“It’s a fascinating world and one which many know little about,” says Sam, Debrief Officer working in the Assisting Offender (AO) Unit.
The Unit operates under a legislative framework called SOCPA (Serious Organised Crime and Police Act) that allows CPS to give people immunity or a reduction in their sentence for them providing intelligence or evidence in a prosecution.
Understandably Sam can’t give away the tactics they use as this could put the nominals they deal with, and their families, at risk. But she does reveal that they often deal with individuals who can provide information about those people working upstream in organised crime groups (OCGs).
“We are covert in the way we operate, but we are using overt legislation to try and secure the bigger fish, to lock up the people that are controlling those smaller fish in the pond.”
Sam explains that a good example of this legislation in use was during the investigation into the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool in 2007.
“The offender put pressure on a vulnerable individual to stash the firearm used to murder Rhys, which out of fear he did, and when questioned by the police, said that he didn’t know who gave him the firearm. Eventually that individual did give the details of the person he gave it to and in exchange he got total immunity for giving that information. He was not charged, not prosecuted for assisting an offender or possession of a firearm. He received total immunity to give evidence against the main perpetrator, who subsequently got a life sentence. Without his evidence, CPS would not have secured that prosecution against him. That’s where the legislation from an immunity point of view came into play and was really beneficial.”
A facilitator and an enabler
The AO Unit are the facilitators between CPS and the prosecuting team to agree a SOCPA contract. Sometimes this involves meeting an SIO in force who may’ve been working on an investigation for years to understand why the evidence or intelligence these nominals provide is worth a reduction in their sentence.
“We are like middlemen and women. We make the tactic happen by speaking to offenders inside and outside of prison. If the Potential Assisting Offender is not suitable for a SOCPA contract then we look for other way to gather intelligence from them.
“As an example, knowledge provided by one person recently generated 70 Intel logs. This is a significant amount of information which we can now use and act upon. I find it really rewarding when we uncover this amount of intel and share it, knowing it will make a real difference to an operation. When you see the disruption that’s been caused through the intelligence submissions you’ve done you feel a sense of achievement and job satisfaction.”
Sam says much of the time their approaches to offenders are unsolicited by the department.
“Often, the nominal hasn’t asked to speak to us but we assess their situation and approach them if we think they would be appropriate for the tactic, and could provide valuable intelligence or evidence. We will explain the legislation to them and a few weeks later we’ll be contacted by their solicitor saying their client would like to talk to us and we take it from there.”
It’s really important the AO team has impartiality when it comes to investigations and dealing with offenders.
“We keep ourselves disconnected from the investigation so that we can’t be accused by the defence of trying to persuade offenders or entice them to tell us certain things that help the prosecution. We show total neutrality and transparency throughout the process and demonstrate we cannot offer them anything for speaking to the police. Whether they get a sentence reduction for assisting is entirely a decision for the judge.”
Because the AO Unit is a small team it works closely with other SWROCU capabilities and they support each other with jobs. They also link in with the Sensitive Intelligence Team. Outside of the SWROCU, they work with the National Crime Agency (NCA), particularly its Protected Persons Service (PPS).
Flexibility is key
The AO Unit is a small, dedicated team covering a large patch. The region stretches from southern Wales into Gloucester, Bristol, Wiltshire, Dorset, and down to Devon and Cornwall. Occasionally you may need to travel to a prison out of area.
Sam lives in west Dorset and finds this a prefect central location for her travel around the region.
“I visit the northern hub once a week, which takes me around an hour and a half. I generally conduct activity at least once a week, which could be anywhere in our region. It helps that I’m in a position where I’m able to be really flexible. I appreciate it wouldn’t work for everybody, but it works for me.
“When I’m working from home or in the office I might be doing operational orders to risk assess me going to visit an offender – these are something I’d never done until I was in the role. Also, part of my job is to explain the tactic to forces – educating SIOs about the legislation and the role of the AO Unit.
“I really don’t think it matters where you’re based, as long as you’re prepared to be flexible and go anywhere within the region when needed. I’ve never been called away at short notice; my travel is always preplanned. We do work long days but again these are generally planned which is better for homelife.
“I think it’s a brilliant job and I feel really privileged to be in it. I feel valued within my team, and I feel valued within the ROCU – I really can’t think of anything negative to say about it!”
*Name has been changed