Police knowing when someone is making a false allegation

[friday]

Just a random thought. Obviously you can't just trust gut instinct, how on earth would you put that on the paperwork? but i was just thinking about something the SOIT officer and DC said to my boyfriend during court. I was very concerned that I wasn't believed, everyone thought I was stupid to even report it etc and obviously my boyfriend must have said something about it because the SOIT officer said that there was no doubt in either her mind or the DC's mind that I was telling the truth and that after working on so many cases they could tell when someone was making it up.

Obviously a police officer can't just dismiss an allegation because they don't believe them (unless the evidence backs it up) but what do you think? do you think an experienced police officer can tell a real allegation from a false one?

Not really any point to this post. Just wanted to hear what other people think.

[LS]

"Obviously a police officer can't just dismiss an allegation because they don't believe them" but they will go looking for, or make use of, anything which shows it's false.

Conversely, if plod feels the accused isn't innocent, they'll disregard anything which proves/shows it.
They may not be able to dismiss a case, but they can sure as hell dictate which way it goes.

[Casehardened]

Good subject Friday, interesting that you brought it up as I can add a little to it.

At the time of my arrest the OIC asked my wife what her feelings would be towards my accuser (a family member) if it turned out that she was lying.

Obviously she didn't have to ask this and I believe that she was trying to indicate to me that the future was not all black. In fact throughout the lengthy investigation she dropped hints via family and friends that she didn't believe the allegations but, perfectly correctly, divulged nothing to me until it was NFA'd when she was much more candid.

[Midnight and Worried]

I have found this thread quite uplifting as I had an interesting conversation with the OIC when I took some evidence material to him a few days after my boy was arrested.
I won't say what the evidence was on here but I believe it was helpful in showing that his accuser was lying and when the officer looked at it he smiled and in his own words '' I'm so glad that you have given me this''
Without any prompting from me he did say that they took false allegations very seriously and at the time he had two cases that were going through court.
I understand that when the file goes to the CPS the OIC would give his recommendations on what they should do and am just hoping that he can see through the accuser's lies and give his honest assessment of the situation.

[Saffron]

This is an interesting thread.
My job requires a good deal of intuition and "gut instinct". None of it is scientific (I am a recruitment consultant, and I have to interview people every day) but after 15 years of doing this I reckon I can easily spot someone who has exaggerated, embellished or just told downright lies on their CV. It's something to do with their demeanour and the way they react when pressed on certain issues. I believe that experienced Plod can do the same. Whether they act on this instinct or not I couldn't say. Some might do, and pursue justice with their moral hats on. Others might ignore it in favour of increased convictions and therefore promotion.

One thing I have learned - never judge others by your own standards. If you are a fundamentally "good" person, you will always be disappointed by some people. In our case, the CID officer was a young whippersnapper in a sharp suit and fat tie who was clearly hell-bent on securing a conviction regardless of the truth.

[LS]

Interestingly, in my case nearly 20 years ago where my son died and plod were trying to fit the case around me, they got another force to interview someone they felt was useful.
It backfired on them when he was so vociferous that the interviewing officers noted "witness too biased to be used" on the bottom of the interview sheet.

Now, in doing so they prevented false evidence being submitted. I often wonder if those officers have stopped many false prosecutions in their tracks by applying common sense from the outset.