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The specialised units within the Queensland Police Service that are dedicated to investigating sexual offences are:

1 the Juvenile Aid Bureau (JAB)

2 the Sexual Crimes Investigation Unit (SCIU), which comprises: — the Child and Sexual Assault Investigation Unit (CSAIU)

— Taskforce Argos (which investigates all reported incidents of organised paedophilia, institutionalised abuse, child exploitation, Internet

pornography and procurement of children for sexual exploitation via the Internet).

The CSAIU and the SCIU oper ate within the Crime Operations Branch of the QPS. The JAB deals with the special needs of children. Responsibility for the in vestigation of child sexual abuse, howev er, rests with the CSAIU in the metropolitan area, excluding the areas covered by Petrie and Inala JAB and where a JAB is established in a district. In areas where there is no JAB or SCIU, officers from the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) will ordinarily carry out in vestigations into sexual offences against children. Police also have

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membership of SCAN (Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect) teams27

and liaise with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander advisors. In Brisbane, the CSAIU is responsible for investigating sexual offences against adults, while CIB officers ordinarily carry out these investigations outside the metropolitan area.

Guidelines and protocols

The QPS’s OPM contains guidelines for dealing with rape and sexual assault. These guidelines, which were developed in consultation with the Queensland Women’s Health Policy Unit, provide guidance for police when working with people w ho have been raped or sexually assaulted. The guidelines identify three main police functions:

1 to protect and support complainants

2 to investigate and establish if an offence of rape or sexual assault has been committed

3 to identify, apprehend and prosecute the offender(s).

The guidelines focus on the victim; in particular, how victims of rape and sexual assault are best protected and supported. According to the OPM, officers must treat every complaint as genuine, unless otherwise established during the investigation. They are also expected to be sympathetic, supportive and sensitive to the emotional and physical needs of the complainant. Police are expected to ensure that the complainant is aware of the procedures involved, to ask if the complainant would like a support person to be present while providing a statement, to create an environment of trust, to conduct the interview in a private quiet area, and to keep the complainant informed about the

investigation.

Police are advised that it is up to the complainant to make the decision to proceed with a formal complaint or not, and that they are to respect the complainant’s decision and provide advice on the availability of assistance, whichever decision is reached. The police are also required to ensure that, where possible, a complainant with a disability or impairment has a representative from the appropriate agency or a support person, or that a qualified interpreter is present for complainants who are either hearing impaired or not conversant with the English language.

The rape and sexual assault protocols provide specific guidance on investigative procedures such as record keeping (for example, all details of the investigation, including any conversation with the complainant, should be recorded and secured), statement taking (regarding accuracy) and false complaints.

In addition to the guidance provided by the OPM, police officers are guided by a set of interagency guidelines for responding to adult victims of sexual assault (Queensland Government 2001). These guidelines, which have been discussed in the previous chapter, identify victim care and support as paramount

considerations for police. For example, police officers are instructed to

‘demonstrate a willingness to act on the information from the victim and ensure that all decisions are made with the consent of the victim and in the best interests of the victim’ (p. 18), offer protection and support; provide information about support services available, provide protection to victims who are at immediate or continuing risk, keep victims fully informed throughout the

investigative process about the progress of the matter, and fully explain the court processes. More specific protocols relating to medical examinations, police interviewing and police obligations to victims throughout the criminal justice process are also provided in these guidelines.

Although the guidelines generally mirror the OPM, there are some differences. The QPS is aware of these inconsistencies and is in the process of updating its internal Rape and Sexual Assault Protocols to reflect the interagency guidelines (CMC 2002b, p. 25).

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The OPM also contains a set of protocols to direct best police practice in handling cases of c hild sexual abuse. The OPM (2002) states:

the safety of children is of paramount importance … officers are to ensure that their actions are directed at the safety and well-being of children, particularly those who are the victims of child abuse. Children who are victims of abuse should not be returned to an environment where, in the opinion of the officer conducting the investigation, abuse is likely to recur.

The QPS also subscribes to a multidisciplinary approac h to child abuse in vestigations. SCAN teams have been established throughout Queensland to ensure a coordinated response to notifications of c hild abuse. Police officers are required to liaise with the police representative of the local SCAN team and officers from the Department of Families.

More specific guidance is also provided to investigating officers for medical examinations of children, interviewing child witnesses, use of audio and video facilities to record the evidence of a child witness, and preparation of the child witness for court. The QPS provides a Pre-Pubescent Sexual Offences Kit, for example, which contains instructions to a medical practitioner who may have to conduct an examination, together with syringes, storage vessels, slides and swabs that may be required to obtain forensic material for subsequent examination.

Officers conducting interviews with children are encouraged to have an independent person present and are told to ensure that the interview is

conducted in a manner that reduces trauma to the child and respects the wishes of the child. P olice are to ensure that the interview venue is non-threatening, that age-appropriate language is used, that police jargon and leading questions are avoided, that nonverbal communication is appropriate, and that rapport with the child is established before discussing the sexual abuse. Officers are also instructed to particularise the circumstances of the offence in as much detail as possible and to use video and audio facilities to record the c hild’s statements. The QPS recognises that going to court can be an especially traumatic

experience for child victims and officers are required to prepare the child for this experience.

Training

In addition to generalised training, which has a brief component on the investigation of sexual offences, the QPS offers specialised programs in sexual offence investigation and working with c hildren/youth (the JAB and ICARE courses). Sexual offence investigation training is also a component of courses attended b y officers as part of their career progression from recruit to Inspector.28 The most intensi ve and specialised training package offered by the QPS is the Sexual Offences Investigation Course (80 hours), which aims to ‘provide police officers with specialist skills and knowledge relevant to the investigation of sexual offences’. The JAB course (69 hours) introduces officers to the role of the Bureau by providing training in investigative techniques, information gathering and guidance when conducting investigations with juveniles. More specific areas covered in this training program include references to the OPM, SCAN teams, legislation, interviewing children, pretext telephone conversations and rape and sexual assault protocols.

The ICARE course (40 hours) is conducted jointly by the Department of Families and the QPS. The main focus of the program is to teach participants the

necessary skills for using a structured interview process with children who are alleged to have been sexually abused. Similar interviewing protocols for gathering evidence from children have been adopted by many jurisdictions around the w orld. This program has recently been evaluated and

recommendations for reform have been made (Department of Families & QPS 2001). The recommendations are discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

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In 2003, the State Crime Operations Command appointed an additional Inspector to the Sexual Crimes Investigation Unit to enhance the Service’s training and investigative standards. This additional position will also serve to strengthen the Service’s capacity to address interagency coordination and service delivery issues associated with sexual abuse, particularly child sexual abuse (QPS personal communication 3.6.03).