Vacancy Information
This role is within a unit where Surrey Police and Sussex Police work in collaboration, whilst continuing to be two separate legal entities/employers with different terms and conditions.
Both Surrey Police staff and Sussex Police staff are employed in this unit on their own force terms and conditions.
Successful candidates may be appointed on the terms and conditions of employment of either Surrey Police or Sussex Police, depending on organisational requirements. A discussion will be held with the successful candidate to confirm the details of location, salary, allowance and hours.
Division / Department - Specialist Crime
Status - Full Time
Contract Type - Permanent
Grade - Surrey Police Grade E / Sussex Police Grade 8
Salary Grade Range - Surrey Police £26,109 - £29,654 / Sussex Police £24,552 - £26,232
Politically Restricted - No
Unsocial Hours Allowance -
Location - Woking
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
This is an exciting opportunity to become an Exhibits Officer for the Specialist Crime Command of Surrey and Sussex Police. This is a unique role created to manage all items of evidential material, exhibits and property seized (or otherwise comes into Police possession) in the course of a Major Crime, Serious and Organised Crime or Economic Crime Investigation.
Ensuring their integrity, secure storage and considering the evidential value and investigative opportunities of each item throughout the life of the investigation and Criminal Justice procedure
Key Responsibilities
You will have the responsibility of taking possession of all exhibits seized during an SCC lead investigation. You will enter those exhibits on to one of our systems, either HOLMES or ALTIA. If any exhibits are booked onto NICHE and are in the Force property store you will arrange collection of those exhibits and their transfer to our stores.
You will have responsibility for checking the integrity and continuity of those exhibits ensuring it is correct throughout the investigation.
You will carry out dynamic risk assessments on property seized, adhering to applicable health and safety legislation to ensure the safety of all officers and staff handling exhibits.
Once you have booked the exhibit onto the correct system you will store the exhibit within one of our own storage facilities at either Woking in Surrey or Lewes HQ.
You will be responsible for signing out any exhibits required by investigators ensuring the continuity is kept updated at all times.
You may be required to attend searches in the capacity of Exhibits Officer to support the correct seizure, handling, recording, transportation and storing of evidential items in line with local and national guidelines and applicable legislation.
You will have responsibility for collecting exhibits from other stores and Scenes of Crime Bases across both of our Forces. You may on occasions be expected to take or collect exhibits from a laboratory or an expert for examination. The continuity of those exhibits is essential throughout any of these processes.
You will review the evidential and investigative value of items seized to support the wider investigation.
You will assist the Case Officer and Disclosure Officer during the case build process.
You will respond to requests from CPS for access by defence experts in relation to the examination of exhibits, ensuring that prosecution forensic experts are kept informed and engaged in the process.
Once an investigation has been completed you will hold a final exhibits review with the Case Officer and Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) where decisions will be made regarding retention, disposal or returning of all the seized exhibits. It will be your responsibility to arrange the return, disposal or retention of those exhibits as agreed by the SIO and in line with Force Policy and Management of Police Information (MOPI).
You will be required to deal with suspects and their families as well as the bereaved family members of the victim.
You will maintain working knowledge of legislation relevant to the role, acting as professional lead for exhibit and evidence handling, mentoring others and training new members of staff.
Skills & Experience
Experience of the investigative process or conducting investigations.
Experience of Major Incident Room procedures and roles.
Completion of the HOLMES2 Exhibits training, training will be given if you don't already have this.
Knowledge of the up-to-date methods for correct recovery, handling, packaging and security of evidence.
Awareness of the importance and role of forensics in exhibit recovery, handling and storage.
Good communication skills with the ability to listen, empathise, provide support and adapt language, form, and message to meet the needs of different people and audiences. (These can range from members of the public to victims families, senior Police Officers, CPS and Trial Counsel).
Skilled in the use of specialist IT packages, systems and/or databases to fulfil role requirements.
Ability to work effectively in a team to achieve shared objectives, demonstrating awareness of individual differences and providing support and advice as required. Be able to demonstrate a high level of attention to detail and a methodical and
systematic approach to tasks. Proven ability to work under pressure where time constraints and changing priorities are a common feature.
Able to appropriately prioritise and plan own work.
Able to proactively develop effective working relationships with colleagues, partners and other stakeholders.
Able to produce clear and concise reports and other documents using good practice procedures.
Must have capability to travel to different locations and undertake all assignments in a timely manner. Due to the requirement to work flexibly, unsocial hours and personal safety for lone working; public transport may not be available or suitable at these times. For this reason a full UK driving licence is considered essential
Further Information
For further information regarding this vacancy please contact The Exhibits and Disclosure Manager for Specialist Crime Command David Bristow telephone number 07795 334996 or email me at david.bristow@sussex.police.uk
We recognise that our people are balancing demanding careers with commitments and interests outside of work. We welcome applications and discussion with candidates who want to work flexible hours. The vacancy does not allow for working from home due to the nature of the work involved.
There will also be elements of lifting heavy items and use of step ups to enable items to be placed on shelving.
This vacancy will be based at Woking in Surrey. Please note that Surrey Police are in the process of reorganising their estates and staff from Woking may move to Surrey Headquarters at Guildford or another location within the Surrey estate.
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.
Surrey Police and Sussex Police work together in collaboration for this role, however they remain two different employers, with differing pay scales, allowances and terms and conditions including hours of employment.
If you are an internal candidate and 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. If you are successful in your application, you may be required to resign and transfer your employment, taking on the Terms & Conditions and pay scales of the Lead Force (if this is not your existing Home Force).
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.
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.
Diversity Statement
We are only as good as our people. It's really important that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we know that as an organisation we'll grow from the variety of thinking, approach and skills that diversity brings; all of which help us deliver a better policing service. We strive to ensure how we deliver our services, provide information and how we recruit is open and accessible to all.
We have multiple staff support groups who help to improve our understanding of minority issues and ensure they are reflected in our work. We are proud members of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index and Disability Confident, a signatory of the Race at Work Charter and aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement.
We value the differences that people bring from all backgrounds and communities. Regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, social status or religious beliefs, we would love to hear from you.
Attachments