Humberside Police  inconsistent approach to domestic violence

 

A recent HMIC report criticises Humberside Police

Here is an extract from the report:

HMIC has made an initial consideration of the action plan submitted by Humberside Police.

We found the action plan details activity that is in line with the agreed national priorities

outlined above. However, there is no clear evidence to highlight how the force has met the vast majority of the requirements.

 The force has provided information around ongoing activity to demonstrate a foward-looking approach and intention, but not included clear evidence of what they have been doing since the

HMIC inspection and report publication in March 2014. 

 There is also no clear reference to the HMIC force recommendations within this submitted plan.

The crime inspection provided us with our first opportunity to test whether changes in the force's approach to domestic abuse were beggining to have a positive effect.

HMIC found that, although domestic abuse was a priority for the force, there was a fragmented and inconsistent approach across the force with victims not always recieving the level of support they needed.

There was a concern about standard and medium risk cases and although there were examples of good partnership work this again varied across the force.

We found evidence in Humberside that activity related to domestic abuse remains inconsistent across the force.

 Although the force was piloting a Repeat Victim Group,identifying vulnerability issues, building links with MARAC and offering tactical resources for higher risk cases, this was limited to one policing area. 

This is my local police force and this report holds no surprises. I completely agree with the inconsistent approach the Inspector found .  In fact I would go further than that from local   knowledge .In my opinion Humberside Police and I am sure it's not just them need to pull their socks up.

As I outlined in a previous post there are long term costs of domestic violence in terms of mental health, there is also a knock on effect on children , housing and physical health. If anyone is happy to share a personal story anonymously please contact me. Or if you require help with using the police complaints procedure I am also willing to assist you.

Link to HMIC report here http://bit.ly/19aucku

Domestic violence the effect on mental health

There is an established link between mental health problems and domestic violence . The most common disorders are depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.  Self harm and attempted suicide are also far more prevalent .

 In a study published in the British Medical Journal, Bradley et al (2002) found that experience of domestic violence was associated with much higher levels of depression than was found among women who had not experienced domestic violence. Among women who were depressed, 67% had experienced domestic violence as compared with 33% who had not. This finding means that two thirds of women with depression have experienced domestic violence. Should this mean that woman and men presenting at the GP with symptoms of depression be screened for domestic violence?

Breslau et al (1998) investigated the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder following trauma in a sample of the general population and found that those who had suffered rape and other violence had greatly increased rates of post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). They found that 49% of those subject to rape suffered PTSD; 54% of those who were held captive, tortured or kidnapped; 15% of those who were shot or stabbed; 24% of those who suffered sexual assault other than rape; 8% of those who were threatened with a weapon; and 32% of those who were badly beaten up. This compares with 2% of those in a serious car crash. Women were more twice as likely as men to suffer PTSD following a trauma.   

 Time and again I have seen in family cases domestic violence victims being labelled with serious mental illness , often having their children placed elsewhere I have never seen this labelled as PTSD, which of course is treatable. A domestic violence victim is entitled to legal aid in private law proceedings if they can prove evidence of domestic violence within the last 60 months.                     

  

Pets and Family Breakdown

Are you pets as much part of the family as anyone else?  We love them, certainly in the case of dogs they give us devotion back.   

Over half of households in the UK own a pet but how do you protect their welfare in the event of family breakdown?

The Blue Cross Animal Charity appears to believe foresight is the key and provides a downloadable pre nuptial agreement.

Find out more here http://bit.ly/1N4R1U3 

Another area where animal charities help is in fostering animals where owners are fleeing from domestic violence.There is an established link between abuse of animals and domestic violence and many victims are reluctant to leave their animals.

Here are some charities that offer help:

www.rspca.org.uk/whatwedo/petretreat

http://bit.ly/1LMXXJW