INITIAL COURSE/LESSON NOTES

STATEMENT- BASIC LEVEL

Objectives
Trainees will be able to:
i. Describe a statement
ii. List the types of statements
iii. Identify the contents and relevant facts which constitute the offence to include in each
type of statement
iv. State the importance of a statement and record according to the points to prove

STATEMENT
1 A statement is a document, made by or taken from a person; containing details of first-
hand knowledge that person has of an incident.
2 This lesson is about the concept of what a statement is, its content and purpose and not
the definitions of, or differences between those who make them.
3 People who make statements refer to the use of their five senses and what they directly
experience.
In some statements, a person may refer to a ‘less direct’ form of evidence, but this will
be covered later when dealing with statements at an Advanced Level.

4. TYPES OF STATEMENTS
There are three types of statements:
A. An offence statement (All Offences).
B. An occurrence statement (e.g. Civil Dispute).
C. A caution statement (Judges Rules).

5. OFFENCE STATEMENTS
These are ALL statements, which cover ALL offences, from the most serious to the very
minor. This lesson will cover statements to a Basic Level at this stage, but the definitions
and procedures taught during this lesson will apply to ALL offences statements that a
police officer will encounter throughout his service.

6 An Offence Statement is a written record of a person first-hand knowledge of an incident,

which as far as practicable contains:
A. THE FACTUAL Details
The exact time, day, date and place of alleged offence(s)
And
 The identification of the alleged offender(s)
AND

B. THE OFFENCE Details

Sufficient evidence to prove the alleged offence (s)
"First-hand knowledge",
Refers to the five senses i.e.:
“At time, day, date and place, I was on duty when
I saw, Heard, Smelt, Felt, Tasted .................”
“As far as practicable”
This will be explained later in the lesson.

7. FACTUAL DETAILS
The factual details will differ with every single case, but will fix a person in a TIME and
PLACE.
8 The identification of the alleged offender(s) means clearly stating the identity of the
alleged offender(s) in the statement e.g,
"At 10:00 p.m. on Friday 23rd November, 1994, I was (on duty) on Police Street,
Belmopan, when I saw a man who I LATER LEARNED WAS THE DEFENDANT
BILL".
OR
“The man who hit me was:
- WEARING A BLUE JUMPER BLUE JEANS AND HAD AN AFRO HAIRSTYLE
or
- DRIVING THE GREEN LAND ROVER or
- I KNOW TO BE JIMMY YOUNG, WHO I HAVE KNOWN FOR 10 YEARS

9. OFFENCE DETAILS
The offence details remains constant for each particular offence and are known as the
POINTS TO PROVE, and will only alter, if the Law alters or changes their meanings on
words, For example, in this simple offence:
Driving
- A Motor Vehicle
- On a road
- And failing to conform
- To the indication given by a traffic sign.
10 All offences can be ‘itemized’ in this way, to identify the POINTS TO PROVE. Once
the points to prove are identified, these are the offence details and the statement should
include as much evidence as the person making the statement is able to supply.
11 One person may not be able to supply all the evidence to prove each points, so as to
satisfy the requirement of the law on each point, but will do so ‘as far as practicable’, as
mentioned earlier in Para 6.
12 The following cases will illustrate this
 a) Civilian witness sees and describes a motor car which fails to stop at a stop sign.
(Factual and Offence details) BUT
b) Police Officer later interviews a suspect and obtains an admission from the person
that he was driving the car. (Factual detail- as to the identification of the offender
AND offence details of the fact of driving, by admission)
13. THE PURPOSE OF THE STATEMENT
The purpose of offence statements are:
A. To provide sufficient information so that a decision can be made concerning the
possible prosecution of an alleged offender.
AND
B. If necessary, to be used as a source of evidence in any subsequent court
proceedings.
14 So, it serves two purposes:
a) To be a file of evidence from the constable to his supervisors, for a decision as to
whether there is sufficient evidence to take a person to court
AND
b) For the prosecuting officer to study the file and the evidence
- To decide on which witnesses to call
- To use the statement as a guide while prosecuting in court
- To make sure the witness says everything in court that he has stated in his
statement, and is essential to the case.
15 Hence the extreme importance of accurate, relevant and complete statement being
obtained or made by police officers. Both factual and offence details is needed to prove
the case against a defendant.
16.. METHOD OF APPROACH
The following is a fundamental principle which should be applied by all officers, when
confronted by any incident. It is used by experienced police officers and is intended to
show the trainee how to "think like a police officer"
17 At the scene of all incidents a police officer should ask himself the following questions:
A. “What is this - explain”
This is where the police officer is placing the incident into a category, covering:
- Its seriousness or otherwise
- The need for other police assistance
- The need for other police assistance
- The need for specialist help
- The possible threat of violence
- The danger to life etc.

18 By making a quick and correct assessment of the incident this will lead to the next
question.

B. “Is it an offence”
This question is used to illustrate how a police officer considers POSSIBLE
powers that he may need to exercise. Without yet identifying a specific offence(s)
the officer’s future actions are dependent on what he is allowed by law to do. If it
is NOT an offence then most of his powers will not apply or be necessary.
A suspect offence incident allows a constable to:
- consider his powers in relation to the incident e.g. arrest, search, require
name and address etc.
AND
- Affects the way in which he approaches those involved and as a result
their attitude towards him.
19 The same method can be applied when recording the account of an incident or occurrence
from a witness or complainant to ensure that all the necessary details are included in the
statement.