Your rights during the investigation
| 1. The investigation |
| 2. Your rights during the investigation |
| 3. Referring a case to the Crown Prosecution Service |
| 4. What happens if a spiking case goes to trial |
Your right to anonymity and who we'll talk to
We take great care to protect people's anonymity from the press and public. But there are some things we may need to share with some other people:
- if we contact witnesses we may have to tell some of them your name
- if we interview a suspect, we need to tell them your name
- if you're under 16, we'll need to tell your parent(s) or guardian(s)
Witnesses we talk to might include anyone who saw or heard something. Or anyone you've talked to about the incident.
Sometimes we put out a press release about a case to look for witnesses or other people who may have been a victim of the same offender. But you cannot be named publicly by the police and we're very experienced at protecting anonymity.
If you're unhappy with how we treat you
You have the right to be treated with respect and dignity at all times. But we know that sometimes your experience might feel unfair, insensitive, or worse.
If this happens to you, we want to support you and make things better. If we can't, we want to make it as easy as possible for you to hold us to account.
If you're unhappy with our decision not to charge someone or pass your case to the Crown Prosecution Service, you might be able to use the Victims' Right to Review (VRR) Scheme.
If you're unhappy about anything else about the way we've treated you, you can:
- file a complaint against us online using our online complaints service
- contact the Victims' Commissioner who is appointed by the Government to represent the victims and witnesses of crime
Withdrawing from the investigation
If you decide you don't want to carry on with the investigation, you can pause or stop at any time. You can ask for your case to be reopened again later if you change your mind.
Even if you decide to withdraw, your report can help us stop people committing crimes in future.