Wiltshire Police urgently reviewing Claire’s Law disclosure applications
Over 3,500 applications are being reviewed, stretching back to 2015
Last updated 26th Oct 2023
An urgent review into Claire’s Law disclosures at Wiltshire Police has been commissioned after failings had been identified.
The force found there had been failures to disclose information which could have protected people most at risk of domestic abuse.
Chief Constable Catherine Roper says she is ‘truly sorry’ for what has happened.
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.
Earlier this year, Wiltshire Police referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) with concerns linked disclosures made by one member of Wiltshire Police staff under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme.
The staff member is currently suspended and the IOPC has determined that they will investigate the allegations independently, while Wiltshire Police are in contact with the person over a number of additional concerns that have been subsequently identified.
Chief Constable Roper said: “As we work to fully understand the extent of these failures, fully supporting the independent IOPC investigation, it is vital that we are honest and transparent with our communities and so are reaching out to you to explain the current situation.
“We are now conducting an urgent audit of Clare’s Law applications made to us since April 2015, which is when the member of staff began working in this department.
“The total number of applications made to us between April 2015 and the end of August 2023 is just over 3,500.”
The chief adds that where they feel an individual is at risk, they’ll be attempting to contact them.
Chief asks for trust from public
The Chief Constable has asked for communities to trust the force, ‘accepting that we’ve already identified a failure in our service’.
She says they’ve put more scrutiny in place than ever before in this area of their business and asked us to continue speaking to them over any concerns or information regarding people at risk of domestic abuse.
“I would like to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly apologise on behalf of the organisation to anyone we have let down,” she added.
Wiltshire Police said they want reiterate to our communities that the extra resource and scrutiny has been put in place to ensure the service is delivered in the right way.
New applications are able to be processed in the usual way, by visiting this part of their website.
The Force says that anyone who made a DVDS or Claire's Law application between August 2015 and August 2023 and is concerned about the service they received can contact them directly by emailing clareslaw@wiltshire.police.uk.
They add that anyone who feel's in immediate danger should call 999.