Staffordshire Police told it must improve handling domestic abuse cases
A report has been released after inspections in April and May this year
Inspectors have told Staffordshire Police that they must improve on their handling of domestic abuse cases.
A report, from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Service, has found that the force responds too slowly to "grade 2" domestic related incidents, compared to other incidents graded the same.
It's stated, "While the average time to attend all grade 2 incidents was 11 hours, the average attendance time for grade 2 domestic abuse-related incidents was 22 hours. And in 41 percent of those incidents, it took more than seven days for callers to receive a response. Only 8 percent of these incidents were attended within 4 hours."
Inspectors say these days could result in victims "not being effectively safeguarded", and important information regarding the risk to victims not being identified and shared with partner organisations.
The regulator is also concerned with how it handles 101 calls. In 31 March 2024 the force reported that 24.4% of calls to the non-emergency number were abandoned by callers before they were answered. In contrast, the national target is below 5%.
"The force has improved its understanding of exactly when the caller hangs up during the call. Using that information, it can estimate whether the abandonment has been prompted by the automated interactive voice response system providing suggestions for alternate ways of contacting the force, such as through the website. But the force still lacks a full understanding of whether callers are using alternative methods to contact the force once they have abandoned their calls."
Overall, the service was rated "Good" at preventing crime, and "Adequate" at police powers and public treatment, managing offenders, having a positive workplace, and on leadership and management.
It was told to improve on responding to the public, investigating crime, and protecting vulnerable people.