Police interviews in a non-native context: Misconstructions and possible solutions

Abstract

Section 6(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa serves as the material cornerstone for promoting the equitable use of all official languages in government departments. This right, however, is not always granted equitably to the greater society, such as the police who use English as a second language. This is problematic because in 2015 writers like Ralarala highlighted in forensic linguistics how difficult it can be for police to generate incisive English reports. The present article contributes to the discussion, but from an applied linguistic standpoint. It sheds some light on the nuances in both written and oral accounts that impact the exactness of a police statement. The data in the study (observations and handwritten statements) were analysed through the interaction and error analysis technique. The results of the research reveal that police use their linguistic capacity to generate target language structures that as a result render the text difficult to understand. This could make it difficult to understand how the actual incident occurred, making police reports less reliable as evidence in court. The results of the study are expected to highlight the language difficulties in the police and help in improving their statement-taking ability.