New Training Tool

News reaches me that at least one Probation area has decided to use the recent BBC1 drama series 'Public Enemies' as the basis for staff training. I'm grateful to the person who sent me an early draft of the questions and hope that the author will not mind their handiwork being brought to the attention of a wider audience. Why not have a go at the quiz yourself? 

  

‘Public Enemies’ Training Quiz

You are a PO and have just returned to work following suspension after a Serious Further Offence investigation involving a very high profile murderer released on Life Licence. The first case you are allocated on returning to work is Eddie, a very high profile murderer released on Life Licence. Read the following scenarios and decide which option would be most appropriate.

1. Eddie breaches his exclusion zone by visiting his victim’s memorial and gets into a fight with the victim’s father. Eddie then asks you to lie for him rather than take any enforcement action as he ‘deserves a second chance’. What would you say?

a)     No, that would be completely unacceptable.

b)     I won’t lie but we may be able to avoid recall if the father doesn’t make a complaint.

c)    Of course I’ll lie! After all, we wouldn’t want anyone to think I was being paranoid just because of that last SFO would we?

2. Shortly after his release you notice it is Eddie’s birthday - the first one he has celebrated in the community for several years. What would you do?

a)    Risk assess the situation - is it possible he will go out and get drunk, try to contact people against his licence conditions etc?

b)     Wish him a happy birthday when he next reports but make no more of it.

c)     Meet him from work, take him out to a public place where either of you could be recognised and buy him a cupcake with a candle in it. It’s a ‘constructive intervention.’

3. Eddie turns up at your house in the middle of the night, furiously banging on your door and saying that he is innocent of the offence after all. How would you deal with the situation?

a)     Call the police straight away and have him arrested and recalled.

b)     Calmly ask him to leave and speak firmly about appropriate boundaries during your next supervision session.

c)     Let him in (after all, he says he’s innocent), threaten to recall him using your special Home Office hotline then change your mind (after all, he says he’s innocent) and give him a lift back to the hostel (after all....)

4. You realise that in light of his denial of the offence, the fact that he has lost his job and is pushing boundaries with his licence, the offender’s risk level should be increased to High. What actions would be part of your contingency plan for this eventuality?

a)     Issue an ACO warning.

b)     Call an emergency MAPPA.

c)      Send him on an unsupervised day out to the seaside with his new girlfriend, who knows nothing of his offences, and turn a blind eye if this makes him late back for his hostel curfew. It’ll do him good.

5. During a group session at the hostel Eddie launches into a rant about his licence, swears at you, storms out of the group and trashes his room. What action would you take?

a)     Go straight to recall.

b)     Issue a final warning.

c)      Arrange for his sister to smuggle him out in her car and take him back to her house (within his exclusion zone) where he can continue his rant in front of her impressionable young daughters.

6. Following a meeting in a cafe, Eddie asks you to stay with him for a while as he ‘enjoys your company’. You agree on certain conditions. In terms of boundaries, which of the following would you need to insist was not acceptable?

a)     Making jokes about your past sexual experience.

b)     Tweaking his nose in a playful, flirtatious manner.

c)      Talking about football.

7. Eddie becomes convinced that his GP was responsible for the murder, forces his way into the surgery in front of a room full of patients and punches him on the nose. He is arrested, but the GP refuses to press charges. Would this now be grounds for recall?

a)     Definitely. The arrest is enough, his behaviour is unacceptable and the risk is going through the roof.

b)     There’s some room for flexibility - maybe just a warning on this occasion.

c)      Absolutely not. Having visited my last SFO case in prison, I’m now 100% convinced that Eddie is innocent because he’s openly breaking the rules instead of manipulating me - what sort of dangerous offender would do a thing like that? In fact, I’m going to meet him from the police station, greet him with a passionate hug and kiss and tell him that I believe in him. As long as I clearly record this in CRAMS and update OASys, I’m sure it will be defensible if the worst comes to the worst.