Responding to domestic abuse cases involving police as perpetrators, suspects or victims.
New smarter practice published to support force responses to Police Perpetrated Domestic Abuse (PPDA)
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We have worked with Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary to develop two new smarter practices to support forces’ response to Police Perpetrated Domestic Abuse (PPDA).
Smarter practice refers to activity that has been tried in a force, reviewed jointly by the College of Policing, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), and National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), written up to share with other forces, and considered suitable for further testing.
Domestic abuse cases involving police as perpetrators, suspects or victims pose additional unique risks and challenges. Victims can find it hard to report abuse and have added concerns about the impact on their careers and working life. They may have added concerns about being believed or around loss of privacy. More needs to be done to build trust and confidence with victims to encourage reporting of such incidents and to support them when they do.
These smarter practices look at the role of a senior oversight officer (SSOs) and workplace domestic abuse scrutiny panels, which since their implementation have improved how Hampshire & Isle of White are investigating PPDA.
- The role of Senior oversight officers. These are of chief inspector rank and act as an independent senior point of contact for all police victims and non-police victims whose perpetrator is a police officer or member of police staff.
- Implementing a workplace domestic abuse scrutiny panel to discuss domestic abuse cases where there is either a police perpetrator or police victim. The panel sets direction and identifies individual and organisational good practice and learning.
The smarter practices are part of our continued work to support the findings of a 2020 super-complaint, submitted by the Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) and Bureau of Investigative Journalism, on the way police forces in England and Wales responded to domestic abuse (DA) cases where the suspect was a police officer or police staff.
The full findings of the investigation can be found in the Report on the Centre for Women’s Justice super-complaint.
Recent smarter practice examples to support work on violence against women and girls:
