Wiltshire Police welcomes watchdog's findings on violence against women
Force responds to report commissioned by Home Secretary
Wiltshire Police say they "welcome" the findings into a report about how offences of violence against women and girls such as rape and domestic abuse are dealt with.
In March of this year, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services to inspect police engagement with females.
The report, which was published on the 7th of July, found that police forces have made welcome improvements in recent years, but these "aren’t enough to tackle the epidemic of violence against woman and girls".
It highlighted the roll out of policing powers such as domestic violence and sexual violence protection orders as having a positive impact.
The report also said:
"The workload of specialist officers and staff responding to VAWG offences are often too heavy. Forces also told us that funding hadn’t kept pace with the growth in demand in this area as a result of both more offences having been reported and the increased breadth of reported offences. There is clearly a risk that police forces aren’t able to prioritise all these devastating crimes to the same extent. For example, the Home Office Review of the controlling or coercive behaviour offence showed that, in 35 percent of such offences in 2018/19, there was insufficient evidence to charge, despite the victim wanting to progress with the case."
It was also stated that training across the country on this matter is inconsistent.
Assistant Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police Mark Cooper said:
"Following the tragic death of Sarah Everard in March, this has brought to the forefront public concerns about women and girls' safety in public places. Although, we - as a police force - have always been aware of and have dealt with this type of complex crime.
"We welcome the report's findings and recognise that, although improvements into how we respond and investigate VAWG crimes have been made, more work needs to be done to strengthen our joint working with partners with the aim of protecting victims, bringing offenders to justice and ultimately stopping the cycle of abuse.
"This is one of the most intrusive, personal violating crimes, which can leave the victim feeling vulnerable both physically and psychologically for years, if not for the rest of their life. No one deserves to feel like that."
ACC Mark Cooper also stresed;
"Wiltshire is a very safe county, but we will continue to work with our stakeholders, following the recommendations of this interim report, to ensure the public can feel safe day or night in our towns and villages."
Anyone who is a victim of violence should contact police on 999, if the crime is in progress or has just happened, via 101 or their website.
You can also report anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.