In the know

Dear resident,

A few weeks ago, we asked our social media followers which topics within policing they would like to learn more about. The suggestions were major incidents, digital forensics, the caution and the public order unit. So, find below some more information on each topic.

Major Incidents

A major incident is an event or situation with a range of serious consequences, which requires special arrangements to be implemented by one or more emergency service agencies.

We regularly attend scenario-based training sessions alongside other partner agencies including Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and South East Coast Ambulance where we apply our contingency plans in line with our response to a major incident. Here are some photos from a recent training session at Guildford Train Station.

Digital Forensics

With the rapid development in technology, most people use their mobile phone or computer every single day. This means that nearly every crime will involve some form of digital evidence – like messages, internet history and location data. This information comes from a wide range of devices such as phones and computers to cameras and drones.

The Digital Forensics Team is responsible for obtaining and analysing data from digital devices using specialised tools, which plays a critical role in police investigations. Our experienced analysts can dig deeper than the surface – uncovering hidden files, tracking user activity, and piecing together digital timelines that can support an investigation.

The caution

The caution is: You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. 

To make this more understandable let’s break it down into three parts.

The most common time the caution is used is after a person is arrested. It lets the person know that they are under arrest and allows them to understand their rights before being questioned. Other times we use the caution is when we are carrying out a voluntary interview.

Another time it is used is on traffic stops when police suspect an offence has taken place.  The officer will state why the person has been stopped, then caution them.  If a ticket is issued or the person is reported for the offence, officers will use a variation of the caution, changing the words ‘when questioned’ to ‘now’. This means they are giving the person their last opportunity to say anything.

Public Order Training Unit

The Public Order Training Unit (POTU) delivers training to support operational policing across Surrey Police and Sussex Police, and to meet regional and national commitments to mutual aid in support of other police forces.

There are several specialist areas within this including Police Support Unit (PSU) Officers, Evidence Gathering Teams (EGT), Operational Support Medics (OSM), Police Liaison Teams (PLT), Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT), Protestor Removal Teams (PRT) and Method of Entry (MOE) officers.

Watch this video to see an insight into some of the training they partake in.

 Public order policing resources will generally be deployed to:

Are there any areas you’d like to learn more about? Respond to this email and we will consider them for future content.