NBCC standardised witness statement to support retail crime investigations
The NBCC have worked with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police forces to develop a standard video witness statement which retailers can use when submitting CCTV evidence to the police using a Digital Evidence Management Systems (DEMS), and a standard witness statement to be used for simple shop thefts where the offence has been witnessed but no violence or abuse has been used.
The standardised statements will ensure retailers provide all of the information the police need to process evidence in a criminal case.
Supt Patrick Holdaway, lead for the NBCC explains: “Many retailers have the ability to upload CCTV onto DEMS but there was a myriad of different statements being used by police forces. Following some workshops with retailers there was a call for a consistent statement format to be used to help retailers and police.
“The challenge was to develop a statement that could be accepted by all police forces. Through identification of best practice, the NBCC have worked with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police forces to create a standard version, which CPS are happy with.”
Following the creation of the video witness statement the NBCC also produced a standard witness statement for simple shop thefts where no violence has been used. An example of how to fill in this statement has also been provided. Click the links below to download the templates:
As reported in the Retail Crime Action Plan, sharing digital evidence via DEMS provides the quickest, most effective and secure way to share CCTV and images. Expedited delivery of CCTV footage/images will benefit investigations and will support longer term prevention strategies. More information about DEMS can be found here: Police requirements for a CCTV system
The new witness statements are available as a download on the website and will be accepted by all police forces across England and Wales.
