Voluntary Interviews With The Police

It used to be the case that if you were suspected of committing a criminal offence the “Boys in Blue” would knock at your door, arrest you and take you to a Police Station to be interviewed in all but a select few of circumstance.  That is the familiar procedure that even those people that have not been in trouble before would have some vague knowledge of.

Police practices have changed relatively recently and the use of the voluntary interview procedure is becoming more and more widely used even for more serious offences.  We have found that our clients very often don’t understand the procedure and what rights and entitlements they still have even if an interview takes place in this way.

• A voluntary interview will not involve an arrest unless the Police feel it becomes necessary therefore a volunteer is free to leave at any time.

• It will be conducted under caution whether it be at a Police Station or even at your home or the roadside for example.  This means you are entitled to Free and Independent Legal Advice.

We are contacted by clients on a daily basis telling us about arrangements they have made to attend the Police Station and this allows us to arrange representation without any delay.  We would encourage our clients to make contact as soon as they are contacted by an officer so that arrangements can be made.  This also allows us to re-arrange an interview if it is not convenient to any of the parties.

On the other hand we are also contacted by clients who have decided to be interviewed in this way without representation either because they didn’t feel they needed representation or they didn’t want to put us to any inconvenience in coming out.

We are on call 24 hours per day 7 days per week and will respond to all calls to attend an interview of this type and we advise our clients that they should always seek advice before any interview.  It is very difficult to undo what has been said in an interview once it has been said so making sure the right advice is obtained before that happens is essential.

Our team are here to help and are available out of hours on 07927 338920 or during office hours on 01302 327 257.