Clare's Law applications to Wiltshire Police increasing despite failings
The force reviewed over 3,500 applications in October last year
Wiltshire Police has revealed more people are making applications under Clare's Law to them - despite recent failings by the organisation that saw two people come to harm.
Claire’s Law allows someone to discreetly find out if a partner has an abusive past, by requesting the information from the police with the ‘Right to Ask’ process or the force using the ‘Right to Know’ process.
Last October, an urgent review of over 3,500 cases between 2015 and 2023 after it became clear that errors had been made and a member of staff suspended, pending and independent IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) investigation.
That review was concluded in January of this year, where it was revealed that 33 failures of process had occurred.
The force has attempted to contact everyone who they felt was at risk of harm and there is still a small number of people the force has been unable to contact. It could be that it's not safe for the individual to respond.
A total of five self-referrals have been made to the IOPC by Wiltshire Police.
Chief thanks public for confidence in force
Chief Constable Catherine Roper said she was worried the trust of the public had been shaken too severely for people to continue making Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) applications.
But she's told Greatest Hits Radio that they're actually increasing.
"One of the biggest indicators I was truly worried about was that people would stop applying and they haven't, we've actually seen more DVDS applications," the Chief said.
Chief Roper added that it comes at a time where there's fewer reports of domestic abuse assaults being made, making it an 'interesting landscape' in regards to what's happening with tackling domestic abuse, domestic violence and making sure we keeping people safe.
She's welcomed the public's confidence in the police to ensure applications are correctly followed up.
"I'm so grateful that people still trust us to do that job because you could understand why it might have been shaken. And but people do seem to still be trusting us," she said.
After concluding their urgent review of cases, the organisation has boosted the number of staff working on DVDS applications, as well as greater oversight in terms of process and management.