Empowering the Police for Child-Friendly Forensic Interviews

Sometimes children do come in conflict with the law or become victims or witnesses of crime and usually the first point of contact is the police. The child’s account of events is a crucial piece of evidence that subsequently helps the justice authorities take the right decision and provide the appropriate legal remedy for any child involved in legal processes. The way the child is treated by the police, while providing their interview, can either make it or break it. If done right, the child will provide their story unaltered, in an environment adapted to their needs, by an interviewer who is aware of the normative standards, sensitive to the child’s situation and equipped with the requisite skills that will leave the child empowered and trustful in justice and public authorities. The well-documented interview will hardly be challenged in court, it will help determine the best interest of the child and will eliminate the need for repeated interviews.

Conscious of the importance of the child-friendly, victim-centred, and trauma-informed forensic interview, the General Department of the State Police, the Security Academy and the State Agency for Child Rights and Protection, invested in the capacities of police for conducting these interviews. UNICEF Albania supported their efforts in preparing a Trainers’ Manual for Child-Friendly Forensic Interviews and to train over 25 trainers from all regional police departments, School of Magistrates, the Albanian Bar Association, and the Order of Psychologists in a 5-day programme in November 2023. UNICEF international consultant Geeta Sekhon, with over 30 years of experience training law enforcement and justice authorities over 37 countries of the world, was the lead trainer. She also revised and enriched an existing police manual earlier developed by a Swedish Juvenile Justice, to make it relevant not only for criminal justice but also for other legal processes where the child might be involved.

The trainers thus trained by this international expert, namely Jonida Burba, Enkelejda Allkanjari, Diana Haxhiaj, Elidon Shehu and Elsa Velaj were empowered to deliver this training to over 150 of their fellow officers from all regional police departments. The 3-day training sessions took place in Lezha, Vlora and Tirana between May 7-20, 2024, where the trainers were mentored and supported by the UNICEF international expert. A one-day informative and discussion session was also conducted with 25 police chiefs, greeted by UK Deputy Head of Mission Mia Marzouk and UNICEF Albania Representative Murat Ṣahin.

Head of the State Agency on Child Rights and Protection Alma Tandili also engaged in very lively discussions with police officers during these training sessions. They helped strengthen the collaboration between the law enforcement and child protection structures, while highlighting challenges.

This important investment is in the framework of ‘Transforming the National Response to Human Trafficking in and from Albania’ programme, led by UNICEF Albania and funded by the government of the United Kingdom. The training and mentoring of trainers is an approach that ensures sustainability in transferring this knowledge to new cohorts of police professionals who will handle cases of children. These soft skills are a necessary complement to the child-friendly interview units – another crucial infrastructure investment by UNICEF, Governments of UK, Norway, Sweden, and other international community members in 16 police stations in Albania. An improved police performance towards trafficking cases, including the hard and soft aspects of forensic interviews, will encourage more victims to come forward and will likely play a deterrent role for future crimes related to trafficking, exploitation, or modern slavery.