Was in a bit of an ordeal yesterday. My buddy was caught
shoplifting in a local supermarket, and was referred to the police,
where he said he was interviewed by the IO aka investigations
officer, he is green, first time offender. I asked why he did it,
he couldn't explain,' it was the urge at that moment ', or so i was
told. I was the one who went over to bail him out yesterday. He has
to report in 2 weeks time. Does anyone know what's that for?
He also added that he asked his IO in the room whether will he
be charged, his IO said ' Unlikely, but no promise ' Im seeking a
few answers at the moment.
If he doesn't get charged, does that mean that his record is
still clean? as in for a criminal declaration form, he can still
say that there are no records whatsoever right?
Does the outcome of the case depends on the IO?
Whats the reporting for in 2 weeks time?
Only serious answers. Many Thanks in advance.
Reporting in two weeks time... further information can be
obtained from the bail bond. Since you are his bailor, you will
have a copy of the bail bond. Check and look through it to see the
reporting time and location [usually a division HQ, unless it is
court bail by which you will have to report to the Sub Courts], and
then report accordingly with your friend.
Essentially, bail is used so that offenders / arrested people
can be 'free' temporarily while the Police conduct their
investigations. As a person can only be detained for a maximum of
48 hours from the time of their arrest, if you did not post bail
for your friend he would have been sent to Queenstown Remand Prison
instead. When you report with your friend next week, the IO will
conduct further investigations.
It is of paramount importance that your friend does not 'jump
bail', and that you report together with him at the stated time and
location. This is because if your friend jumps bail, you will have
to pay the amount stated on the bail bond, and your friend will be
a person wanted for arrest. Not a good thing.
About your enquiries:
Even if your friend is charged, if he is not convicted of the
crime, or any crime, for that matter, there will be NO criminal
record. This means that if he is given an official warning by the
Police [i.e. no charge, but with a duplicate of the official
warning slip issued to him], or any other course of action that
does not end up with him being convicted, he will end up with no
criminal record. Criminal records only apply to convictions, after
the case has been concluded.
The outcome of the case depends on more than just the IO's
recommendations though. The case will have to go through the
Attorney-General's Chambers [AGC], as well as the Head of
Investigation for the Police. That is why the IO said, "no
promises", because it is not entirely up to him to decide.
further information on Police procedures can be obtained
from:
http://spf.gov.sg/epc/procedures/index.htm
Hope this helps.
PS: "Green" does not necessarily mean first time offender. It
could also be that your friend was underaged at the time of his
previous offences, if there were any.
Also, don't mean to be judgemental, but if this is not the first
time your friend has pulled a stunt like this, I'd advise you to
knock some sense into his skull, seeing as to he is your friend. It
wouldn't be good for him to throw away his [currently-as-of-now]
clean record for something as silly as shoplifting.