Wiltshire Police complete urgent review of all Clare's Law applications
Officers have confirmed all 3,582 applications made to the force have been risk assessed
Last updated 12th Jan 2024
Wiltshire Police have completed their urgent review of all 3,582 applications made to the force under the Clare's Law scheme.
They carried the review out after identifying critical failures in the service back in October - and found extra failures just last month.
Back in October, they made the urgent review after making a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over concerns linked to disclosures made under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme by one member of Wiltshire Police staff.
The force then committed to reviewing every single application made to them between April 2015 and August 2023.
Those dates are between when the member of staff worked within the Clare’s Law team - totalling 3,582 applications.
They've now confirmed a 'significant proportion' of those people who they identified as 'requiring immediate contact' have been contacted.
Wiltshire Police say for those who weren't contacted - they will keep trying, when it's safe or appropriate to do so.
Officers have also confirmed:
- 25 failures in their service have been identified
- Two of these failures have resulted in people being harmed
- Of the other failures, they believe 11 are 'administrative' and 12 are 'service failures' - meaning they didn't disclose where adequate research was done into the cases
- One member of staff remains suspended, subject to an independent IOPC investigation
- Around 45 staff members have been moved from the team that deals with Clare's Law for efficiency reasons
In total, four referrals have been made to the the IOPC (including the initial referral) which they are independently investigating.
Two of these are linked to failures where harm has been caused and the third relates to the organisational response of two previous IOPC referrals involving the same individual in 2019 and 2020
Officer say they remain fully engaged with the College of Policing who have reviewed their approach in addition to drawing on support and guidance from other police forces, public bodies and specialists in domestic abuse.
This has included working closely with the NPCC VAWG lead, DCC Maggie Blyth. Wiltshire Police is now part of a national team reviewing how police forces apply the Clare’s Law scheme legislation.
'This is a catastrophic service failure'
Chief Constable Catherine Roper said: “I was clear when I announced our review in October – this is a catastrophic service failure.
“We let many people down and we now know that our failures may have contributed to at least two people being harmed.
“I am so sorry – I remain appalled that this ever happened and it rightly sent shockwaves throughout our organisation.
“From the moment this came to light, I ensured dedicated resources were put in place to work around the clock to understand where we are failed, who might be at risk as a result of these failures and the urgent action we needed to take.
“The independent IOPC investigation is continuing, and we remain in weekly dialogue with them to discuss further referrals, assist them with their independent investigation and to ensure the right level of scrutiny continues to be applied to the work we are undertaking.
“The completion of 3,582 risk assessments reassures me that we are now able to identify the people who require our immediate support.
“However, I appreciate that this is completion of work which our communities rightly expected us to have done properly the first time around.
“I know we have badly let you down, but I ask again for your trust and urge you to come forward if you have any concerns or information regarding people at risk of domestic abuse.
“We have put more scrutiny in place than we’ve ever had into both the ongoing review but also the team who are assessing new Clare’s Law applications.
“I will continue to keep you updated on this matter.”
Anyone in immediate danger is urged to call 999.
You can also find out more about Clare's Law and how to make an application on the Wiltshire Police website.
Residents deserve best possible police service, says PCC
Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Philip Wilkinson said he will keep challenging the Police Force to deliver the best service possible, saying residents 'deserve' it.
The PCC said: “Wiltshire’s Chief Constable has been very clear in this instance these failures will have impacted some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.
“My primary concern will always be for them - those victims, or potential victims – and ensuring Wiltshire Police has the right amount of people and resources on hand to offer immediate help and support to those most at risk.
“Chief Constable Roper’s open and honest approach to informing communities, and subsequent apology, has my total support but we know many people have been badly let down and these failures may have contributed to at least two people being harmed. I remain appalled and horrified by this.
“However, I would still urge people who think they are risk to come to Wiltshire Police for help. I have been reassured by the Chief Constable’s leadership and the swift implementation of a robust review, which has ensured the Force’s focus will consistently remain on keeping victims safe from further harm and protecting those at risk of becoming potential victims.”