Training in handling domestic abuse cases

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.035892

I note you seek access to the following information:

1) Is your force currently delivering formal or informal training in handling domestic abuse cases?

If yes,

2) What does the current training consist of? Please provide details of the following.

3) I would like to request all course material delivered in the training, such as papers, exercises and powerpoints. If any material is protected under copyright I would instead like the title, author or similar.

4) Does your training go through scenarios with different genders as the perpetrators/victims? Or does the training have another element of gendered focus?

5) How many hours or days will the training take?

6) How regularly do you give this training? And how regularly are staff offered or provided with this training in their careers?

7) Is it online or in person?

8) Is it individual or in groups, if the latter how big are the groups then?

9) Is it mandatory? Is it assessed? And can you fail the training? If yes, will it have any consequences if a staff member fails? And how many have failed the last year?

10) Who delivers the training?

11) Is it external organisations, like SafeLives? If not, is the training done by internal staff and if that is the case, what are their qualifications? Please provide a list of organisations that have carried out training in the last 10 years.

12) Are members of staff actively offered the training, or will they apply for it themselves?

13) If it is offered, then what members of staff is it offered to?

14) How long have you been providing this, or similar, training? In the last 10 years, have there been any significant changes in how you provide this training, for who and by who? Please provide details of any changes.

15) Do you track the completion and impact of the training? If yes, how?

16) Please, can you tell me how many staff members have received and finished the training each year since 2015?

17) If your force is not offering training, do they signpost knowledge about domestic abuse in another capacity? (Online, from other organisations and so on.)

18) If your force is not offering training, can you please explain what the reasoning behind this is?
As per my email you were happy to omit question 11 and 16 as to collate the information would exceed 18 hours. You were happy to continue with the rest of the request.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - Is your force currently delivering formal or informal training in handling domestic abuse cases?
If yes,

Yes we do.

Q2 - What does the current training consist of? Please provide details of the following.
Q3 - I would like to request all course material delivered in the training, such as papers, exercises and PowerPoints. If any material is protected under copyright I would instead like the title, author or similar.

Please see the document below.

Q4 - Does your training go through scenarios with different genders as the perpetrators/victims? Or does the training have another element of gendered focus?

There are usually various scenarios and these would involve a diverse cross-section of perpetrators/victims. There will be some focus around the different gendered victims and perpetrators.

Please see the attached document.

Q5 - How many hours or days will the training take?

Please see the document below.

Q6 - How regularly do you give this training? And how regularly are staff offered or provided with this training in their careers?

The majority of courses are delivered as part of Foundation training, in other words in the first training delivered to officers. The exceptions are for detectives on Community Safety Units who specialise in dealing with Domestic Abuse and fully substantive PC’s going into the Detective route, where the training is delivered as part of the PIP2 course, both detailed in the attached document.

Q7 - Is it online or in person?

Please see the document below.

Q8 - Is it individual or in groups, if the latter how big are the groups then?

Please see the document below.

Q9 - Is it mandatory? Is it assessed? And can you fail the training? If yes, will it have any consequences if a staff member fails? And how many have failed the last year?

This varies dependent on the type of training. All foundation training is mandatory – it includes Knowledge checks, and there are a variety of subjects tested in those knowledge checks including Domestic Abuse. There would be no specific failure on the domestic abuse training. In terms of the Community Safety Unit course, there is no assessment.

Q10 - Who delivers the training?

Foundation Training within the MPS is delivered by experienced trainers who are usually experienced Police Officers or Police Staff. The courses delivered in the Higher Education Institutes are delivered by trainers employed by Babcock’s. The Community Safety Unit training is delivered by experienced Detectives who usually have experience directly from working in the Community Safety Unit. The PIP2 course is similarly taught by experienced detectives.

Q11 - Is it external organisations, like SafeLives? If not, is the training done by internal staff and if that is the case, what are their qualifications? Please provide a list of organisations that have carried out training in the last 10 years.

As explained this will exceed 18 hours to collate this information. However in order to assist you SafeLives have delivered training to around 6,500 frontline officers and Detectives, which is training organised separately from internal training. Additionally there is an input in the CSU course of about 3 hours delivered by Refuge.

Q12 - Are members of staff actively offered the training, or will they apply for it themselves?

Foundation training is mandatory. The delivery by SafeLives was mandatory for the frontline officers and Detectives. PIP2 training is mandatory for PC’s going into the Detective route, though they apply themselves. The Community Safety Unit training is for Detectives on those units, or about to be posted to those Units and is mandatory, again they need to apply themselves.

Q13 - If it is offered, then what members of staff is it offered to?

The following officers and staff have the training: New PC and Direct Entry Detectives, Police Community Support Officers (PCSO), Public Access Officers, PC to Detective (PIP2) and Detectives working on Community Safety Unit.

14 - How long have you been providing this, or similar, training? In the last 10 years, have there been any significant changes in how you provide this training, for who and by who? Please provide details of any changes.

This type of training has been offered in the last 10 years. There have been changes in the routes new officers, particularly, enter the Police Service. However the basics are the same. The only major differences have been during COVID when we had to adapt to training over Microsoft Teams and since then there has been a move to “Blended” learning where some elements may be delivered face-to-face and some over Microsoft Teams and through some eLearning.

Q15 - Do you track the completion and impact of the training? If yes, how?

We have a new Learning Management System that does keep a record of the various elements of training.

Q16 - Please, can you tell me how many staff members have received and finished the training each year since 2015?

As explained this will exceed 18 hours to collate this information. To obtain information for all the years would require looking into officers personal files and would far exceed the cost threshold. However in order to assist you please see attached document in relation to numbers.

Q17 - If your force is not offering training, do they signpost knowledge about domestic abuse in another capacity? (Online, from other organisations and so on.)

Not applicable

Q18- If your force is not offering training, can you please explain what the reasoning behind this is?

No