Domestic abuse perpetrated by police officers and police staff
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.036066
I note you seek access to the following information:
REQUEST 1:
Domestic abuse perpetrated by police officers and police staff from January 2020 to January 2024
I am undertaking a PhD researching police perpetrated domestic abuse. This includes examining the extent, prevalence and responses to domestic abuse perpetrated by police officers and police staff, with a view to informing future policy and practice. I would appreciate it if you could supply the following information in relation to police officers and police employed staff.
For questions 1 to 4, please provide answers by calendar year using numbers not percentages.
- How many reports of domestic abuse have been logged against serving police officers and police staff between January 2020 and January 2024?
- How many of those reports made between January 2020 -and January 2024 resulted in: a) a criminal trial, b) criminal charges, but no trial; c) a formal misconduct investigation; d) a misconduct hearing; e) a finding of misconduct; f) a finding of gross misconduct; g) a written warning; h) No further Action /No case to answer
- How many police officers or police staff resigned, retired, or left for other reasons, following allegations of domestic abuse related offences from January 2020 to January 2024?
- How many police officers or police staff who have resigned, retired, or left for other reasons following allegations of domestic abuse related offences from January 2020 to January 2024, have been rehired in any capacity by the police service?
- Does your police service have policies and procedures specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse?
a) Yes
b) No - If you answered yes to question 5, has your force updated policies and procedures specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse since the Super-Complaint by the Centre for Women’s Justice in March 2020?
a) Yes
b) No - If you answered yes to question 6, please provide details of any updates and a copy of your current policy and operational guidance on PPDA. If you answered no, please still provide your policy and operational guidance on PPDA.
- Police forces are required to report the number of misconduct cases and criminal investigations involving PPDA and their outcomes to the Home Office, does your force currently do this?
a) Yes
b) No - As of June 2022 in the IT system Centurian, VAWG-police perpetrated and VAWG- police injured party and domestic abuse should be available to select as an option. Does your police service currently use these options to capture this data?
- Has your police service made any improvements since 2020 to the way it captures data relating to cases of PPDA? If yes, please explain.
REQUEST 2: - Does your police service deliver training specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse?
a) Yes
b) No - If you answered yes to question 11, please advise in numbers how many officers and staff have received that training up to the end of January 2024.
- Is the PPDA training
a) Mandatory
b) Voluntary - What procedures does your force have in place to support police victims of PPDA?
- Given that s.29(4) of the Police Reform Act 2002 precludes police officers and police employees from making a police complaint against anyone who is under the direction and control of the same Chief Officer, does your police service treat reports of PPDA where the victim is a police officer or police employee as a conduct matter (as defined in s.12 PRA 2002)?
- If you answered yes to question 15, does your force treat the police victim as an “interested person” in the misconduct investigation?
- Does your force have any policy or procedure for referring the investigation of PPDA allegations against a member of your force to an external force for investigation? If so, please provide details.
- Does your police service have any policy or procedure for accepting referrals from another force of forces for your force to investigate allegations of PPDA made against members of their force? If so, please provide details.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 22(1)(a) – Information intended for future publication.
Section 21(1) - Information Accessible to Applicant by Other Means
These searches successfully located the information relevant to your request. I will disclose the answers to questions 4 – 18 under the section titled Disclosure. I can also confirm that the MPS hold the requested data in relation to questions 1 - 3. However, this will be published in accordance with our publication scheme. This data will therefore not be disclosed at this stage, and is exempt from disclosure
Reason for decision
Section 22(1)(a) – Information intended for future publication - can be engaged if, at the time of the request, the public authority has the intention to publish the specific information requested.
In recent years there has been an increase of Freedom of Information Act requests that have been linked to public complaints and conduct matters. Data collation in relation to this subject matter is carried out by a team of analysts who collate, review and interpret the data acquired. This process is well established and ensures that data that is of the public interest is available on a regular basis, and significantly also serves to reduce the financial and administrative cost of responding to requests for information under the Act. It would be both administratively and financially prohibitive for the MPS to collate and release information in response to individual requests when the information requested will be published at some future date. The Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) guidance states ‘12. Although the public authority must hold the information at the time of the request with a view to its publication, the exemption does not require a set publication date to be in place’.
