EXPERT EVIDENCE in DRUG TRAFFICKING

Service Description

This course is for police officers and police staff who have the necessary relevant experience in drug supply cases and who wish to perform the role of the Expert Witness. The role of the Drug Expert Witness (DEW) is to assist the court understand the (sometimes) complex evidence that can exist in drug cases such as values, roles and hierarchies, communications or notes/records kept. As it is such an important role there are huge responsibilities placed upon the expert to ensure that the court is not misled and the individual and/or organisation avoids criticism and/or litigation. The aim of this training is to ensure that the student can perform the role safely abiding by all relevant legislation whilst properly assisting the advocates in the case to fully appreciate what the evidence means and the significance of it. Learning includes: - The Criminal Practice Directions - The Criminal Procedure Rules - CPIA and the expert witness - CPS and DEWVA Guidance - Case Law - Drug Trafficking Tradecraft and Methodologies - Commodities - Communications (coded and slang) and the interpretation of them - Dealer lists/notes/ledgers and the interpretation of them - Valuing Drugs - Bulking and Re-pressing - Report writing – full report and abbreviated - Quality Assurance - Courtroom Skills - Defence Experts and Joint Meetings All areas are tested through a practical exercise – students prepare their first Expert Report on Day 6 and are cross examined on Day 7. Every student is graded on the RAG scale and provided with individual feedback. What the students say: "Brilliant, delivered professionally and by individuals with genuine credibility. The course comes highly recommended – definitely the best course I have been on in 14 years in the Police, well delivered, good content, more than met my expectations." "I have relayed my immense satisfaction at the course and the fact I found it to be one of the best courses of my career on several occasions already. A massive thank you for your time and energy, I thoroughly enjoyed the course and would not hesitate in recommending it to colleagues wishing to pursue this line of work." "The course was levelled at the appropriate tone and paced so that all the information could be absorbed. The knowledge I have taken away is huge and feel confident in what I have now learned on this course. It is such a huge topic to cover but I think what was covered was in depth and very well explained. Really enjoyed it."