Witness Care Officer

The Victim and Witness Care Unit is advertising full time positions for the role of Witness Care Officer. This is a varied and rewarding role, providing support to victims and witnesses of crime.

The role requires independent working and self-motivation and a sustained level of responsibility, as you will be managing your own caseload, but as part of a much larger team.

You will act as a single point of contact for victims and witnesses including professional witnesses, ensuring they are kept informed at each stage of the process, their questions answered, managing all necessary administration for Court trials and cases, undertaking support needs assessments and proactively identifying support measures where needs are identified.

For approximately six months you will be required to attend the office for training and subject to passing probation you will then move on to a hybrid pattern working at home and in the office.

Key Responsibilities

The successful candidate will work as part of a wider team of Victim and Witness Care Officers, Caseworkers and Volunteers. Witness Care Officers have specific responsibility for promoting and supporting the concept of victim and witness care by managing and maintaining all contact throughout the victim and witness journey in order to ensure they feel fully supported, informed and updated. Updates will include the progress of their case, any changes in bail or custody status and explanations of the result of the case, ensuring compliance with the minimum requirements of The Witness Charter, No Witness No Justice and The Victims Code of Practice.

The role will provide a high quality support service to all victims of crime through on-going risk assessment and co-coordinating emotional and practical support where any needs are identified. This will include working with colleagues internally within Surrey Police and third party support service providers and criminal justice partner agencies to tailor support and co-ordinate a care pathway to ensure all victims and witnesses feel informed, supported and empowered.

Skills & Experience

To be successful in this role you will have well-developed interpersonal skills, strong written and verbal communication skills and previous experience working in a customer focused environment or supportive network. A good understanding of the impacts of crime on victims is required. You will understand safeguarding issues and the principles of risk assessment. You will have excellent crisis management skills, and be able to problem solve and think on your feet.

Applicants must be able to evidence previous experience of multi-tasking and organisation in a fast-paced working environment, and the ability to respond flexibility if a situation changes. IT experience is essential, all case management within the unit is computerised, and IT based administration is a core part of the role.

We are looking for individuals who are self-motivated, good at time management and able to work as part of a bigger team, whilst being responsible for managing their own caseload. Working closely with victims of crime and managing ongoing casework does entail exposure to sometimes complex emotional demands, candidates need to have resilience and the ability to employ effective coping mechanisms in order to manage these.

Why Work With Us?

Policing is an exciting 24/7 business and we all have commitments outside work. We're invested in supporting people to balance their life with work and we encourage flexible working. We are open to conversations about job shares and part time working. We encourage agile working, giving you the opportunity to manage your own diary and work wherever you give the best service to the public.

We take pride in looking after our people and offer a variety of benefits; career progression, contributory pension scheme (LGPS), generous annual leave allowance, discounts for everyday spend, on-site gyms and a range of sports clubs, generous and supportive parental leave, financial and mental wellbeing guidance and support, discounted contributory healthcare scheme.

Diversity Statement

We are only as good as our people. It's important that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we know that as an organisation we'll grow from the variety of thinking, approach, and the skills that diversity brings; all of which help us to deliver a better policing service. We strive to ensure how we deliver our services, provide information and how we recruit is open and accessible to all.

We have multiple staff support groups who help to improve our understanding of minority issues and ensure they are reflected in our work. We are proud members of Disability Confident, hold Race Equality Matters Trailblazer status, are a signatory of the Race at Work Charter and are aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement. We are committed to being an anti-racist police service. We promise to challenge injustice, ensure fairness and to uphold anti-racist principles in both our organisation and our communities.

We value the differences that people bring from all backgrounds and communities. Regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, social status, or religious belief, we would love to hear from you.