Witness Statements

[fs1982]

I'm currently looking at how we go about taking witness statements when an incident occurs and looking to see what others do to see if we can improve?

At present, we currently take the witness statements in an interview style in that the investigator speaks to the witness, asks relevant questions, notes their responses and then both the investigator and the witness sign the statement; the invesitgation always ends with the final question of "Is there anything of relevance that you wish to add" or something to that effect. My gut feeling with this style is that we could potentially be missing some valuable information as if the investigator doesn't ask a specific question the witness is unlikely to volunteer the information.

What do others do with regarding to obtaining witness statements and how do you record them? If anyone has any templates that they would be willing to share it would be much appreciated.

[witsd]

It's a matter of quantitative data versus qualitative. The former is going to be more useful in identifying trends and comparing incidents, whilst the latter will give you far more detail and probably be more useful should that one incident develop into a bigger case.

Your methodology captures a little of both, which is probably the best way to go.

Do make sure your questions are neutrally worded, as they can influence responses (the classic case involved asking people how fast a car was travelling when it either 'crashed' or 'smashed' – the latter caused a differential in opinion of about +10mph)

That said, the single biggest priority for me was always identifying the need for a witness statement and taking it as quickly as possible, before the quality of the information degraded as the person's imagination took over.

[Juan Carlos]

Hello,

I normally give them our template, which gives them pointers of what they can include i.e anything they saw, heard, smelt etc, where they were in relation to the incident etc. I also explain why we need a comprehensive statement. I them go through the statement with them, go to the place where the incident took place to visualise better or use photographs and ask questions based on the incident or the information on the statement they have written. I document the Q&A session as part of the incident investigation.

[jonsi]

I've always asked for a written statement from them in their own words first (emphasising that it's not a handwriting or spelling test!). Then I'll discuss their statement with them emphasising that I'm just trying get get the facts and not trying to 'pin the blame' on anyone. I'll ask questions where I think their statement needs more detail or clarification. This is written down and will then be talked through again, agreed by the witness and myself and then signed. The two documents together form a part of my investigation. If there are several witnesses I find that (with the odd exception) the questions I ask about their initial statement tend to get repeated to each witness ...not because I'm lazy but because a detail (Who moved the boxes? Who usually moves the boxes?) which could be important is commonplace to them, so knowledge/understanding of it is taken for granted.