Information about the role of a rape and specialist sexual assault investigator, including the role purpose, key responsibilities and the skills required.
About the role
A rape and specialist sexual assault investigator is a public protection position within the investigation sector of policing. It's a service deliverer role in the policing professional profiles.
Role purpose
The rape and specialist sexual assault investigator investigates rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO), ensuring that investigations are effective, consider the whole story and are victim-centred, suspect-focused and context-led. They deliver procedural justice for victims of RASSO and for suspects, ensuring unbiased and transparent investigations.
Key responsibilities
Key responsibility statements show the accountabilities for someone in this role. They focus on what is done, not how it is done.
- Providing specialist advice to initial attending officers and staff, utilising knowledge of victim-centred, suspect-focused and context-led approach to ensure the widest evidence is captured in support of investigations.
- Identifying and planning investigative actions that follow all reasonable lines of enquiry, from a victim-centred, suspect-focused and context-led perspective to ensure a context-led and fair investigation.
- Ensuring all investigative lines of enquiry involving the victim are reasonable, necessary and proportionate to ensure victims' rights and interests underpin investigative decision-making.
- Effectively conducting victim and suspect interviews, obtaining a detailed account taking a whole story approach, identifying and challenging evidence of sexual offending behaviours to incorporate all linked offences in interviews and to consider the principal crime rule.
- Completing, recording and updating risk assessments for the victim, taking account of their views, potential future victims and the suspect to put in place and keep up to date effective written risk mitigation plans.
- Assessing tactical safeguarding options, maintaining awareness of different considerations for victims, particularly children, suspects and the public to ensure any risk is mitigated.
- Delivering a victim-centred investigation and procedural justice for the victim, openly explaining the criminal justice process and how it affects them, ensuring information is provided openly and in a timely manner to comply with the Victims' Code.
- Ensuring victims voice is heard and listened to, including when a victim does not want an investigation and acting as the single point of contact to ensure the highest standard of care and support throughout to increase the trust and confidence of the victim.
- Working in partnership with staff from the sexual assault referral, the independent sexual violence advisors and other victim care agencies or staff to ensure an effective multi-agency approach to supporting the victims’ needs throughout.
- Gathering information and intelligence to support the proactive targeting of serial and high harm perpetrators to reduce the risk of re-offending and to provide a more in-depth picture of RASSO offending.
- Utilising Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) support, ensuring early advice is considered in every RASSO case to ensure effective and timely investigations on behalf of victims.
- Investigating linked offences beyond the current victim. Checking past relationships for signs of predatory behaviour or escalation and in domestic abuse cases, understanding and investigating coercive control behaviour (CCB) and stalking related to domestic RASSO to identify progressive predatory behaviour or signs of escalation.
- Ensuring, for child or adult abuse cases responsibilities under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 (and Working Together) and Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 are met in the context of referrals and strategic discussion to ensure joined up working to comply with legal framework.
- Considering actions such as early arrest, suspect management, threshold charging, effective use of preventative bail conditions and ancillary and civil orders to ensure effective safeguarding.
- Seeking, gathering, and disseminating feedback for self, team, support agencies and partners and engaging in critical thinking utilising the critical reflection tool to improve the service provided to victims of RASSO.
Competencies, values and core skills
The competency and values framework (CVF) provides clear expectations for everyone working in policing. It describes the behaviours required by police officers and staff to be effective in their roles and uphold the Code of Ethics for policing.
Competencies
The CVF has six competencies, which are split into levels. These levels can be used flexibly to allow for a better fit with frontline and non-frontline policing roles, and at different levels of seniority. This ensures that there is consistency throughout all the policing professional profiles. Some roles may contain different CVF levels due to the specialist nature of the role. Those working at higher levels should also fulfil the requirements of the lower levels.
This role should be operating at or working towards the following competencies.
- We are emotionally aware – Level 2: supervisor or middle manager
- We take ownership – Level 1: practitioner
- We collaborate – Level 1: practitioner
- We support and inspire – Level 1: practitioner
- We analyse critically – Level 2: supervisor or middle manager
- We are innovative and open-minded – Level 1: practitioner
Values
The CVF has three values that apply to everyone in policing, regardless of their role or seniority.
Core skills
All roles in policing have nine core skills in common. These are split into levels that represent the different levels of policing. This role should be operating at or working towards the following core skills.
- Communicating and influencing – Level 1
- Problem solving – Level 1
- Performance management – Level 1
- Relationship management – Level 1
- Change management – Level 1
- Managing people – Level 1
- Managing resources – Level 1
- Planning – Level 1
- Use of IT – Level 1
Education, qualifications and experience
To achieve effective performance in the role, the following training, registration and learning standards should be met.
Previous education, qualifications and experience
- Successfully completed professionalising investigations programme (PIP) 2 registration by undertaking relevant learning, development and portfolio submission to evidence competence against relevant assessment criteria.
- Successfully completed local public protection training where appropriate.
- Possess an understanding of offender behaviour (particularly targeting, grooming, power, control, and coercion), victim behaviour specific to RASSO (including reactions to trauma and the dynamics of relationship-based crime) and related offending, such as coercive controlling behaviour (CCB) and stalking.
- Experience in conducting serious and complex investigations.
- Experience in interviewing to PIP 2 standards.
In-role education, qualifications and experience
- Successfully complete the College of Policing specialist sexual assault investigators development programme (SSAIDP).
- Successfully complete the rape and serious sexual offences investigative skills programme (RISDP).
- Successfully complete the public protection foundation domestic abuse module.
- Successfully complete the non-contact sexual offences e-learning.
Continuing professional development
Continuing professional development (CPD) enables everyone in policing to develop and gain recognition for their professional skills, knowledge and competence.
CPD ensures that we continue to provide high-quality policing to keep the public safe and help to drive career aspirations. Discussion of CPD is usually included as part of professional development review (PDR) conversations.
To achieve effective performance in the role, the following registration, training and learning standards should be met.
Learning and accreditation
- Assessed competence against relevant professional standards for this role is required to achieve PIP and SSAIDP registration. Maintenance of this registration requires the demonstration of continued competence against professional standards as well as evidence of CPD, in line with the College’s model.
- Complete all core training and learning as required by the force.
- Any exemptions to learning and accreditation requirements are at chief constable discretion, in line with the local force policy.
Professional development
This role should consider the following CPD:
- keeping up to date with changing legislation and best practice about rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) aligned subjects, such as domestic abuse, controlling or coercive behaviour, stalking and harassment, child abuse, child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation, honour-based abuse, vulnerable adults and modern slavery
- maintaining PIP registration by keeping a record of recent experience of conducting investigations to evidence knowledge and skills gained
- developing and maintaining knowledge of the College’s guidance on RASSO, domestic abuse, and investigation authorised professional practice (APP)
- joining the Operation Soteria and violence against women and girls (VAWG) Knowledge Hub groups to ensure access to resources and relevant national learning and practice sharing events and webinars
- reading published research from the What Works Centre and other external bodies relating to rape and public protection and evaluating potential to inform current working practices
- reading the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance relating to cases of rape and/or other sexual assault and identifying how this can be applied to working practices
- applying the lessons learnt from the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s (IPCC) Learning the Lessons reports relating to rape and sexual offences cases
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