Police actions after investigating a domestic disturbance - West Midlands Police, February 2017

On 13 February 2017 West Midlands Police responded to a report of a disturbance which resulted in them visiting an address in the Kitts Green area of Birmingham. Officers removed a man from the property and drove him some distance away so he could get a bus home. The man returned to the property later and assaulted the woman who lived there.

During the investigation, investigators interviewed the officers involved and examined information available at the time of the incident. The evidence was reviewed in line with current force and national policies on domestic violence.

The investigation found that there was sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable tribunal could conclude that two officers had a case to answer for misconduct for failing to recognise, and therefore appropriately deal with, a domestic violence incident.

After reviewing our report, the force agreed, but proposed to deal with this through the formal performance framework: both officers will be on a development plan to ensure they respond to all domestic violence incidents consistently and appropriately in the future.

We agreed that their proposals were appropriate in the circumstances.