Cambridgeshire Police say they received 73 Clare's Law applications last month
Applications have hugely increased compared to the previous year
Cambridgeshire Police have said they have seen an increase in the number of Clare's Law applications they get every month.
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), also known as “Clare’s Law” enables the police to disclose information to someone about their partner’s or ex-partner’s previous abusive or violent offending.
It was implemented across all police forces in England and Wales in March 2014.
A disclosure can be made lawfully by the police under the scheme if the disclosure is based on the police’s common law powers to disclose information where it is necessary to prevent crime.
It must be reasonable and proportionate for the police to make the disclosure, based on a credible risk of violence or harm.
In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, police say they receive double the amount of applications each month than they did last year and have had over seven hundred so far this year.
They received 73 Clare's Law applications last month and have got an average of 78 each month for the past few months.
Domestic abuse tactical lead for the force, David Savill, said:
"I think we've seen a significant increase in Cambridge here in 2024. We've received nearly 700 applications since the beginning of the year. I think we're up to about 90 we did in September. That's double what it was the previous September".
"I think there's a lot of publicity around Claire's law now. It's really getting out there. I think charities have advocated it for a long time, but police forces are now publicising it as well".
"We've seen people who have stopped the relationship completely after and not gone any further or they've been thinking of getting into a relationship that they haven't proceeded with. Equally we've seen people that have decided to say thanks very much for the information but I'm actually going to stay in the relationship. But, they ask how can you help me keep myself safe from here?"
"Perhaps people that have been together for a few months and then all of a sudden something changes within the relationship and perhaps the person that they're with starts to become a little bit more controlling or obsessive or their behaviour changes. Something that perhaps rings an alarm bell. That's where we'd say to look".