The Witness Care Unit
When someone is charged with a crime and you have given a witness statement to the police, your information will be passed to the Witness Care Unit (WCU), which is a department within the police.
Witness Care Units act as a single point of contact for all prosecution witnesses.
The WCU will assign you a witness care officer to keep you informed about the progress of your case and support you throughout the process. Right up until the case is concluded, your witness care officer will be your point of contact. Some witnesses may have a dedicated police officer as their single point of contact within the criminal justice process who will also provide specialist support.
Your witness care officer or specialist police officer is also the person who will tell you if you need to go to court to give evidence. They should tell you the time and place of the trial and discuss making a referral to Victim Support for help or guidance you might need.
If you can’t go to court on the date or at the time of the trial – perhaps because you can’t get time off work, you’re unwell, you have planned hospital treatment, or you are going on holiday – you should tell the WCU immediately so they can tell the prosecution and the court.
