Home Secretary to oversee work by forces to
tackle “alarming and unacceptable weaknesses" in dealing with
domestic violence and abuse
The
Home Secretary will be leading widespread action to improve the police response
to victims of domestic violence and abuse after a report by Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found systematic
failings.
HMIC was commissioned by the Home Secretary in
September 2013 to review all 43 police forces in England and
Wales.
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Findings from the report included a lack of visible
leadership, frontline officers without the knowledge or experience to spot
dangerous patterns of behaviour and a failure by some forces to collect
evidence properly.
The
Home Secretary yesterday (27 March 2014) announced that she will personally
chair a national group to ensure police forces take decisive action over
failings in culture, attitude and core skills.
She
has written to chief constables and police force leads on domestic abuse,
making clear that every police force must have an action plan in place by
September to improve their response to domestic violence and
abuse.
The
Home Office will be improving data standards, reviewing the Domestic Homicide
Review process and sharing best practice on tackling perpetrators in line
with HMIC’s recommendations.
Domestic violence
Home Secretary Theresa May said:
Domestic violence ruins lives and is completely
unacceptable. That is why since I was appointed Home Secretary it has been one
of my top priorities.
Last year I commissioned Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Constabulary to undertake a comprehensive report on how the
police deal with domestic violence because I was concerned that the response is
inadequate.
HMIC’s report makes for depressing reading, and
its findings are deeply worrying. It exposes significant failings, including a
lack of visible police leadership and direction, poor victim care and
deficiencies in the collection of important evidence.
HMIC makes a series of recommendations to forces
and I expect them all to be implemented quickly. To make sure that change
happens, I am establishing a new national oversight group, which I will chair
myself. And I have written to chief constables making it clear that every
police force must have an action plan in place by September
2014.
I
expect chief constables to respond to this report by changing radically their
response to domestic violence. They owe it to victims of these appalling crimes
to do so.
Last year 77 women were killed by their current or former
partner. More than a million women suffered physical or psychological
abuse.
Domestic abuse
The
government is committed to tackling domestic violence and abuse and to
delivering a better response for the victims of these appalling
crimes.
Earlier this month, the Home Secretary announced the
national roll-out of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS). The scheme
– also known as Clare’s Law - is designed to provide victims with
information that may protect them from an abusive situation before it ends in
tragedy. Following a request, the scheme allows the police to disclose
information about a partner’s previous history of domestic violence or
violent acts.
Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) are also
being rolled out nationally. This new power will enable police and
magistrates’ courts to provide protection to victims in the immediate
aftermath of a domestic violence incident
In
addition, the government has ring-fenced nearly £40 million of funding
for specialist local support services and national helplines to help people
escape abusive situations.