One recent development in the Police Visual Handbook, that my still serving colleagues might find useful, is the addition of aggravating and mitigating factors to a number of our Points to Prove, e.g. for Burglary, Robbery, many Sexual Offences, etc.
These are based on the factors published by the sentencing council to assist magistrates when sentencing offenders.
"So what use are they" you might well ask. Well, they are particularly useful in relation to the interviews of suspects, victims and other witnesses when considering lines of questioning. We recommend that they should form a key part of the interview planning process. However, they aren't exclusive and shouldn't stop you considering other aspects of a suspect's offending that may become evident.
They can be found in the section Determining Disposal towards the bottom of older pages, but at the top of newer ones. There you will also find links to a set of general aggravating and mitigating factors, which must also be considered along with the specific ones found under each offence. We have included these on a separate page, but don't let that put you off going through them to see if any of them apply, otherwise you will be "missing a trick".
Happy interviewing!