Police Caution Research Articles

‘Basically, I’m gonna ask you a load of questions’ Cautioning exchanges in police interviews with adolescent suspects

The police caution in England and Wales is a compulsory elementof every police interview that informs suspects of their right to silence andoutlines the concept of adverse inference. This research draws on authenticdata from interviews with 17- and 18-year-old suspects from two English policeforces, analysing how the cautioning exchanges are negotiated while consideringsuspects’ ages and legal statuses as children and adults, respectively. Taking aninductive approach rooted in conversation analysis, the findings reveal an overalltendency for interviewers to explain the caution directly after reciting it, therebyacting on a presumption of suspects’ non-comprehension. It is also consideredhow the (discursive) presence of appropriate adults in interviews with juvenilescan complicate the interactions. The study sheds light on the experiences of anunder-researched group of interviewees and discusses the implications of thesefindings on police practice and vulnerable persons’ access to justice.

The influence of Indigenous status on the issue of police cautions

Over the last 20 years, a body of research has emerged in the United States (US) revealing that the country’s sentencing courts to treat young male African American (and Hispanic) offenders more harshly than white offenders, even after adjusting for relevant legal and contextual factors. Similar research in Australia has generally found that the effect of Indigenous status on adult bail/sentencing outcomes is either non-significant, or significant, but very small. The aim of this study is to explore the impact of race, age, and gender on police decisions to prosecute rather than caution to a juvenile offender. We employ a multilevel model with random intercepts to explore the impact of race, age, and gender on police decisions to prosecute rather than caution to a juvenile offender. The first level controls for offender/offence factors a police officer may legally consider when deciding whether or not to caution a young offender. The second level controls for the police patrol to which the police officer is attached. After adjusting for the effects of legally relevant factors, we find Indigenous juvenile offenders (regardless of sex) are more likely to be prosecuted than cautioned, compared with their non-Indigenous counterparts. There is also wide variation across local area commands in willingness to caution juvenile offenders. We conclude that further research is needed to obtain a better understanding of the factors responsible for racial disparity in the use of police cautions.

‘Ou ni right-la pou remain silans’

Abstract Although in recent years researchers have intensified focus on the communication of the pre-trial right to silence or police caution to native and non-native speakers of English, most of this research has been concerned with linguistic complexity, comprehension, and comprehensibility issues. Relatively few studies have focused attention on the role played by the deliverer of the caution in the communicative equation (Cotterill 2000), particularly in situations where the caution has to be interpreted or translated by its deliverer. Drawing on a sociolinguistic variation approach, this study investigates the communication of the police caution to creole speakers, who remain nearly invisible in the research to date. It uses the categories of literal and free translation as tools to analyze spontaneous translations of the caution from English to French lexicon Creole (Kwéyòl) produced by (n = 25) police officers in St. Lucia. The results show considerable variability in these translations, which may have negative consequences for the accused. This study seeks to draw attention to these consequences, by underscoring some of the inaccuracies that may occur in translating or interpreting a caution written in English to Kwéyòl, and make a case for policy that would use the language of the accused in situations of language variation. The study argues that such a policy, which standardizes the Kwéyòl version of the caution, would not only obviate the potential for variability, but would also minimize misunderstandings, which could compromise the legal rights of the suspect.

Cooperative actors in domestic abuse and their association with prosecution: implications for the criminal justice system

Suggestions to increase prosecution rates in domestic abuse cases often focus on improving victim cooperation and evidence gathering. This study explores the impact of persons involved in abuse investigations by modelling five variables (victim cooperation; witness cooperation; presence of children; suspect admission; and presence of physical evidence) across 540 cases of domestic abuse. The presence of physical evidence, as well as victim and witness cooperation, all increased the likelihood of a charge against the suspect. However, suspect confession often resulted in a police caution, meaning no successful charge. The implications of these findings to improve investigation and prosecution are discussed.

