Family Liaison Advisor

Family Liaison Advisors (FLA) provide tactical and operational advice regarding the deployment of Family Liaison Officers (FLO) to Senior Investigating Officers in cases of homicide, Lead Investigators in cases of fatal road traffic collisions or Senior Identification Managers in cases of mass fatality. Family Liaison Advisors also supervise and support Family Liaison Officers in the effective delivery of their role.

• Advise the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), Senior Identification Manager (SIM), Family Liaison Co-ordinator (FLC) or Lead Investigator to ensure the deployment of Family Liaison Officers (FLO) is co-ordinated to provide or enable compatibility between the FLO and the family.
• Supervise and monitor the day-to-day work, performance and welfare of FLOs and provide appropriate advice and support to ensure they are able to competently assist the investigation and work effectively with families affected by crime, mass disaster or road traffic collisions.
• Provide specialised advice to the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), Senior Identification Manager (SIM) or Lead Investigator to inform policy decisions in relation to the investigation and ensure the maintenance of the decision audit trail and the appropriately managed exit of the FLO from the investigation.
• Co-ordinate risk assessments in support of the investigative strategy of Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), Senior Identification Manager (SIM) or Lead Investigator to ensure the safety of families, FLOs and the integrity of the investigation.
• Conduct routine briefing and de-briefing of FLOs to identify and communicate to the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO), Senior Identification Manager (SIM) or Lead Investigator any issues likely to have an impact on the investigation and/or family liaison.
• Work in partnership with key stakeholders, such as the HM Coroner, Foreign Office, and any other statutory or support agencies as necessary, in support of the criminal justice process.

Prior education and experience:

• Experience of supervising a team or experience of performing the role of a family Liaison Officer
• Recent completion of Ante Mortem Training (including completion of Interpol AM Forms).
• Accredited PIP Level 2 investigator for Crime FLA
• Experienced investigator for Road Policing FLA
• Attend an accredited Family Liaison Coordinator’s Course, provided by a qualified police trainer, or College of Policing Associate Trainer or equivalent.

Skills:

• Strong communication skills with the ability to set out logical arguments clearly, adapting language, form and message to meet the needs of different people/audiences.
• Able to develop and motivate a team and create strong engagement of individuals with their personal and team objectives and with Force values, behaviours and strategic priorities.
• Able to review and assess own, individual and team performance against expected standards, providing objective and effective feedback and ensuring corrective actions are taken where necessary.
• Able to coach and mentor colleagues to enable appropriate career and professional development.
• Able to plan ahead and allocate work appropriately within the team.
• Able to identify key stakeholders, understand potential roles and to take appropriate steps to understand their needs and concerns and develop excellent working relationships.
• Problem solving skills with the ability to identify cause and effect and develop a course of action, drawing on evidence base, designed to target root causes, mitigate risks and manage impacts.
• Able to critically question and identify potential opportunities to enhance efficiency and/or effectiveness across own team.
• Able to identify, analyse, and manage risk to inform balanced, proportionate evidenced-based decisions.
• Able to manage the introduction of new processes or ways of working at team level.
• Skilled in using specialised software related to own area of work to extract, analyse, plan and report on data.
• Able to develop and maintain professional resilience and wellbeing in oneself and others in dealing with complex and challenging situations.

• Maintain knowledge and understanding of College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice on Family Liaison, and related local policy.
• Maintain knowledge and understanding of legislation and related codes of practice relevant to your role, for example, the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime 2015, Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996, and the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.
• Keep up to date with guidance and best practice on vulnerability.
• Keep up to date with new approaches to evidence based policing.
• Maintain working knowledge of available support services, for example the range of services provided by the charity Victim Support.
• Keep up to date with, and share best practice and guidance, for example information from National Family Liaison Meetings.
• Maintain knowledge and understanding of performance management process and ensure they are implemented effectively when managing teams.
• Complete all annual and mandatory training.

Not applicable.

• Family Liaison Officer
• Family Liaison Co-ordinator