Bereavement

 A

    Personal

       Guide

 

 

Police

When a body is found the police have to be informed, in my case the paramedics were present and they called out the police.

The police have to establish the facts surrounding the finding of the body. This is the last thing you will want at a time like this, but the more information that you can give at the time of events will greatly reduce the likelihood of them having to come back.

The first person you will most likely deal with is a duty constable, who will take a few quick notes to establish the basic chain of events. At some point he/she will need to take a full statement from yourself and anyone else present.

The next person in line is likely to be a sergeant who will end you asking you all the same questions as the constable did as he/she takes their own statement of events. Each person will be spoken to on their own to establish the whole chain of events.

As the callout involves a body the CID will be informed and they will be the next in line to talk to you, again this will lead to each person present being spoken to on their own. The CID will also want to look around the house, is there anything out of place both indoors and out? Are there any spare keys hidden in the garden/outbuildings and are they missing or moved. The aim of the CID is to give themselves an overall picture of events and establish if they need to take the investigation any further. If they are happy that there is nothing untoward they will then depart. The police will then arrange for the body to be moved to a hospital mortuary.  That will hopefully be the end of their involvement. In my case the above took just over 4 hours before the body could be removed to the mortuary.

  

 



 

At some point in life we all lose someone close to us, this can be a very traumatic time for those involved. The follow few pages are aimed as a guide to some of the things you will come across when dealing with bereavement. It is not a definitive guide but notes on things I encountered which I hope will be of help to others.