The Scottish ExampleThe interlinked approach: training for interpreter-mediated police settings

& Ian McKim

Isabelle PerezChristine Wilson

Scotland as an example NOT an exemplar

…. our journey….

1. Accusations of Institutional Racism

Surjit Singh Chhokar (1998)

2. Scottish Government’s “mainstreaming of equality + diversity” (1999 +)

3. Legislation

MOTIVATING FACTORS

MOTIVATING FACTORS

Disability Discrimination Act (1995)Human Rights Act (1998)The Immigration and Asylum Act (1999)

amended by Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 -> dispersal policy

Race Relations (Amendment) Act (2000): production of a Race Equality Scheme by all public sector bodies

LEGISLATION

LEADING TO

GUIDELINESLord Advocate’s Guidelines to Chief

Constables on Investigating Racial Crime (April 2002)

Scottish Criminal Justice System:

Guidelines for Interpreting (2008)

LEADING TO

TRAINING + AWARENESS

Strathclyde Police Training College Policing a Multiracial Society

Scottish Police College Interview Advisors Course Initial Detective (Investigators) Training

OUR COMMUNICATION TRIAD

OUR COMMUNICATION TRIAD

1. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

1. VISITORS - tourists

- foreign students

- business people

2. LONG-ESTABLISHED COMMUNITIES

- Bengali, Cantonese, Punjabi, Urdu..

(Polish, Italian)

OUR COMMUNICATION TRIAD

3. MORE RECENT “COMMUNITIES”

- dispersal policy -> 150+ languages with English

- following EU enlargement (esp. Polish…)

4. OTHER INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

- British Sign Language (BSL)

- Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic Act 2005) – second official

language => (future) demands / rights

OUR COMMUNICATION TRIAD

TYPES OF POLICE “CUSTOMER”

1. Victim

2. Witness

3. Suspect

+ “vulnerable witness”

“special needs” -> appropriate adult

OUR COMMUNICATION TRIAD

2. INTERPRETERS

TRAINING

- Minimum training through agency - Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI)- NVQ => BSL- Conference Interpreters (degrees / experience) => re-skilling/ CPD/ conversion...

- Heriot-Watt University: specialisation -> MSc (spoken)

-> Grad Dip (BSL)

OUR COMMUNICATION TRIAD

3. THE POLICE

Scottish Police = 8 independent police forces

Separate judicial system (NOT SAME as England) - police follow different procedures

A reporting agency to the Procurator Fiscal

Watchwords = TRUTH + FAIRNESS

THE INTERLINKED APPROACH

• Interactive lectures

• In-house simulations

• Interactive seminars 1. procedures

2. field visits

3. applied practice

METHODOLOGY

METHODOLOGY

Similar modus operandi

-> training of police officers

+ similar mirror impact > interpreting body

THE ADVANTAGES

-> THE INTERPRETER TRAINING CONTEXT

• Students BELIEVE it (not just “cosmetic”)

• Students overcome FEAR FACTOR

• Students can discuss + challenge

• Tutors maintain a role (+ learn)

• Police feed good practice back -> their profession

-> THE POLICE TRAINING CONTEXT

• not just knowledge

+ awareness of roles

• police contribution as selves

+ reflection

THE ADVANTAGES

THE ADVANTAGES

-> THE POLICY CONTEXT

Links between:

training / research institution + police = positive spiral

(=> mutual trust e.g. checklist…/access to data)

-> further links

Scotland: SRIF, TICS, WGIT/COPFS…. SIPR

THE POLICE EXPERIENCE

CONCLUSIONS: gaps + challenges

In Scotland NOT just token+ satisfying requirements of Directive (Art. 6)

BUT risk of losing ground…

WILL THE NEEDS OF JUSTICE CONTINUE TO BE SERVED?