Influences on understanding of a verbally presented police caution amongst adults involved in the criminal justice system: a systematic review

This review systematically examines the literature exploring comprehension of a verbally presented police caution and the suggested factors influencing this, amongst adults within the criminal justice system. An electronic literature search returned 438 titles, with screening leaving 13 articles considered appropriate for the review question. The majority of these were USA studies, with two UK and two Canadian studies. Heterogeneous study methodologies permit only a narrative approach to pooling the data. Findings indicate that a considerable proportion of this population have difficulty fully understanding the caution. Higher IQs and verbal comprehension are positively associated with performance. The studies also indicate that some factors that may appear intuitively related to comprehension, such as prior caution exposure, education, age and mental health, may not be linked to performance. The literature generally used broad inclusion criteria, which increased potential for confounders and reduced opportunity to draw out probable predictors.

The Scottish police caution: do individuals with intellectual disabilities understand a verbally presented police caution, and can comprehension be improved?

This study considers comprehension of the Scottish police caution amongst people with an intellectual disability (n = 30). It applies techniques to the caution that are suggested to increase its ‘listenability’, to examine whether this could be a successful method of improving understanding. These techniques include providing instructions, further explanations and listing information. Half of the participants were assessed using the original version and half the modified version. Participants were assessed using an abbreviated IQ assessment, a measure of working memory and measure of state anxiety to consider potential predictors of performance. The modified version did not improve performance, with no participants judged to have adequate understanding in either version.

Did he understand his rights? Assessing the comprehensibility of police cautions in New Zealand

The authors' experience in conducting English language proficiency tests for second language speakers of English facing police charges has shown that some have limited understanding of their legal rights. The research study reported here comments on the complexity of the rights information presented by police to a range of participants. It investigates comprehension of that information by performing listening and reading comprehension tests with the participants. The results indicate a number of difficulties and a significant difference in the scores of first and second language speakers of English. This article outlines the tests performed and the results for both first and second language speakers, as well as discussing the complexity of the questions found difficult by participants. The results reinforce the need to ask whether people are being given their rights if they cannot understand them.

Are police cautions a soft option? Reoffending among juveniles cautioned or referred to court

During the 1990s, many jurisdictions introduced police cautions as an alternative to referral to court for juveniles committing comparatively minor offences. The policy was motivated by a concern that contact with the court system for such offenders might be criminogenic. In recent years, however, elected officials have criticised police cautions as a ‘soft option’ and this (in some jurisdictions at least) has led to a decline in their use. Past research has often failed to ensure that the comparison group for a police caution consists of children referred to court who could have received a police caution. The current study overcomes this problem and employs a rigorous set of procedures for minimising the risk of selection bias. Our results indicate that cautioning young offenders who have committed comparatively minor offences and who have not previously been referred to court results in a lower risk of reoffending than referral to court. We conclude that restrictions on the use of cautions in these circumstances could increase the risk of juvenile reoffending.

Research on the Utility and the Legitimacy of Police Caution

Research on the Utility and the Legitimacy of Police Caution

An analysis of how the police ‘caution’ is presented to juvenile suspects in England

ABSTRACTIn England and Wales, suspects must be given a police caution before they are questioned. The purpose of the caution is to explain a suspect's right to silence as a protection against self-incrimination. However, the evidence on whether the caution fulfils its purpose is limited. The aim of the present study was to describe how cautions were delivered in interviews with juvenile suspects in England. First, the study set out to describe how the caution was delivered to suspects during actual police interviews. Second, the study examined whether suspects claimed or demonstrated understanding of the caution. Third, the study analysed how the caution was explained by police officers. In total, the study examined 38 cautions from 31 interviews. The results indicated that police officers delivered the caution at a speed that is likely to be too fast for juvenile suspects to comprehend. Juvenile suspects often claimed to understand the caution, but when asked, failed to demonstrate comprehension. On the other hand, police officers often explained the caution to juvenile suspects, but not always correctly. Both suspects’ and police officers’ explanations of the caution revealed several misconceptions. The results suggest that the caution may not safeguard suspects as intended.

