Preparing evidence

CAAGe looks at the basics of preparing evidence

You’ve been groomed and an offence may have - or definitely has, according to individual circumstances - been committed.

You’ve been through a lot already and you need the police to listen to you and take you seriously.

One key way towards making this happen is to be prepared.

CAAGe - the Campaign Against Adult Grooming - takes a look at how to prepare your evidence.

Taking notes

Compiling evidence for the police

Reporting a crime to the police is never easy. The simple act of walking into a police station can, for many, be daunting. re are lots of good reasons to go ahead and report, but the system can seem daunting and retraumatising. Victim Support can help you decide what’s right for you: https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/

However, if your body is part of the crime scene (recent bruising, semen from a rape, chopped hair, cuts etc) present in person soonest so that the evidence is fresh. Don’t shower, however bad you may feel. You will normally be assigned an appropriate specialist officer. The police may want to take photographs or call a doctor. You are not under any obligation to submit to a medical examination, and if you are traumatised we all understand this can be painfully difficult. If you CAN face it, it may provide invaluable evidence.

The police have specialist teams who are trained to deal with rape and sexual assault. You can ask to speak to an officer or staff member who’s the same sex as you.

You will have time to collate other evidence trails later.

Whether you are doing just that and going in later to give more information, or you are reporting for the first time, it will help both them and you to go prepared with evidence that can help them do their jobs and catch the perpetrator.

Preparing can also help you to put your own thoughts in order as you prepare to tell them what has happened - you’ll be calmer if you have a chronology than if you’re sitting there trembling and suddenly remembering things in a disjointed manner. (It happens!)

The more organised you are, the more credible you will appear, and the more they are going to trust your version of events.

SIX HELPFUL STEPS

  1. Write down what has happened

Record all the details of what has happened including the times, dates, locations, name and/or description of the offender, and any other information you believe is important. This is really a mind dump to get it all out and help you remember the details. These aren’t the notes you’ll give the officer, but are there to help you put things in order and be able to answer any questions.

2. Photographs
Photographs or videos backing up your evidence can help police understand what’s happened and identifying the perpetrator(s). Print and date the photos, put videos onto ‘pen drives’/USB sticks. You may later be asked to provide digital originals, but this, for the moment, should be enough.

3. Gather witness information

If there are any witnesses to what has happened, gather their contact information to supply to the police who may, or may not, choose to talk to them. If you don’t know their address or phone number, but know where they can be found (the ochre coloured house next to the train station, always in the Nag’s Head at 4pm on a Friday) note it down.


4. Preserve evidence

If things like DNA, fingerprints, objects used against you, tickets that help confirm location/timing are available and help confirm your story, handle them carefully to avoid any destruction, degradation or contamination and get them to the police as part of your evidence.

Things like letters, emails, screen shots of texts are also evidence that you can present. (The police may want to ensure they’ve not been tampered with later, of course. At this stage your job is to get them to take your case seriously and understand what has happened.


5. Summarise it all

Write down what you think should be in your statement, including details of all the evidence you have collected, as above. As you are writing it, you’ll almost certainly have more to add, and it will sometimes be hard to decide what and what not to include. Whilst you may want to prove that your groomer/abuser lied, that’s often just for you to prove to yourself that you haven’t gone insane! Whilst equally important to you, it’s of little real value to the police in tracking down and charging the offender unless the lying is part of proving the crime was committed. The police will usually create a statement for you to sign or take video evidence - or both. This will be in a certain format that’s expected, but having your summary will help both them and you to wade through what, in cases involving grooming, may be masses of information. (Groomers deceit is rarely a one off event!!)

6. Contact the Police

Now you have what you need, contact the police and report the crime. You can do this by phone in the first instance or can walk into a police station. It can sometimes help to have someone with you and to have talked to someone else/run the evidence past them first. While it may seem like time wasting, unless your body is part of the crime scene (recent bruising, semen from a rape, chopped hair, cuts etc)