NAT has worked with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to produce 'ACPO Investigation Guidance relating to the Criminal Transmission of HIV'.

The Guidance aims to end inappropriate police investigations and ensure, when they are considered necessary, that police forces and officers investigate allegations of criminal HIV transmission in a way which is:

• consistent with CPS prosecution policy,
• appropriately informed about HIV from both a clinical and a social perspective
• respectful of human rights and confidentiality and
• which does not prolong an investigation longer than necessary.

The Guidance is available to all police officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland via the Police Online Knowledge Area (POLKA) hosted by the National Police Improvement Agency.  We reproduce here the key guidance documents so that people with HIV, and organisations which support them, can know how the Guidance recommends police conduct these sensitive investigations.

NAT has also produced a leaflet for people with HIV explaining the Guidance: 'Police Investigation of HIV Transmission'

Key ACPO Guidance documents:

Police Investigation flowchart: This flowchart sets out the overall investigative process for police once an allegation is made.

Linked to the Police Investigation Flowchart are a number of other documents providing more detail on important aspects of an investigation, namely -

HIV Key facts: This document gives information on HIV for police officers, including key biological and clinical facts, information on PEP, HIV testing, ARV medication and discrimination issues.

Accused under 18?: This document alerts police officers of the requirement to have special consideration of their process where the accused is under 18.

Communication Strategy: This document gives some guidance to police officers on communication around an ongoing and completed investigation, and deals with issues of confidentiality and media relations.

Evidential Flowchart: This important document sets out the evidential steps in any investigation which will limit unnecessary intrusion and ensure appropriate collection of evidence.  Police are recommended ordinarily to proceed to the next stage of evidence gathering as set out in the arrows and boxes of the flowchart after they have established the relevant set of facts appropriate to the previous stage.

Initial contact via GUM clinics: This document recommends that where third parties emerge during a police investigation whose HIV status is of interest to the police, initial contact with the individuals should be made by a GUM clinic rather than by the police themselves.

The Guidance was produced in response to concern over the handling of early police investigations.  THT's report 'Policing Transmission' reviewed some of the past cases and that report's recommendations informed the work of the ACPO working group which developed the Guidance.

Comparable guidance is also available for police officers in relation to Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.  Please contact NAT's Policy and Campaigns Team for further information on this at policyandcampaigns@nat.org.uk.