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Review of Policing Domestic Abuse During the Pandemic: 2021

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Review of Policing Domestic Abuse During the Pandemic: 2021 Review of policing domestic abuse during the pandemic 2021 Contents Foreword 1 Summary of findings 3 Methodology 8 Our findings 9 The scale of domestic abuse in England and Wales during the pandemic 9 Crime recording 10 Domestic homicide 13 Demand was high for specialist domestic abuse support organisations 13 The police responded proactively to protect victims of domestic abuse 15 The police worked proactively to keep people safe 17 Investigations 21 Maintaining contact and support 21 Domestic abuse perpetrators 22 Police and partners made good use of technology 24 The police and partners innovated to support victims 29 Delays and backlogs in the criminal justice system are a very significant concern 30 The exceptionally low volume of domestic abuse cases resulting in a charge remains unacceptable 34 Annex A: Academic research 38 Annex B: Domestic Abuse Act 2021 43 Annex C: Definitions and interpretation 44 Annex D: About the data 49 Annex E: Domestic abuse reference group members 52 i Foreword This is the fifth in a series of thematic domestic abuse publications since our first report in March 2014, Everyone’s business: Improving the police response to domestic abuse. This review looks at how the police responded to the unique challenges the COVID-19 pandemic placed on preventing and responding to domestic abuse. The United Kingdom entered the first national lockdown on 23 March 2020. Most of us were instructed to stay at home. This meant many victims of domestic abuse couldn’t distance themselves from their abuser, safely contact the police for help or get support from family and friends. Forces started to work differently, recognising that the absence of a call to the police doesn’t imply absence of abuse and harm. Many forces adopted innovative new practices to check on the safety of victims of domestic abuse, finding new ways to ‘reach in’ to them rather than waiting for victims to ‘reach out’. We are pleased that policing recognised the risks to those who felt trapped in their own homes with their abusers and that it made sensible decisions on how to manage those risks. This review expands on the findings in our recent policing COVID-19 report, highlighting good practice and innovation. We have also made three recommendations aimed at ensuring forces continue to respond to the challenges of policing domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We are grateful for the collective focus by the police, domestic abuse organisations, charities, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for domestic abuse, the Victims’ Commissioner and Domestic Abuse Commissioner, the Home Office, the College of Policing, and academia on the issue of domestic abuse. Some of that activity is discussed in this review. There can be little doubt that the restrictions imposed during the pandemic have put some victims of domestic abuse at greater risk. The police responded effectively in the most challenging of situations, adapting their practices, focusing on prevention and sharing ideas for new ways of working through well-established national arrangements. However, evidence suggests that this success was, at least in part, due to domestic abuse truly being prioritised during lockdown as the competing demands of other crimes, like burglary and night-time economy disorder, reduced with people staying at home. It is intended that, in England, most remaining lockdown restrictions will ease during the height of the summer, a time when typically (along with other holiday periods) there is an increase in reporting of domestic abuse incidents. It is vitally important that police forces maintain their focus on protecting and supporting victims of domestic abuse as life returns to normal. 1 We have seen progress in important areas of the police response to domestic abuse, including the opening up of new channels enabling victims to contact and interact with the police online. We applaud these innovations, many of which have led to a more tailored and timely police response. But we seek reassurance that the new ways of working are properly monitored and supervised – they must not become a shortcut to a less effective response to victims. We have significant concerns about the backlogs that have built up in the courts during the pandemic. Delays in cases coming to trial increase the likelihood of victims disengaging from the criminal justice process, often out of frustration and despair. Failure to bring offenders to justice in a timely way means they have further opportunities to offend, increasing the risk of harm to victims and their families. The police cannot solve the issue of court backlogs, but others in the criminal justice system must do so rapidly. In the meantime, we expect the police to continue to take measures to safeguard victims who are waiting for court hearings. Not all victims of domestic abuse want or expect the police to pursue a criminal justice outcome, but all want the harm to stop. The police must use their powers appropriately and effectively. In earlier reports we have expressed concern about the number of reported domestic abuse crimes that the police decide to take no further action on. The situation has worsened considerably over the past five years, to the extent that on average the police now decide not to continue to investigate three in every four domestic crimes reported to them. Many forces are unable to explain why these figures are so high and there is significant variation among forces. We have asked all forces to take immediate action to review their own position. The murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021 was a catalyst for women concerned for their own safety and that of women and girls across this country. In the wake of the tragedy, the Home Secretary commissioned us to do a bespoke inspection; we will shortly be reporting on the effectiveness of the police response in keeping women and girls safe. We will revisit some of the areas in this review and those we have highlighted previously, assessing where the police need to redouble their efforts in supporting victims of domestic abuse and bringing offenders to justice. Zoë Billingham HM Inspector of Constabulary 2 Summary of findings The police responded proactively to protect victims of domestic abuse The COVID-19 pandemic heightened concerns for people living with fear and violence because of domestic abuse. Many forces told us that they quickly recognised domestic abuse victims and their families as a priority. Most forces made sure that they planned responses that would meet victims’ needs. At first, the police were worried that there would be a large rise in domestic abuse incidents. This view was based on statistics from European countries that had been tackling the pandemic for longer. Anticipating increased reporting of domestic abuse, forces prepared as well as they could. Many moved staff into domestic abuse investigation units so they could continue to respond effectively. Many forces had fewer than usual reports of domestic abuse at the start of lockdown. But as time went on, reports returned to normal levels. There was an overall increase in first-time reporting. Incident levels were up by 4 percent at 18 May 2020 and 7 percent at 11 June 2020, with normal trends beginning as of 8 June 2020. Most forces were back to expected levels of domestic abuse crime and arrests at that time. By contrast, specialist domestic abuse services have seen very large increases in calls to their helplines and online platforms, such as webchats. Several helplines reported more requests for emotional support, worries about controlling behaviour and escalating experiences of violence and abuse. There were also calls from victims planning to leave their partner when restrictions eased and who needed support to do so. It is important that police forces understand that victims are still reporting domestic abuse through other services, why victims may choose to report in that way and how they can work with partner organisations and victims to break down any barriers to reporting to the police. The police were proactive in keeping people safe Forces told us that they acted proactively in supporting victims of domestic abuse, for example, addressing the threat posed by repeat domestic abuse perpetrators by creating plans to mitigate threats posed by them. Many forces greatly increased their applications for Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs). Many were also proactive in contacting people who had previously reported domestic abuse and who were assessed as being at greatest risk of harm from further abuse because of being repeat victims or as a result of the level of violence they had previously suffered. 3 While we saw an increase in arrests from a three-month snapshot during the first lockdown, overall, there is an annual downward trend. Forces should ensure that any changes in performance are recognised and understood through existing routine monitoring mechanisms. This will support forces to determine whether officers are using the most appropriate methods to protect victims of abuse. Police and partner organisations also made some adaptions to the way in which they responded to domestic abuse. One such positive development was the move to virtual court hearings for DVPOs, which forces have reported as being more efficient than attending a physical court hearing. Under the DVPO scheme, police and magistrates have the power to ban a domestic abuse perpetrator from returning to their home or contacting the victim for up to 28 days after a domestic abuse incident. The process also provides a further window of opportunity for police and partner organisations to work together to protect victims from future harm. Although forces historically haven’t used a telephone-based initial response for domestic abuse cases, some chose to implement this process for ‘grade 3’ incidents (those not needing an immediate or priority response).
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