Police in Gloucestershire speak up about violence against women
They say ending male violence against women and girls remains a force priority
The first national assessment of the policing response to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) was published on Tuesday 14 March.
It follows a commitment made by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and College of Policing (CoP) in 2021 to be open about how police forces are performing against the national VAWG framework.
Gloucestershire Constabulary is fostering a call-it-out culture within the Force as we are clear that there is no place for misogyny in policing.
In the interests of transparency with the public we serve, figures were shared nationally on police perpetrated incidents against women. These covered a range of areas, for example how they delivered their duties, use of force or discriminatory behaviour.
The national data published shows that during the period between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022, 653 conduct cases against 672 individuals were flagged as relating to violence and intimidation against women and girls, by police forces in England and Wales, as well as the British Transport Police. In the same period, 524 public complaint cases against 867 individuals were recorded. A total of 1,483 allegations were recorded nationally – as each case can have several allegations attached to it.
Nationally, almost two-thirds of the public complaints were categorised as use of force (63 per cent). In these cases, women will have complained about the use of force in handcuffing or arrest for example. Next most common was overbearing or harassing behaviour at 9 per cent. Sexual assault complaints made up 6 per cent of the total.
During this period in Gloucestershire, 11 public complaint cases were recorded against 16 individuals, with four conduct cases being recorded against five individuals. This generated a total of 24 separate allegations, of which 17 related to public complaints and seven related to conduct.
Approximately three quarters of the public complaints were categorised as use of force (76 per cent), with 41 per cent of these relating to women who complained about the use of force in handcuffing.
Where the complaint had been concluded, 76 per cent resulted in the service level being found to be acceptable or the complaint was withdrawn.
The next most common public complaint was general level of service (12 per cent). There were no public complaints of sexual assault.
Of the four conduct cases, three are live and one finalised. The finalised case resulted in a case to answer, and this is pending a misconduct meeting.
The current picture in Gloucestershire is that there are 14 officers and staff at various stages of disciplinary proceedings in relation to male violence and intimidation against women.
The cases cover a spectrum of allegations, from non-criminal to criminal, and are all being investigated by the Constabulary's Professional Standards Department.
The force's Professional Standards Department and Anti-Corruption Unit, mandate training for all new starters to the organisation on the standards of behaviour expected of them as well educating them around the abuse of position for sexual purpose and why it is entirely unacceptable.
Force lead for Violence and Intimidation Against Women and Girls, Chief Superintendent Jane Probert, said: "We feel that these figures demonstrate how we have started to foster a call-it-out culture in Gloucestershire, and we hope in turn that this also helps build confidence with people who work for us to report their concerns to us.
"I appreciate how shocking this information may be to read. Misogyny is embedded within our society, and we are determined to stamp it out of policing.
"This is a national long-term mission to root out corrupt individuals who should not be within our ranks, and publishing these figures are a necessary step for assessing police performance over time as we will only build trust when the public and our own staff see change.
"The Constabulary has an anonymous reporting form on its intranet pages so that staff can alert us to concerns about other staff members and both the Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner are treating the issue of male violence and intimidation against women and girls as an absolute priority.
"We understand we need to listen and act on the experiences of female staff members as well as the wider public, understand our failings and do everything needed to put them right.
"I would like to thank every person that has come forward to report any incident to us."