When Both Sides are Mistaken: Layperson and Legal Professionals’ Misconceptions of Canadian Suspects’ Legal Rights Upon Arrest

Canadian criminal suspects have notably limited access to legal counsel upon arrest compared to suspects in the U.S. Additionally, prior research has shown significant misunderstanding of police warnings informing suspects of their rights upon arrest. This paper presents three studies on Canadians’ comprehension of criminal suspects’ rights upon arrest, with a focus on the right to counsel. Study 1 (N=80) and Study 2 (N=377) examined Canadian layperson’s comprehension, knowledge, and perceptions of legal rights upon arrest. In turn, Study 3 (N=78) investigated Canadian legal professionals’ perceptions of laypersons’ knowledge of those rights. Results from these three studies indicated there is substantial confusion about the right to counsel for Canadian criminal suspects. These results also support previous research demonstrating problems with comprehension of Canadian police cautions. Taken together, the findings of the present research pose significant concern for an increased risk of false confessions from Canadian suspects who enter an interrogation with limited knowledge and understanding of their legal right to counsel.

Suicide by people in a community justice pathway: population-based nested case-control study.

The elevated risk of suicide in prison and after release is a well-recognised and serious problem. Despite this, evidence concerning community-based offenders' suicide risk is sparse. We conducted a population-based nested case–control study of all people in a community justice pathway in England and Wales. Our data show 13% of general population suicides were in community justice pathways before death. Suicide risks were highest among individuals receiving police cautions, and those having recent, or impending prosecution for sexual offences. Findings have implications for the training and practice of clinicians identifying and assessing suicidality, and offering support to those at elevated risk.

From intellectual challenges to established corpus techniques: introduction to the special issue on forensic linguistics

Forensic Linguistics is the branch of applied linguistics that is concerned with the interface between language and law. It encompasses a wide range of topics including, but by no means limited to, the language of police interviews (e.g., Haworth, 2010; and Heydon, 2005) and prisoners (e.g., Mayr, 2003; and Medlicott, 2001), language use in the courtroom (e.g., Conley and O’Barr, 1998; Cotterill, 2003; and Heffer, 2005), legal language (e.g., Finegan, 2011; Goźdź-Roszkowski, 2011; and Tiersma, 2000) and the comprehensibility of legal language such as the UK police caution (e.g., Rock, 2007). The field is also concerned with the authenticity and credibility of language in forensic contexts – such as in the authorship analysis of a range of texts, including SMS text messages (Grant, 2010), ransom demands (Shuy, 2001), suicide notes (Eagleson, 1994), terrorist manifestos (Fitzgerald, 2004) and disputed confessions (e.g., Coulthard, 2004; and Shuy, 1998). Although the phrase ‘forensic linguistics’ is generally attributed to Svartvik (1968), it was only in 1994 that academics working at the interface of language and law were united through the publication of a dedicated journal, Forensic Linguistics: The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law. Before this, linguists working in this specialist area worked ‘in isolation from one another and were largely ignorant of the analytic procedures used by their colleagues’ (French and Coulthard, 1994: vii). Since 1994, and despite being a relatively young field, there has been an explosion of research articles and monographs as well as two handbooks (Coulthard

Increasing the Potential for Diversion in the Irish Criminal Justice System: The Role of the Garda Síochána Adult Cautioning Scheme

Established in 2006, the Garda Siochana Adult Caution Scheme provides a mechanism to divert adult offenders, aged 18 years and over, from the criminal justice system by way of a formal police caution in lieu of prosecution before the courts. Drawing on statistical data provided by the Central Statistics Office, this paper explores the use of the scheme over a five year period from 2006 to 2010. It identifies the types of offences for which cautions are most commonly administered, the age and gender profile of offenders involved, variability in the application of the scheme across the country, and the extent to which offenders come to the attention of An Garda Siochana post-caution. Overall, the paper analyses the role of adult cautioning in the Irish context and provides some observations on the potential for increased diversion, through expanding the remit of the scheme in future years.

Advancing legal literacy: The effect of listenability on the comprehension of interrogation rights

PurposeTo examine the effect of listenability features on the comprehension of interrogation rights.MethodIn Experiment 1, students (N = 76) underwent a mock interrogation where one of two police cautions (listenable caution vs. standard caution) was administered and students were asked to explain the caution in their own words. Experiment 2 (N = 80) extended Experiment 1 by identifying the individual and additive effects of the listenability features on recall of their interrogation rights.ResultsThe results of Experiment 1 showed that the caution containing listenability features produced higher levels of recall than a standard caution. Results of Experiment 2 showed that repeating and organizing interrogation rights led to the greatest number of legal rights being comprehended.ConclusionsListenability can be used as a tool to increase legal literacy.

