Blackstone’s Police Investigators' Manual 2007 by Glenn Hutton, David Johnston & Fraser Sampson

+

Blackstone's Police Investigators' Workbook 2007 by Paul Connor, David Pinfield, Neil Taylor, and Julian Chapman

Review Written on 26.8.07 by Sally Ramage

This Manual, accompanied by the Workbook, is the official study text for the National Investigators' Examination, Phase 1 of the Initial Crime Investigators' Development Programme.

The Police Investigators’ Manual has its contents divided into 4 parts, namely:

PART 1 Property Offences

PART II Assaults, Drugs, Fire-arms and Defences

PART III Sexual Offences and

PART IV Evidence

The contents of the Workbook are also divided into these same 4 parts plus an extra part, that being Part v, Answers Section. To use the Workbook, one is advised to start revision by starting at Part I and attempting the multiple choice questions, only after that task is done should one consult the relevant part of the Manual, then make a second attempt at the same multiple choice questions and other written exercises. Only after making these two attempts at the question should one consult the answers. The idea is that this method should increase one’s knowledge and ability. It will also act as a guide to assess how one is progressing in the study of the subject.

The Manual has 581 pages and better value for money cannot be found in any criminal law examination book.. Appendices 1 to 10 are contained in pages 409 to 563. The Manual is an extensive exploration and authority on the subjects of property offences, assault, drugs, firearms offences, sexual offences and evidence The Manual contains an extended Table of contents, Tables of cases, Table of Primary Legislation and Table of Secondary Legislation.

The Manual also contains ten appendices, these being Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984- Codes of Practice A,B,C,D,E,F,G, and H as well as some relevant disclosure extracts and Appendix 10 is an excellent flow-chart of the Disclosure Process. Each section of this Disclosure Flow-chart also informs one of where in the Manual the relevant section can be found. The Flow-chart begins at the commencement of the investigation, to the point when the suspect is charged, then the scheduling of materials, then later - receipt of material by the prosecutor and finally the chart flows to “trial”, “acquittal”, “discontinuance” or “appeal”. This flow-chart encapsulates the essence of the Manual and a good grasp of this flow-chart together with the details in the study chapters will bode well for any person sitting the investigators’ examination.

PART IV-Evidence - includes the difficult subject of incomplete offences and tackled topics of incitement involving soliciting, encouraging or pressuring another person to commit an offence; statutory conspiracy (Criminal Law Act 1977); common law conspiracies and attempts (Criminal Attempts Act 1981). Note that the offence of assisting offenders (Criminal Law Act 1967) is included in the section titled “Offences against the Administration of Justice and Public Interest”.

Section 2.8 in PART II deals with “racially and religiously aggravated offences” as they occur in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, Criminal Damage Act 1971, Public Order Act 1986, Football (Offences) Act 1991; Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001,

Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. This is a critical subject and is no mean feat of study. The Manual devotes nineteen pages of instruction to it. Correspondingly, the Workbook (pages 136 to 141) illustrates this important subject with six pages of multiple choice questions, flowcharts, exercises and illustrated explanations and recall questions. It states that “for the purpose of your examination there are three questions to ask when deciding whether an offence is racially or religiously aggravated:

1. Is the offence capable of being racially or religiously aggravated?

2. Has the defendant committed the offence?

3. Is the offence racially or religiously aggravated?”

Demonstration or motivation for hostility must be based on the victim’s membership or presumed membership of a racial or religious group.

Using this topic as an example, one can begin to see the value of attempting the Workbook before and after studying the manual topic thoroughly.

This Police Investigators’ Manual and Workbook 2007 is an intense study of the criminal law contained therein. For those officers who persevere and sacrifice time and other valuables in order to study and work through these books for their exams, I raise my hat.