NCJ Number
185618
Date Published
May 2000
Length
88 pages
Annotation
This document contains information about police arrest, questioning, and search practices from the defendant's perspective.
Abstract
The Defendants' Survey highlighted six areas for closer attention: (1) Respondents' understanding of their arrest status: Clearer instructions to police and closer monitoring of interview practices could help reduce suspects' confusion; (2) Notices to Appear: Strategies for promoting greater use of notices as a genuine alternative to arrest include making portable tape-recording equipment routinely available to operational police and developing the capacity for police to collect fingerprints in the field; (3) Questioning in the Field: Mandatory electronic recording of in-the-field questioning would substantially increase compliance with required cautioning; (4) Questioning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suspects: The Queensland Police Service has produced a training video that may help increase police officers' awareness about these procedures; (5) Presence of Solicitor at Interview: The lack of free and available legal advice is a major barrier; and (6) Searches: Operational police need to adhere closely to legislative and procedural requirements governing searches, most notably the requirement to provide a receipt for seized property. Abbreviations, notes, tables, figures, appendixes, references