The ICO’s guidance also states ‘10. The information that the public authority intends to be published must be the specific information the applicant has requested’. DPS have confirmed that this point is satisfied. Due to the current public interest the MPS has identified that requests for information about the alleged ‘Domestic abuse perpetrated by police officers and police staff’ is likely to be received under the Act and has commissioned a related dataset. The MPS recognise that part of the process of rebuilding trust confidence is for alleged wrong doing to be made public, and therefore there is strong commitment to proactively publish information in the public interest and will do so in relation to the information you have sought.
I have found that there is an inherent public interest in providing the data in relation to your request. This would show a number of things. Firstly, that allegations have been received. Secondly, the extent to which any allegations are being logged and subsequenlty investigated. Thirdly, it provides reassurance that the MPS is proactively trying to uncover those who have undermined the MPS’s integrity.
I have also made it clear that the MPS understands the need to proactively publish information in the current public interest. Therefore, DPS have confirmed that their intention to publish the requested data soon. The public interest factors favouring disclosure will be satisfied upon publication of this information and therefore I deem it appropriate to apply a section 22 exemption to this request.
Section 21(1) - Information Accessible to Applicant by Other Means - The purpose of the section 21 exemption is to ensure that there is no right of access to information via FOIA if it is available to the applicant by another route. To claim this exemption the data must be reasonably accessible.
I am also pleased to inform you that some of the information requested is already in the public domain via the Metropolitan Police website under the section titled Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) action plan - summer 2024 updates.
This information you seek can be accessed via the following link:
Violence action plan summary - Police Perpetrated Abuse
This information relates to questions 5 and 7.
INFORMATION CAVEAT – Relating to question 4
This data relates to individuals that have been rehired in any capacity by the MPS.
Disclosure
Q1 - How many reports of domestic abuse have been logged against serving police officers and police staff between January 2020 and January 2024
This data has been withheld by virtue of Section 22
Q2 - How many of those reports made between January 2020 -and January 2024 resulted in: a) a criminal trial, b) criminal charges, but no trial; c) a formal misconduct investigation; d) a misconduct hearing; e) a finding of misconduct; f) a finding of gross misconduct; g) a written warning; h) No further Action /No case to answer.
This data has been withheld by virtue of Section 22
Q3 - How many police officers or police staff resigned, retired, or left for other reasons, following allegations of domestic abuse related offences from January 2020 to January 2024?
This data has been withheld by virtue of Section 22
Q4 - How many police officers or police staff who have resigned, retired, or left for other reasons following allegations of domestic abuse related offences from January 2020 to January 2024, have been rehired in any capacity by the police service?
1
Q5 - Does your police service have policies and procedures specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse?
a) Yes
b) No
Yes – Domestic Abuse and Sexual Offences (DASO) is a dedicated unit created to investigate allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse. DASO currently consists of 4 investigation teams as well as the victim support unit. Please find the link below which details some of our policies and procedures:
Violence action plan summary - Police Perpetrated Abuse
Q6 - If you answered yes to question 5, has your force updated policies and procedures specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse since the Super-Complaint by the Centre for Women’s Justice in March 2020?
a) Yes
b) No
Yes, as DASO was created in January 2022, in addition to the creation of Operation Pledge and a dedicated victim support unit. The Pledge sets out clearly what victim/survivors can expect from the MPS when they report any matter of police perpetrated domestic abuse or sexual assault. It has been designed as a direct result of feedback from victim/survivors focus groups and puts their voice at the heart of the process.
Q7 - If you answered yes to question 6, please provide details of any updates and a copy of your current policy and operational guidance on PPDA. If you answered no, please still provide your policy and operational guidance on PPDA.
Please find the link below which details some of our policies and procedures:
Violence action plan summary - Police Perpetrated Abuse
Q8 - Police forces are required to report the number of misconduct cases and criminal investigations involving police perpetrated domestic abuse (PPDA) and their outcomes to the Home Office, does your force currently do this?
a) Yes
b) No
We provide data to the National Police Chiefs’ Council Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Taskforce and although not specific to (PPDA) we do provide the Home Office an annual return around all types of Misconduct cases.
