What is the H number and who is the OIC?
Two details on your CAN that will matter every time you deal with police about your matter, and who else you will encounter along the way.
3.1Your charge number
The H number
Somewhere on the CAN is a reference beginning with the letter H followed by a string of digits. This is the police event number from the COPS system, the database in which every police interaction is recorded. It identifies your matter inside the police force. The court has its own case number, which appears on court documents and on the NSW Online Registry, and the two are different.
Quote the H number in the subject line of every email and at the top of every letter you send to police. Without it, your correspondence may sit unread in a general inbox. With it, it reaches the file. The court case number goes on anything you send to the registry.
Keep both numbers written on the one page you prepared in Lesson 2.
3.2The officer in charge
The OIC
The officer in charge, always called the OIC, is the police officer responsible for your matter. Usually it is the officer who found the drug and charged you. Their name, rank and station appear on the CAN. The OIC prepared the facts sheet, holds the exhibits, and is the person to whom any request to withdraw or amend the charge is addressed. They are also the officer who would give evidence against you if the matter went to a hearing.
The OIC is not the person who decides what happens to your charge. That is the police prosecutor. The OIC's role in a request to withdraw is to give a view, which the prosecutor then weighs. Both need to receive your letter, which is why Lesson 5 tells you to send it to both.
OICs are often on shift work, on leave, or have been transferred by the time your matter is listed. If you cannot reach the named officer, phone the station and ask for the officer's supervisor or the station's general email address, and quote the H number. Do not let the difficulty of reaching one person stall you.
3.3Who else you will deal with
The cast
The police prosecutor. A police officer, usually a sergeant, trained to prosecute in the Local Court. They appear for the police in every possess prohibited drug matter and they decide whether a charge is withdrawn or amended before the hearing. At court, they sit at the bar table opposite you. They are professional and usually courteous to self-represented people, and they are not on your side.
The registry. The court's administrative office. You deal with the registry to file documents, confirm listing dates, and ask procedural questions. Registry staff cannot give legal advice and will say so.
The court officer. The person inside the courtroom who manages the list, records your attendance, and calls matters. They are the first person you speak to on the day.
The duty solicitor. Legal Aid NSW places a duty solicitor at most Local Courts on list days. They can give brief advice and, for eligible people, appear on the day. The Aboriginal Legal Service performs a similar role for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Arrive early if you want to see them, because the queue forms before 9:30.
The Judge. The judicial officer who hears your matter. Module 4 explains how to address them and what they expect.
3.4Dealing with police without harming your matter
Caution
Every conversation you have with police about your matter can become evidence. Officers make notes. Phone calls are logged. A comment made in the corridor while asking for the OIC's email is a comment the prosecutor can put to the court. So the rule for the rest of this course is simple: communicate with police about your matter in writing, and keep the writing to procedure and requests, never to what happened.
You have a right to silence and you do not lose it because you have been charged. If an officer asks you about the incident, on the phone or in person, you are entitled to say that you do not wish to discuss the facts and that you will communicate in writing. Say it politely and then do it. Nothing in Lesson 5 requires you to give police your version of events, and you should not.
If police want a further interview
Sometimes police invite a charged person back for a recorded interview. You are not required to attend. Read the guide on your rights in a police interview before you respond, and do not attend without advice.
Legal basis: Evidence Act 1995 (NSW) s 89 (evidence of silence). This is a summary for general understanding. The full provision is more detailed and may not apply in all circumstances.
3.5Do this now
Action
Add the H number, the OIC's name and station, and the station's phone number to your one-page sheet. Then phone the station, ask for the OIC's email address and the email address for police prosecutions at your court, and write both down.
That phone call is procedural. If the person who answers asks what it is about, say it is to obtain an email address for correspondence regarding H number such-and-such. Nothing more.