Interview recordings and the attendance note: what to write when the interview is recorded

Police interviews are recorded, but the recording belongs to the investigation. Your attendance note still has to show what happened and why you advised as you did.

A question I am still asked by trainees and newly accredited representatives: if the interview is recorded, why write anything down during it? I have been attending police stations as a defence solicitor since 2001, and my answer has not changed. The recording captures what was said in the room. It does not capture your advice, your reasons, your interventions in context, or what happened before and after the tape was running.

The recording versus your note

Interviews at the police station are audio recorded under PACE Code E and, where visual recording is used, under Code F. Those codes govern how the police make, seal and keep the recording. They do not make the recording part of your file, and you may not have access to it for some time.

Your attendance note is your own contemporaneous record. It is what you rely on when a supervisor reviews the file, when the case reaches court, and when the LAA assesses the claim.

What I note live during the interview

• Times: start, every break, every change of tape or recording, and the end.
• Who is present: officers by name and number, interpreter, appropriate adult.
• Caution and any special warnings: whether given, and whether they were explained properly.
• Topics covered: a running summary of the areas of questioning, with anything new that was not in pre-interview disclosure flagged clearly.
• Interventions: each time I intervened, why, and the officer's response.
• Client's approach: no comment, full account, prepared statement read, or a change of approach mid-interview, and any advice given in a break.
• Anything off the recording: conversations before the recording started or after it stopped.

The new material point matters most. If officers put evidence in interview that was not disclosed beforehand, your note made at the time is what supports a later argument about disclosure and adverse inferences. The five minutes after interview post covers the review I do immediately afterwards.

Transcripts: when you get them

In my experience a transcript, if one is prepared at all, arrives much later with the prosecution papers, and it may be a summary rather than a full record. It will not record your advice in consultation or the reasons for it, because those were never on the recording. A transcript is useful for checking detail; it is not a substitute for your note.

Remote and live-link interviews

Where the interview takes place with me attending remotely, I record how I joined, any connection problems and whether they interrupted the interview, whether I could see and hear everyone present, and whether private consultation with the client was properly arranged before the interview began. If something went wrong with the link, it needs to be in the note at the time.

Template block

The PACE interview note template sets out the fields I use. As a minimum:

• Interview start, breaks, end
• Persons present
• Caution and special warnings
• Topics and new material
• Interventions and responses
• Client's approach and advice in breaks
• Off-recording events

If you are training to become an accredited police station representative, course information is at policestationrepuk.org.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a full note if the interview is recorded?

Yes. The recording is the police record of what was said. Your note records your advice and reasons, your interventions, new material that was not disclosed beforehand, and anything that happened off the recording.

Can I get a transcript of the police interview?

A transcript, where one is prepared, usually comes later with the prosecution case papers. Do not rely on it to reconstruct your advice: it will not contain the consultation.

What should a solicitor write during a police interview?

Times, who is present, the caution and any special warnings, a running summary of topics, anything new that was not in disclosure, each intervention and the response, and the client's approach.