IPOC learning recommendation- police response to a domestic incident in Crayford July 2019

Title: IOPC learning recommendation under paragraph 28A of schedule 3 to the Police Reform Act 2002
Branch / OCU: Prevention and Learning, Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS)
MPS reference: IX/3798/19

Police response to a domestic incident in Crayford in July 2019

On 11 July 2019 the Metropolitan Police Service were called to a report of a domestic incident in the London Borough of Bexley. At the address, officers spoke with a man and woman separately. The woman informed one of the officers that the man had choked her, however, when further questioned denied that there had been a fight and that anyone had been hurt. The officers saw no sign of injuries on either person and left the woman with the man and took no further action. The woman was later assaulted by the man and sustained serious injuries.

Recommendation

The IOPC recommends that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) take steps to make Safeguarding teams and departments aware that special schemes can apply to serial perpetrators of abuse and should be used where appropriate to do so. The MPS use special schemes to alert officers to information that could mitigate risk by putting alerts on specific addresses. This includes instances where a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse resides at an address. The IOPC recently completed an investigation where a woman was assaulted by a man who is a serial perpetrator of domestic abuse. His offending dates back to 2002, against three previous partners. No special scheme indicators were applied to his address to alert police that the man is a risk to women, in particular his partners.

MPS Response

The MPS are satisfied that the existing MPS Special Schemes policy adequately provides for the creation of a special scheme in relation to an address in the circumstances outlined, i.e. long history of domestic abuse perpetrated against different victims by the same suspect. The definition of a special scheme is intentionally broad to allow for a wide range of incidents and or circumstances.

There is no statutory definition of a serial perpetrator that would justify a special scheme remaining on an address indefinitely. Consideration must be given to a person’s human rights and proportionality in retaining a special scheme for any length of time. Special schemes will remain on the MPS computer aided despatch system for a maximum of six months before they automatically expire and can no longer be viewed. The officer in the case will continue to review the special scheme as part of an ongoing risk assessment and, prior to its expiry, the officer will be asked by the real time resource desk whether the scheme is to be extended or deleted.

This recommendation was communicated to all Safeguarding HQ Superintendents on Friday 26 March 2020 via a Microsoft Teams meeting and following the meeting, the supporting document was disseminated to all the Basic Command Unit Detective Inspectors to share with their Safeguarding Hubs. An operational notice was published on 14 April 2020 reminding officers that as part of their ongoing dynamic risk assessment of domestic abuse cases, consideration should be given to flagging perpetrator addresses, in particular serial offenders