| Date | Category | Guidance | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major investigation and public protection > Domestic abuse | Identification, reporting and associated investigations | Receiving the report 1st paragraph/last sentence – ‘Forces could consider…’ – deleted end of this sentence from this point and replaced with ‘recommending the use of the Police.uk online domestic abuse reporting tool.’ Link added. End of the section added two sentences – ‘Officers should carefully consider…’; ‘An incident may not…’ Child abuse investigations 1st paragraph – deleted the link to ‘In plain sight.’ Honour-based violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation Changed title to HB abuse and removed hyphen. Changed HBV to HBA in all instances throughout section. After bullets, added a link list with preceding ‘See also:’ Added links to APP FM and HBA and APP FGM. Vulnerable adult abuse investigation Added the paragraph commencing ‘The Department of Health and Social Care…’ Including addition of a link to the Policy paper: Safe care at home review (Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care, 2023). Paragraph starting ‘Whatever the origin of the…’ - inserted ‘domestic abuse’ prior to ‘investigation.’ For further information see: Added link and signpost to APP on adults at risk; updated wording and link to Department of Health and Social Care (2024) Care and support statutory guidance; and updated link/signpost to the Safe care at home review. Stalking and harassment Title changed ‘and’ to ‘or’. Did this throughout the section. Added the following underneath original content: ‘Consider the mnemonic FOUR when assessing if behaviour is potentially stalking. Are the behaviours:
Harassment may form part of stalking behaviour, so do not underestimate the potential risk of harm to the victim. See the Advice to police responders to ensure an effective response to stalking or harassment. If the victim is at risk of harm, consider whether a Stalking Protection Order or interim order may be appropriate, depending on whether the criminal threshold has been met. For further information, see the APP on Stalking or harassment.’ Homicide Opening statement changed – removed year/percentages from ONS and added a new link, plus the sentence ‘Office for National Statistics’ data show that on an average year, around half of female homicides are perpetrated by a partner or ex-partner, compare to less than 10% of male homicides. Updated the ONS link. At the bottom of the section added ‘See also:’ and a link list. Wording and link for Domestic Homicide Project’s (2024) Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides 2022-2023 Report; APP on FM and HBA. Suicide Title changed to Unexplained and unexpected death First paragraph rewritten. ‘A suicide’ edited to ‘An investigation into an unexplained death…background to an apparent suicide.’ Added ‘Officers should actively consider this when attending the scene and wherever possible run background checks on history of domestic abuse crimes and non-crime incidents at the time. Slower-time investigations into the history can be done subsequently.’ Added below this ‘Where there is evidence of any offences having been committed, officers should arrest and charge accordingly. ‘ ‘Where this is suspected,’ cut. Now reads: ‘Officers should also consider…’ ‘See also:’ added. Link list created and signpost and link added for
Missing person who is an alleged domestic abuse victim Changed honour based violence to HB abuse, and abbreviated HBV to HBA. Prostitution Changed title to Sex Work Replaced ‘prostitution’ with ‘sex work’ x 5. The CPS guidelines previously included and linked to, replaced with NPCC (2024) Sex Work National Police Guidance. Sexual offences Content added to the end of this section: ‘Operation Soteria is a multiyear project launched in response to the Government End-to-End Rape Review to bring in effective tools and techniques to ensure justice outcomes are achieved for sexual offences. A National Operating Model for response to rape and serious sexual assault has been developed that aims to improve policing procedures, increase charge rate and support equity across justice processes and outcomes. To apply the principles of this model when responding to sexual offences, officers should be:
About the national operating model provides further information. Related resources:
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| Major investigation and public protection > Domestic abuse | Identification, reporting and associated investigations | Link to HOCR updated. |
