A progress report on the police response to domestic abuse

Published on: 14 November 2017

Publication types: Domestic abuse

Police Forces: All local forces in England and Wales

Summary

This report is the third in a series of thematic reports which consider the response provided to victims of domestic abuse by the police service. We published our first report in this series in March 2014. Since that time the service provided by the police to victims of domestic abuse has improved markedly. Victims are now better supported and better protected.

Identifying, protecting and supporting victims of domestic abuse remain vital parts of the policing mission to prevent crime and disorder, but this is not something that the police can tackle alone. The complex and sensitive nature of domestic abuse means that the police often need to work in close co-operation with a range of other agencies.

In 2014, we found significant shortcomings in the policing response to domestic abuse. In 2015, as part of our second inspection in this series we were pleased to find that the police service had come to see tackling domestic abuse as a priority. However, we also found that there were still a number of areas for improvement in the way that the police respond to victims of domestic abuse.

This report is based upon our inspection findings from 2016, and highlights continued improvement.

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