.
- To ensure that the best possible evidence is obtained from victims, including written and video recorded evidence, the seizure of exhibits and samples, and the use of Early Evidence Kits where appropriate.
- To act as an integral part of the investigation team, supporting investigations and representing the views of the victim. This should include acting as second interviewer for suspect interviews where appropriate.
- To ensure that the victim receives information about support agencies, and that any referrals are made to other agencies in accordance with the victim’s wishes.
- To co-ordinate pre-trial support and assess emerging support needs relating to pending court hearings, in conjunction with Witness Care Units and ISVAs.
- To ensure accurate records are kept of all interactions with victims and to ensure compliance with the victim code.
- To undertake other duties appropriate to the grade and character of the work as may be reasonably required, including specific duties of a similar or lesser graded post.
Skills & Experience
This is not an easy role and - although the work will be amongst the most rewarding in policing - it will also be emotionally demanding. Because of this it won’t be for everyone which is why we are specifically looking for resilient individuals who are able to persevere in the face of adversity.
In order to be successful it is essential that you are able to demonstrate the following:
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to deliver face-to-face sensitive messages clearly and tactfully, whilst building trust and rapport through the use of empathy
- Confidence and an ability to work without direct supervision whilst under pressure; prioritising work and dealing with competing or conflicting demands and interests in an organised and methodical manner
- Excellent crisis management skills with the ability to handle situations of heightened stress and/or emotional turmoil
- Strong problem solving skills with the ability to analyse information in order to make quick operational decisions
- Experience of communicating with victims or the public face to face is preferable
- Investigative experience including those qualified to PIP1 level is desirable but not essential as training will be given
In addition to the above you will also be required to have:
- Experience of working or engaging with survivors of violence, abuse or trauma
- Experience of working in or an understanding of the investigative process would be an advantage
- The ability and willingness to obtain Professionalising Investigation Programme (PIP) - Level One accreditation
- The ability and willingness to undertake witness interviewing accreditation
- The ability and willingness to undertake the SOIT Development Programme
- A UK manual driving licence
Further Information
For more information about the role or for an informal discussion please contact DS Vicki Tomlinson DT098 07796 611965 or DS Linda Bond DB670 07909 893726
Closing date is Sunday 29th March 2020.
Interviews will be held during the week commencing 13th April 2020
The post holder must be willing to undertake shift work (core hours are 0800 - 2200 7 days a week and will include some bank holidays). The post holder must be flexible around working hours and their workplace location.
The post holder will be required on occasion to work mandatory, unplanned overtime.
The role will involve deployments across the county of Sussex. A full UK driving licence and willingness to travel as directed is essential
The post holder will be required to pass the Police basic driving authority (BDA) test within 6 months of employment and be confident to drive across the Force area
Part-time and flexible working applications will be considered.
Additional Information
Following submission of your application you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your application attached. Occasionally emails from this address can fall into spam/junk folders so please ensure this is checked regularly. You may wish to consider adding noreply@surreysussexpolice.as.recruitmail.com to your address/contact list to ensure you receive all communications. This post is being advertised in parallel with Force redeployment processes. Any redeployees who are identified will be given preference. This may result in the post being withdrawn at any point during the recruitment process. If you are an internal candidate looking to apply for this role, please ensure that you discuss your application with your line manager before submitting an application. If you are conditionally offered the role your attendance record and any reasonable adjustments already in place will be discussed with yourself and your current line manager. Please note that not all jobs are available for internal candidates across both Forces, the current agreed recruitment principles are; - vacancies in collaborated units are available to all officers and staff across both Forces - vacancies in non-collaborated units are only available to officers and staff within the Force with the vacancy unless it is advertised externally. If the vacancy is advertised externally and an officer or member of staff from the other Force is success it will result in a transfer of employment. Surrey Police and Sussex Police Special Constables, Volunteers and Agency Staff (excluding self employed workers) covered under the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) are eligible to apply for internal advertised posts. Applications will only be accepted by clicking the 'Apply Now' button. CVs are not accepted as part of our recruitment process.
Diversity Statement
We are only as good as our people. It's really important to us that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we believe that as an organisation we'll benefit from the variety of thinking, approach and skills that diversity can bring; all of which helps us to deliver a better policing service. We have worked really hard to create a safe, open and inclusive culture. We have a range of staff networking groups to provide specific support and advice and we are proud to be members of Stonewall and Disability Confident, and to be aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement. We value the differences that people bring from all backgrounds and communities so, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, social status or religious beliefs, we would love to hear from you.