POLICING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Wed, September 19, 2001

Source: Joyce Plotnikoff & Richard Woolfson

POLICING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: EFFECTIVE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES Policing & Reducing Crime Briefing Note

Background and aims of the study

This report examines how police forces are organised to deal with incidents of domestic violence; organisation is an important issue as it determines the extent to which forces can provide an efficient and effective service for dealing with such incidents. The key aims of the study were to identify:

The range of organisational structures adopted and their perceived effectiveness;

The manner in which domestic violence was addressed in force policy documents;

The nature and scope of the role of specialist domestic violence officers and their line management arrangements;

Information management, including communication between different departments;

The use of monitoring; and

The provision of training.

The study was undertaken in three phases between August 1997 and March 1998, in 42 of the 43 forces in England and Wales. The first phase consisted of a national survey, which identified the range of organisational structures in place. The second phase involved interviews with officers responsible for domestic violence policy, line managers, and operational officers dealing with domestic violence on a daily basis.

The third phase consisted of visits to five forces for more in-depth interviews with officers, and a detailed examination of those procedures which impact on service delivery.

Summary of findings

Policy documents

Of the 42 participating forces, 38 had a domestic violence policy document. In these, definitions of domestic violence differed, making direct comparisons of performance difficult. Policies in 26 forces (62%) were under review or being amended, particularly in light of legislative changes in the Protection from Harassment Act and Part IV of the Family Law Act.

Force organisational structures

Ranges of organisational models for the delivery of a response to domestic violence were in place. However, no single model was identified as being either more or less problematic than any other. Problems related less to the structure than to the relatively low status of domestic violence work within forces.

DVOs identified a number of factors, which were considered to benefit operational effectiveness:

A strong headquarters role in setting policy and monitoring practice; separate line management of DVOs and child protection officers where this is necessary to ensure that domestic violence work is not subordinated to child protection;

The location of DVOs and child protection officers in the same or adjoining offices to facilitate the sharing of information;

Location of the DVO manager on the same site as the DVOs;

Opportunities for exchanging ideas with other DVOs within the force and externally;

DVOs working in pairs for support and back up; and

Monitoring of stress indicators such as turnover, sickness and hours or working; and administrative support and computerised record keeping for DVOs.

Location of DVOs

Of the 71 DVOs interviewed, 35 (49%) were managed by a supervisor who also had responsibilities for officers dealing with child protection issues.

This research confirmed the advantages and disadvantages identified in previous research of placing

DVOs and child protection officers together organisationally. Although information sharing improved, problems were reported due to the higher priority given to child protection work.

Perceptions of the effectiveness of structures adopted

Of those asked, 39% of policy makers, 48% of line managers for DVOs, and 65% of operational DVOs felt that there was a significant gap between policy statements and what occurred in practice. Officers at all levels spoke of the need to integrate the domestic violence response with mainstream policing, and to move away from the view that it was ‘second class crime’.

Information management

An effective response to domestic violence relies, in large part, on comprehensive record keeping on incidents and the ease with which this information can be retrieved. However, many police information systems have developed in a fragmented way, and many forces are only in the early stages of developing a more integrated approach. Subsequently, although police records often contain information about previous incidents at the same address or involving the same family, this is not always readily accessible to responding officers.

Additionally, reports to DVOs from patrol officers, and the coding or tagging of domestic incidents by control room operators, were both felt to under-count the true figures.

Few forces had been able to integrate the information held on child protection and domestic violence databases, even though the same families often appeared on both. The criteria for passing on information were unclear and were rarely incorporated into written inter-agency agreements.

Monitoring

A key factor in the success of any domestic violence response is the adequacy of arrangements to monitor both the level of demand and the quality of the service being delivered.

The collection of statistics for monitoring the incidence of domestic violence varied across forces:

38 (93%) of the 41 policy interviewees indicated that their force collected some statistics relating to domestic violence offending;

24 (59%) collected statistics on repeat victimisation;

16 (39%) on complaints from injured parties; and

12 (29%) on complaints subsequently withdrawn.

Training

Despite the prominence of domestic violence in policy, forces generally did not have a coherent training strategy to ensure its effective implementation. Much of the training had been developed on an ad hoc basis. Only one force routinely provided training on domestic violence to ranks higher than constable.

Key points for action

1. Forces might usefully adopt a standard definition for domestic violence which could then be used in providing statistical returns to the Home Office.

2. Job descriptions should be developed for the local DVO role which reflect the priorities set by force headquarters.

3. Individual force headquarters should develop a statement of how their commitment will be delivered. This is likely to include:

Developing meaningful performance indicators and targets relating to domestic violence;

Headquarters collecting statistical data on a regular basis to allow these indicators to be calculated;

Providing comparative performance data to local managers and taking appropriate action where performance falls below an acceptable standard;

Monitoring stress indicators associated with the DVO role such as turnover, working hours and sickness rates, and ensuring that stress counselling is available if needed;

Standardising aspects of the response across the force, for instance by introducing a standard domestic violence form; and

Identifying and promulgating best practice and developing pilot projects.

4. Forces might usefully review the relationship between child protection and domestic violence, focusing on issues of management, co-location, training, and information sharing.

5. The role of the DVO should be more clearly integrated into the force structure by clarifying its interface with other police functions involved in responding to domestic violence.

6. A comprehensive force training strategy on domestic violence for all officers should be developed, taking account of its nature, procedural knowledge, and the high proportion of violent crime that is domestic in origin. It should pay attention to officers with a key role

to play in delivery of force policy but who have been previously overlooked, including shift sergeants, control room staff and custody officers whose commitment to the delivery of force policy is essential.

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