Our thanks go to Detective Constable Richard Brain for this overview of an average day in the Domestic Abuse Investigation and Support Unit
A day in the life of a DAISU officer.
My day as a DAISU Detective Constable is busy and varied. On an average day the team will receive around 50-60 domestic abuse reports of which around 30-35 will be classified as crimes with the remainder classified as incidents – where Police have attended but no crime is deemed to have taken place.
On a Monday morning those numbers are much higher as the time period covered is 72 hours. It’s usual to have reports of 170-200 incidents of which 110-120 will be classified as crimes. Of these reports in around 70-75% of incidents there were children present at the address.
The victim split is roughly 80% women and 20% men. It is encouraging to see male victims are more prepared to come forward and seek help these days. We would actively encourage all victims to have the confidence to report whatever their gender or sexuality.
The average number of prisoners on any day is 6-10 of which 30% will be high risk offenders.
This workload is shared out amongst a team of on average 8-10 officers per shift.
On arrival I will check my workload and emails and prioritise what I need to do for the day ahead. Examples of what I may be called to do are:
Actions from the Crown Prosecution Service for live cases progressing through the Courts,
Victims wanting further safeguarding advice and updates on their cases and requests from colleagues.
Dealing with general enquiries.
Mid-morning I will be allocated a prisoner in custody by the duty sergeant following which I will review the evidence provided. This normally includes a handover from the arresting officer and statements from victims and witnesses. Outstanding enquiries are identified and organised. These could include asking local officers to complete house-to-house interviews to obtain additional witness statements. The prisoner’s Police history is reviewed from the PNC and local databases for offending behaviour and any previous domestic abuse history between the victim and offender.
Either I or my team will visit or call the victim and the Police procedure will be explained and their needs and concerns listened to. The risk of the victim is assessed by completing a DASH risk assessment. The victim’s safeguarding needs are discussed and actioned. This could include organising extra home security, making referrals to independent charities and MARAC – a committee of professionals which assesses high risk cases.
We will plan for the offender interview to ensure all relevant offences are covered at that interview. We will liaise with Custody to see if there are any welfare needs for the offender, organise a solicitor or appropriate adult if required. Disclosure is provided to the solicitor as to why their client is in Custody. Introductions are made to the offender and they are then taken for private consultation with their solicitor. The offender is then interviewed to gain their side of the story and the officer will challenge their account if required.
The duty sergeant is then informed of what was said in interview. A written account is prepared for Crown Prosecution Service advice. This includes the risk, the history of the parties, accounts from the victim, suspect and witnesses. The account is uploaded onto the computer system along with all relevant evidence, which can include statements and photos. The officer will then call the CPS and speak to a lawyer and gain a charging decision.
Once a charge has been gained the victim is updated and safeguarding reviewed again. A risk assessment is also completed on the offender. The officer then adds the charges to the computer system and attends custody where the Custody Sergeant reads the charges out to the offender. The final task of the officer is to prepare a full file for court and carry out any further actions required on the case, keeping the victim updated at all times.
Clare’s Law – the Domestic Abuse Disclosure Scheme
DAISU also administers the Clare’s Law scheme under which members of the public have the right to ask if their partner has a history of violent or abusive behaviour. Checks will be made by police and information will be revealed where there is reason for concern. The team respond to the online applications under this scheme. More information here: https://bit.ly/2RCK3iW
Successes
DAISU has had some notable successes which have been covered by local and national press. One of the most high profile of these was the conviction of Stephen Gane with DI Sally Phillips leading the investigation. Read more here: https://bit.ly/2oRojH4