The Home Office has presented guidance to help make complaints to the police

2024-10-01 02:07:45

The Ministry of the Interior has introduced a new tool to improve communication during reporting. The Accessible Complaint Notebook It was introduced on Monday, which is designed to facilitate people with certain disabilities or language barriers. This guide uses pictograms to help with detailed features, including the skin colour, physical appearance and clothing of the offender.

The initiative is particularly designed for individuals with autism spectrum disorders, intellectual or hearing disabilities, and non-Spanish speaking foreigners. Using graphic illustrations, the guide aims to be an essential resource in situations ranging from theft to domestic violence or sexual abuse.

In the notebook, important information about the suspect, such as skin color, is requested, coded in s scale from 1 to 5 which changes from darker shades to lighter shades. Questions are also asked about the suspect’s apparent age, physical build, and style of clothing, using illustrations designed by the Department of Communications.

Comprehensive graphic-visual tools

With this visual approach it is also possible to indicate the tool used in the crime and it is requested that the people who should be notified about the incident be identified. According to the Director of Coexistence and Citizen Security, Matías Terra, the notebooks are already in usefirst in areas of the metropolitan area and sections north of Río Negro.

Terra has said that “400 police officers have been trained,” and it is planned that more agents will gradually become familiar with this tool. The project was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development (Mides), with the intention of improving the quality of the complaints received and providing better data to the prosecutor’s offices.

Joint presentation of the ministries

Ministers Nicolás Martinelli from the Interior and Alejandro Sciarra de Mides attended the award ceremony, which was held on Monday the 30th, as well as the directors Matías Terra and Karen Sass from the various districts of Mides. During the event, Sciarra emphasized the importance of the notebook as a way to ensure that everyone can file complaints on equal terms.

Sciarra also emphasized the lack of precedent for such a tool and its basis in a proposal that arose from civil society. Terra said that inter-ministerial collaboration was key to this “well-resolved work” and mentioned how this not only expands the reporting channels, but enables better quality information for an effective judicial investigation.

In his speech, Sass reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to accessibility and inclusion. He emphasized that more than 300 police officers participated in the development of the notebook, which was considered an important step towards equity in access to justice for all citizens by disclosing their complaints. Sass also pointed out that this initiative is an expression of respect for human dignity, which allows equal representation before the law.