Measuring and Predicting Police Caution Comprehension in Adult Offenders

We measured the level of comprehension of two police cautions in a sample of adult Canadian offenders and predicted comprehension with three measures of cognitive ability (i.e., working memory, vocabulary knowledge, and listening comprehension). Participants (N = 60) were asked to listen to both a right to silence and right to legal counsel caution and then interpret them. Results showed that the offenders understood 30% of their rights, and the measures of cognitive abilities were weak predictors of comprehension. The implications of these findings for understanding the factors related to caution comprehension and the administration of justice are discussed.

Awareness and comprehension of the right to silence in Queensland, Australia

Awareness and comprehension of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) caution was investigated in a group (N = 140) of university students in Queensland, Australia. Awareness was measured before participants were shown and read aloud the QPS caution; comprehension was then assessed. Participants also completed the Australian Legal Awareness Questionnaire (ALAQ) to ascertain their knowledge of legal matters more generally. The results show that participants were generally unaware of their legal rights and had difficulty comprehending the right to silence caution. Overall, the study demonstrates that while many participants reported understanding the QPS caution, the reality is that most did not. This is a concerning outcome considering that people already marginalised by virtue of lower education and literacy levels (many Indigenous Australians residing in Far North Queensland, for example) are further seriously disadvantaged by failing to comprehend the police caution.

The emergence of restorative justice in Sri Lanka: a review essay

Within the framework of retributive justice, crime is understood as an offence against the State and is defined as a violation of law. It represents the punitive approach of reaction to crime, where the offenders are considered as an unwanted group who should be punished. However, with the development of criminology, offenders are identified as the persons needing rehabilitation and reintegration into the society as law abiding citizens. This novel thinking has paved the way to the establishment of the concept of restorative justice where crime is understood to be an infringement on man and human relationship. It involves reintegration of both the offender and victim within the community. The restorative justice principle could be found in community service orders, probation, parole, and other noncustodial measures as alternatives to the traditional incarceration, victim offender mediation, sentencing, peacemaking and healing circles, police cautions, and active participation of victims in the criminal justice process, and so on. This article evaluates Sri Lanka's transformation from retributive justice to restorative justice by incorporating the above-mentioned means and methods to the criminal justice system. Further, it examines how these innovations have affected the crime rate in Sri Lanka.

Does providing a written version of the police caution improve comprehension in the general population?

Comprehension of the police caution is extremely poor across a variety of populations and jurisdictions and is particularly impaired in vulnerable populations. This has significant consequences for the admissibility of evidence in court. We investigated whether providing individuals with a written version of the caution would improve comprehension in the general population. Sixty participants (30 with low educational attainment and 30 with high educational attainment) were randomly allocated to one of three groups (Verbal presentation; Written presentation; Verbal and Written presentation). Comprehension in the three groups was evaluated using Cooke and Philip's (1998) Scottish Comprehension of Caution Instrument. Results showed that despite 95% of participants claiming to fully understand the sample caution, only 5% of individuals in the verbal presentation group demonstrated full understanding, compared to 40% and 35% in the written and combined verbal and written groups respectively. This highlights both that individuals' self-reports of understanding are higher than actual comprehension and that providing a written version of the caution may improve comprehension in the general population.

Juvenile Justice Diversion in Victoria: A Blank Canvas?

Unlike many jurisdictions in Australia, Victoria has not adopted a legislative, court-based diversion scheme for addressing crime committed by children and young people. The state has also seen limited investment in diversionary programs and an over-reliance on discretionary police cautions. For young people in rural and regional areas, access to diversion programs and support services is especially limited. This article examines the limited diversionary options available in the current youth justice system, identifying strengths and opportunities. It concludes that legislated, court-based diversion schemes — assisted by community programs that provide appropriate intervention and support to those at risk of reoffending — are an essential means of addressing young people's engagement in crime.