FOI 3401 Domestic Violence Officers

I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 16 November 2011. Please find below the response to your request:

For the entirety of this request, ‘Domestic Violence Officers' include (but are not limited to) officers who specialise in domestic violence work, whether or not they are formally called Domestic Violence Officers.

For March 2010, March 2011 and October 2011, please tell me:

1. How many Domestic Violence Officers were in the force's establishment (excluding vacancies) at each point (measured in FTE and headcount)

2. How many of those Domestic Violence Officers were solely focused on domestic violence work at each point (i.e. their roles didn't involve other responsibilities)

3.How many civilian staff working on domestic violence were in the force's establishment (excluding vacancies) at each point (measured in FTE and headcount)

4. Please also detail any cuts to Domestic Violence Officer numbers, hours/specialism, or civilian staffing of domestic violence work, that are to be applied in 2011/12 and/or 2012/13 (please also indicate the extent to which this is accounted for in the above data for October 2011).

Further, for financial years 2010/11 and 2011/12, please tell me:

5. Whether the force operated/operates a dedicated Domestic Violence Unit in each year

6. How much funding was budgeted for the Domestic Violence Unit each year

7. In the absence of a dedicated Domestic Violence Unit, how much funding was budgeted for work on domestic violence each year

Reply 

The investigation of and management of risk relating to domestic abuse is a priority for West Mercia Police, working with partners.  All Officers have been trained in domestic abuse investigation and risk assessment.  We adopt an integrated approach with Front-line Officers and Staff working in partnership with Specialist Domestic Violence Officers and Staff to investigate and manage risk.

West Mercia Police adopted a Force-wide centralisation of Public Protection in September 2010.  The newly formed Force Public Protection Unit comprises of Child Protection Teams, Domestic Abuse Teams, Vulnerable Adult Teams and Offender Management Teams (Management of Sexual and Violent Offenders within MAPPA).  The Public Protection Unit has locally based teams within each of the five Territorial Policing areas within West Mercia (North Worcestershire, South Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin).

Within this structure there are the following staff dedicated to the investigation of and management of risk in domestic abuse cases:

• 5 Detective Sergeants
• 18 Constables
• 5 Police Staff Risk Assessors
• 4 Police Staff MARAC Co-ordinators
• 4.5 Police Staff Administrative Clerks

There are also 5 Detective Inspectors responsible for the management of the Public Protection Teams across West Mercia and one Detective Sergeant responsible for the development of policy and procedure and partnerships.

This level of resourcing has remained consistent since September 2010.  Prior to this, the staff deployed to these activities were part of a local CID structure within each of the then Basic Command Units (BCU's).  Resourcing information prior to September 2010 is therefore not held in a readily retrievable way and no direct comparison can be made.

At this time there are no identified plans to reduce the number of staff dedicated to the investigation and management of risk in domestic abuse.  West Mercia Police is currently engaged in a Strategic Alliance with Warwickshire Police, as a response to the most recent Comprehensive Spending Review.   The Strategic Alliance may result in some re-structuring during 2012, however, no decisions have yet been made in relation to Public Protection.

The Force Public Protection Unit has only been established since September 2010.  For the financial year 2010/11 to date the total employee costs are £3,599,187.  The year to date employee costs for the specialist staff dedicated to Domestic Abuse are £741,738. 

The budget for 2011/12 has not yet been set.