FOI 377785
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 377785
I write in connection with your request for information which was received on 11th December 2024. Please find below the response to your request:
1) The grading system and definition used when categorising calls as 'DA' or 'DV' within your police force.
2) The grade given, response time, and local authority/area police were called to for each domestic abuse incident from 1/11/23 to 1/11/24.
Reply
West Mercia police hold the information requested.
1) The grading system and definition used when categorising calls as 'DA' or 'DV' within your police force.
With regards to the grading system, we only have 4 grades:
- An emergency (max 20 minute response to scene)
- A priority (max 2 hr response to scene)
- Right Service/First Time resolution – not underpinned by timeliness of response but instead determines the most appropriate police resource, the best time/date/location and the wishes of the victim. We aspire to crime all recorded offences within 24hrs.
- Resolution without deployment of officers – speaking to the victim using Home Office approved video teleconferencing to record their disclosure – often used when the victim is reluctant to speak to an officer directly or where they prefer to undertake a video interview for personal reasons (which sometimes includes their limited availability, childcare etc).
All four grades are considered for all calls for service (including Domestic Abuse), but the grades are determined on an assessment of Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigative preferences, Vulnerability of the victim and Engagement with them during the call (A THRIVE assessment).
Whereas Grade 1 & 2 (Emergency & Priority response) is always chosen where there is an immediate or imminent risk, there are many situations where the victim chooses an alternative contact.
With regards to definitions of 'DA' or 'DV', We have a DA Working Practice and also a DA policy which state:
Domestic Incidents and Domestic abuse
What is domestic abuse?
Domestic abuse can include, but is not limited to, the following:
Coercive control (a pattern of intimidation, degradation, isolation and control with the use or threat of physical or sexual violence)
Psychological and/or emotional abuse
Physical or sexual abuse.
Financial or economic abuse.
Harassment and stalking.
Online or digital abuse.
Behaviour of a person [A] towards another person [B] is “domestic abuse” if A and B are aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other and the behaviour is abusive.
Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following:
Physical or Sexual abuse;
Violent or Threatening behaviour;
Economic Abuse;
Psychological, emotional or other abuse;
And it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct
2) The grade given, response time, and local authority/area police were called to for each domestic abuse incident from 1/11/23 to 1/11/24
|
Median response time [hh:mm:ss] of Grade 1,2 and 3 for Domestic Abuse Incidents, by LPA |
01/04/23 - 30/11/24 |
||
|
Priority 1 |
Priority 2 |
Priority 3 |
|
|
2023/24 - 01/04/23 - 31/03/24 |
|||
|
Force |
0:13:21 |
1:37:19 |
23:35:52 |
|
Herefordshire |
0:14:05 |
1:34:33 |
23:56:39 |
|
North Worcestershire |
0:11:31 |
0:59:53 |
17:31:32 |
|
Shropshire |
0:18:14 |
2:17:33 |
41:05:22 |
|
South Worcestershire |
0:13:02 |
1:39:21 |
34:30:12 |
|
Telford & Wrekin |
0:13:02 |
1:49:30 |
23:27:46 |
|
2024/25 - 01/04/24 - 30/11/24 |
|||
|
Force |
0:13:37 |
1:24:19 |
29:07:01 |
|
Herefordshire |
0:13:41 |
1:16:37 |
31:57:46 |
|
North Worcestershire |
0:12:17 |
1:07:07 |
19:45:09 |
|
Shropshire |
0:16:50 |
1:35:02 |
35:52:56 |
|
South Worcestershire |
0:13:18 |
1:23:55 |
46:35:23 |
|
Telford & Wrekin |
0:13:22 |
1:32:33 |
33:29:06 |
Caveats:
We are only able to provide results based solely on the Financial Year.
We are only able to give only the average response time for the domestic abuse incidents. In West Mercia Police and other forces, we use median response times because these provide a much more accurate picture of our calls for service and how these have been met. A response time is made up of numerous data sets, for instance, the time taken to answer the 999 call, the quantity of time that Dispatch take to allocate an officer and finally, the travel time of the officer to make it to the incident. These figures all contribute to the overall response time.
Grading our responses to calls for service from the public ensures that we prioritise the calls where people are in immediate danger or if a crime is in progress.
We use the THRIVE model when grading our calls for service. This means that we assess the Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigation, Vulnerability and Engagement (THRIVE) of the incident. We use this model to assess the most appropriate police response. Priority 1 are the most urgent with threats to life/injury etc and demand a quicker response than a Priority 3 call. The data is split out into these categories to provide a more accurate picture of the Force’s response to incidents.
Data Notes:
- The data has not been restricted by call source origin (e.g. 999, 101, email etc).
- The response times in all the tables are in the format Hours:Minutes:Seconds
- The median average calculation is used for average data and is based on incident created on the system and when the incident was attended by an officer.