Page 7 - Bedfed Conf2016 Flip Book

Home Secretary theresa May says there is still a long way to go in improving the way police treat victims of abuse.
In her keynote speech to officers on the first day of the annual Police Federation conference, she praised the progress that had been made in the past two years, but stipulated more had to be done.
Ms May said that in the last two years, real improvements have been made with every police force in england and Wales now having an action plan in place to tackle domestic abuse and, for the first time, forces are collecting data against a national standard on all domestic abuse recorded crimes.
She said the use of body-worn video is improving the collection of evidence and, in the recent police and crime commissioner elections, domestic abuse was mentioned more than any other crime as a priority in candidates’ manifestos.
But she continued: “victims of abuse are still being let down and reports are not being taken seriously enough. The right skills, training, and commitment to protect the vulnerable are still not held by every single police officer. And while the new powers that we introduced are effective, they are not being used anywhere near as systematically as they could be.
“We continue to see examples of the same shameful attitude that HMIC uncovered in 2013. We know of officers who develop inappropriate relationships with victims of domestic abuse. They have ignored their professional duty and their moral responsibility, and instead abused their position of power to exploit victims.
“We do not know the true scale of this, but everyone in this room will know it goes on far more than we might care to admit. So today I have written to Sir Tom Winsor to ask HMIC to investigate this issue during its legitimacy inspections later this year.”
She continued: “As HMIC found last year, not a single police force in england and Wales is outstanding at protecting those who are vulnerable from harm and supporting victims, and 31 forces are judged to be either inadequate or requiring
“improvement. That suggests that
THeSe ReFORMS WILL MeAN THAT, IN FuTuRe, vICTIMS CAN HAve CONFIDeNCe THAT THe POLICe WILL TAKe THeSe CRIMeS AS SeRIOuSLy AS ANy OTHeR. AND IT WILL MeAN THAT yOu - AS POLICe OFFICeRS - ARe NOT FORCeD TO TAKe ON THe RISK AND ReSPONSIBILITy OF INveSTIGATING CRIMeS FOR WHICH yOu HAve NOT BeeN PRePAReD OR TRAINeD PROFeSSIONALLy.
substantially more police forces are effective at tackling drug dealers or stamping out anti-social behaviour than are effective at protecting vulnerable victims from rape, domestic abuse or modern slavery.
“These cases are difficult and complex for all the reasons we know about.
“Often, you will be forced to come to terms with abhorrent forms of criminality and look through harrowing images, which can weigh heavily on morale and have consequences for investigating officers’ mental health.
“But you must not let increasing caseloads and complex investigations slow improvement or hinder further change. Or let the failure of your superiors to find efficiencies elsewhere pile pressure on officers already stretched and overloaded. There is no excuse for investigative teams not being resourced effectively. Because the number of people now coming forward demonstrates just how much was previously hidden, neglected, or ignored, and how many people are now starting to trust the police again.”
Ms May commended the changes being made by the Federation including that officers must now voluntarily join, the modernisation of IT and the ‘change programme’ which is underway.
She praised chair, Steve White, and general secretary, Andy Fittes, for their hard work and commitment to change under the Federation’s own independent review, despite setbacks and delays.
She said: “you have recognised that the Police Federation will be more representative, more credible and more professional as a result.”
She also touched on the Hillsborough inquest, saying the police needed ‘to face up to the past and right the wrongs that continue to jeopardise the work of police officers today’.
She said: “Historical inquiries are not archaeological excavations. They are not purely exercises in truth and reconciliation. They do not just pursue resolution; they are about ensuring justice is done. Justice: it’s what you deal in. It is your business. And you, the police, are its custodians.
“We must never under-estimate how the poison of decades-old misdeeds seeps down through the years and is just as toxic today as it was then. That’s why difficult truths, however unpalatable they may be, must be confronted head-on.”
She continued: “So we must not let the
lessons of Hillsborough and other past injustices go unheeded, and we must not be afraid to face up to the challenges of today.”
Finally, Ms May announced she will bring forward proposals with the College of Policing to develop minimum training and standards for certain specialist roles and to give the college responsibility to enforce those standards through a system of national accreditation.
This will deliver higher standards for specialist investigators, including for domestic abuse and child sexual abuse, and ensure that these are as rigorously and as consistently applied in protecting the vulnerable as they are in other critical areas like firearms and public order.
“These reforms will mean that, in future, victims can have confidence that the police will take these crimes as seriously as any other. And it will mean that you - as police officers - are not forced to take on the risk and responsibility of investigating crimes for which you have not been prepared or trained professionally,” she said.
“And if any of you still doubts whether this is possible – whether policing really can change – just look back at the last six years and consider what you have achieved.”
OURREPsAYs
“As expected, Theresa May started off by praising the bravery and hard work of officers and finished with a request for us to keep up the good work. The bit in the middle was a tempered bashing, from confusing the failings of senior officers at Hillsborough 27 years ago with her audience present today, to an instruction that the police must do much better when it comes to dealing with domestic violence, modern slavery and rape and a veiled threat that Federations must reduce their assets or she would bring in legislation to force it to happen.
“I believe good praise either side of a telling off is known as some kind of unsavoury sandwich. Her speech was calmer and more measured this year though and she seemed to have taken on a relatively softer side. But I still wouldn’t want her as my mother- in-law.
“During Q & As she insisted the extended roll-out of Taser was an issue for chief constables. She would not pledge further money for training or equipment but hinted that certain funds could be bid for. The audience listened intently and applauded her graciously which shows a better relationship than in previous years. Three words I would use to describe this session would be: dragon wears Louboutin.”
Steve andrews
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