00:03:53.840I think if you've got an analytical mind and the ability to talk to people, then you can then start to fit in.
00:04:04.480But you have to look at the minute detail.
00:04:08.680You have to understand what actually matters.
00:04:10.740You have to have a passion for knowledge.
00:04:13.940And that's what the common denominator is for murder squad detectives, certainly in the UK.
00:04:20.100I've worked with some of the finest, and I don't want to be blowing up their backside, but, you know, some of the finest detectives in the country.
00:04:31.780But we all come from the same, cut from the same cloth.
00:04:34.960But the fact is, the reason we did it or do it or, you know, the reason why they're still doing it is because they want to find out why that person's been killed, why they want to bring the right person to justice.
00:04:47.300They want to understand how we've got into this situation where there's a body in the mortuary and a post-mortem is going to take place.
00:04:54.380They want to bring the closure about for the family.
00:05:33.000Number two is human nature, knowing how to deal with the person you're talking to, where you lead to being trusting and somewhat understanding.
00:05:41.480Maybe a little bit of levity to bring the guards down where they're willing to sit down and talk to you.
00:05:47.320Maybe a bit of humility where you're not too cocky and arrogant because they shut down when you're too cocky and arrogant and you're pushing them too hard.
00:05:54.740Which one of those, like, I want to know things like that.
00:05:57.820What's the most valuable quality of the best person in your field?
00:06:05.800As well as using this, it's about using these.
00:06:08.480So it's about talking and listening and being able to glean information as you go along and be dynamic in the way that you work.
00:06:18.280You can't always, there's no prescription around, or menu around dealing with murders.
00:06:25.360That said, there is a guidebook, which literally starts at point A and goes through to point Z.
00:06:35.020But you have to be a free thinker, but you have to have that ability to communicate and engage.
00:06:41.720Because if you can't engage with the suspects, with the families, with the, we have here, you have a DA's office, we have the Crown Prosecution Service.
00:06:52.620If you can't engage, whether that be in an oral way or whether it be in a written way, you're not going to succeed.
00:06:59.700And you've got no place in, you know, in that particular job because you need to be able to do that.
00:07:04.700But at the lowest and at the highest level, because you will be dealing with the lower end of society in some cases.
00:07:14.140But you'll also be going to the upper end of the market when you're dealing with some families, the judges.
00:07:20.040I mean, the judges are very well esteemed in this country in the same way they are there.
00:07:36.240So, you're saying the lower end of society.
00:07:38.600So, to be able to communicate with the lower end of society, give us a few approaches you've got to take that works and what doesn't work in communicating with the lower end of society.
00:07:47.160Because I'm assuming these murderers, they don't have to really talk to you, right?
00:07:51.720They don't have to tell you anything, right?
00:08:05.120So, for instance, you've got an area that's particularly poor, somebody gets killed, and the residents do not want to engage.
00:08:17.400They don't want to engage because they're seen as being police informants.
00:08:20.340It's about the communication to bring them along with you and give them the appropriate reassurance that they're going to get that support.
00:08:27.780Now, some people, we have a witness protection scheme here, same as you do in the U.S., some people need to go on that.
00:08:34.520But, actually, it's around that community liaison and making sure that you're getting the right vibes across the community leaders, if you like.
00:08:42.820And I think that that's particularly difficult at the moment in this country with some of the popular press.
00:08:49.120The police are getting a really good, figuratively speaking, but they're getting a good kick at the moment from the media.
00:08:54.120And it's about offering that public reassurance and that customer focus.
00:08:59.460So, but that goes right across the board.
00:09:01.160So, it could be, you know, a kid's died of a drug overdose.
00:09:05.620It's about making sure that the parents get the best service because people should not be written off just because of where they come from or what their social status.
00:09:14.100You know, but popular society would write a lot of people off, and that is totally out of order.
00:09:28.880So, going back to it, lower end of society, when you're dealing with the lower end of society, and specifically, let's focus on a person that is being accused, charged with a murder, okay?
00:09:38.400And if you're speaking to somebody who potentially just took someone's life, and they're qualified to be part of the lower end of society, what method of communication works with them, and what doesn't?
00:09:52.940So, it's very difficult because in this country, in the same way as the States, they have the rights of silence.
00:10:00.180So, to engage with somebody when they're sitting across the table, they've just killed somebody.
00:10:04.720It was a, we dealt with a guy called Justin Chan.
00:10:20.780You had to prove that 100% because he wasn't ever going to talk to us.
00:10:26.200He, you know, he can maintain his right of silence, and the police have to, and the police should have to prove it as well, in the same way as anything.
00:10:34.720You know, it should be, in this country, in the same way, it's beyond reasonable doubt.
00:10:38.980You can't negotiate with something like that.
00:10:41.360But there are other people that you've dealt, that I've dealt with, where, actually, they've got a conscience as to what they've done.
00:11:08.080So, when you're sitting across the table from somebody who has killed their husband because every night they've demanded rough sex with them,
00:11:17.660they've beaten them about, that they've knocked the kids about, you can't sympathise with them,
00:11:22.400but you can actually understand where they're coming from.
00:11:25.100And if you can get that across and start to help them with the process, because they're going to jail.