Q9 - As of June 2022 in the IT system Centurion, VAWG-police perpetrated and VAWG- police injured party and domestic abuse should be available to select as an option. Does your police service currently use these options to capture this data?
Yes we do, we have the following flags:
VAWG - Dissatisfaction handling
VAWG – Police Perpetrated
VAWG – Police Victim
Q10 - Has your police service made any improvements since 2020 to the way it captures data relating to cases of PPDA? If yes, please explain.
We run monthly audits to identify possible cases where flags are missing, these cases are reviewed and flags are added if required.
Q11 - Does your police service deliver training specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse?
a) Yes
b) No
No, the MPS does not currently deliver training specific to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse.
In 2022 a small number of specialist officers underwent training for domestic abuse involving police officers called ‘Officer Involved Domestic Abuse’. This program is no longer run, as we now deliver a program called Domestic Abuse Matters that applies equally to responding to allegations of police perpetrated domestic abuse and allegations of domestic abuse by members of the public. The abuse, the processes, investigations and law is applied in the same way and therefore the learning is relevant to both. Please find the link below which provides an update regarding the MPS VAWG action plan, which includes details of increased VAWG training for all officers and staff:
Violence Against Women and Girls - More Resources and Training
Q12 - If you answered yes to question 11, please advise in numbers how many officers and staff have received that training up to the end of January 2024.
N/A due to answer in question 11
Q13 - Is the PPDA training.
a) Mandatory
b) Voluntary
As stated in question 11, there is currently there is no specific PPDA training, however, the VAWG training referenced within the link in question 11, is now mandatory.
Q14 - What procedures does your force have in place to support police victims of PPDA?
The Victim Support Unit was created in 2023. This is a dedicated team which consists of experienced Sexual Offences Investigation Team (SOIT) trained officers whose role it is to support victims of police perpetrated domestic assault and or sexual offences throughout the misconduct process. The victims Pledge sets out clearly what victim/survivors can expect from the MPS when they report any matter of police perpetrated domestic abuse or sexual assault. It has been designed as a direct result of feedback from victim/survivors focus groups and puts their voice at the heart of the process.
Q15 - Given that S.29(4) of the Police Reform Act 2002 precludes police officers and police employees from making a police complaint against anyone who is under the direction and control of the same Chief Officer, does your police service treat reports of PPDA where the victim is a police officer or police employee as a conduct matter (as defined in s.12 PRA 2002)?
The MPS will assess any allegations which are received under either the Police Conduct regulations 2020 or the Police (complaints and misconduct) Regulations 2020 (PCMR). Where an allegation provides an indication that a person serving with the police may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner which would justify disciplinary proceedings it is recorded and investigated. This will apply to cases where an allegation of PPDA is made or raised by a person serving with the police.
Q16 - If you answered yes to question 15, does your force treat the police victim as an “interested person” in the misconduct investigation?
IP status only applies in PCMR cases. The regulations provide a definition of persons who will be granted IP status. These can also be found in the IOPC statutory guidance. In most PPDA cases a police victim would not automatically attract IP status. However, the Appropriate Authority (AA) may afford them full or certain IP status in accordance with the guidance. These decisions are taken on a case by case basis.
Q17 - Does your force have any policy or procedure for referring the investigation of PPDA allegations against a member of your force to an external force for investigation? If so, please provide details.
In every case the AA will appoint an investigating officer. That Investigating Officer will have the requisite skill and experience to be able to manage the investigation. In some cases the MPS have sought the co-operation of other constabularies. Ordinarily the MPS will appoint an internal investigator.
Q18 - Does your police service have any policy or procedure for accepting referrals from another force of forces for your force to investigate allegations of PPDA made against members of their force? If so, please provide details.
The regulations require that allegations be brought to the attention of the AA. Where an incident occurs outside of the MPD the county constabulary is required to refer the matter to the MPS if the MPS is the AA for the officer. Processes exist to facilitate this.