The Investigations & Resolution Centre

The staff at Brighton & Hove BCRP recently visited the team at the  Sussex Police Investigations & Resolution Centre to find out more about what they do and how we can all work more effectively together. Here is what the local Inspector had to say:

"The Investigations & Resolution Centre, or 'IRC' for short, is a unit within Sussex Police that deals with predominantly low threat, low harm and risk, non-time critical incidents which can be investigated remotely. It operates force-wide. It is a separate function from the main Force Contact, Command & Control room where all 101, 999 calls and emails are initially taken and graded. This will determine the police response you get. 

For example, if you have detained a shoplifter who is being violent then this should be a priority response with officers dispatched immediately. Conversely, if you report by email a theft discovered after the event and there are evidential opportunities such as CCTV, then this is likely to come to the IRC who aim to contact you back within 48hrs to follow up.  Where we can collate evidence that would support a police prosecution and it is assessed as proportionate to do so, we will package that job up and hand on to our divisional colleagues for intervention. 

We have built good relationships with many of the big stores who are familiar with IRC processes,  but acknowledge there may be others who are not. What really helps us is continuity of identification. So if a person has viewed footage you hold of an offence and named a suspect, we need to know who that person is. Email addresses are really useful as images can be attached and enquiries can be conducted in your and our own time, without having to be on the end of a phone. 

We have started regular liaison with partners, such as the BCRP, to improve our information exchange so that those people who are causing you and us the most harm, can be targeted more effectively."