forces will become complacent around their whole approach to family liaison.
The way in which FLOs engage with families and ask them key inves5ga5ons is also an area that needs to be handled with care. As a result, all FLOs are required to be trained interviewers. “FLOs should be regarded as the family interview team and are going to gather informa5on about the lifestyle of the person and any informa5on that could provide vital clues about their death. Some5mes we have to ask the family some difficult ques5ons and so it’s essen5al that FLOs are trained to ask those ques5ons in the most appropriate way possible.” Despite the fact that FLOs are the main interface between police and the family, Mr McGarry points out that family liaison is not just the business of the FLO but of the inquiry team as a whole. “We need to take collec5ve responsibility for this vital area. Family liaison is what the police do – it’s not just what FLOs do. This means that we need to pay par5cular a6en5on to what informa5on we put into the media; the informa5on our spokespeople say when they are on camera and understand that situa5ons like this can have a very real impact on the family.” One of his biggest concerns is that, having achieved such drama5c progress in this area over the past ten years that
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“I’m concerned that there will be this complacency around us thinking that family liaison as we know it now is the finished ar5cle and that we don’t have to worry about it anymore,” he said. “This would be a big mistake. I use the analogy that you are immunised to avoid an epidemic – but you’ve got to keep up that immunisa5on going to avoid a return of an epidemic. We need to constantly strive to ensure we are on top of our game and work towards constant improvement. Complacency is the real enemy of family liaison.” Mr McGarry warned the service not to wait un5l another tragedy happens to review it approach to family liaison. “Wai5ng for another tragedy to happen is too bigger price to pay. I don’t want a tragedy that exposes family liaison as being complacent as it undermines people’s hard work. “This year is an Olympic year with all the risks that come with such a large scale event and I’m confident we are in good shape as a service to deal with anything that’s thrown at us – I’ve got nothing but praise for the FLOs working on the frontline who put their all into ensuring we deliver a professional service to bereaved families.”
Issue 1 - 2012
9
FAMILY LIAISON OFFICERS
commitment to the role as it is a very demanding one.”