Police contact with a man and a woman before he murdered her - Sussex Police, August 2016
We investigated the contact Sussex Police had with a woman and a man before he went on to kill her in August 2016. The man was later found guilty of the woman’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Our investigation found that the woman had reported to Sussex Police that the man was stalking her in February 2016. The man was given words of advice over his behaviour. In March 2016 Sussex Police received a report that the man had allegedly assaulted the woman. When it was revealed that the woman had been in a relationship with the man after initially denying it, an officer warned her about wasting police time. Over the following months, she reported further incidents regarding the man, included him stealing her house key and entering her bedroom. Sussex Police never arrested the man on suspicion of stalking.
During the investigation, we found indications of possible misconduct or gross misconduct for 14 police staff and officers, who all provided evidence. Our investigators also interviewed multiple witnesses, some from within Sussex Police, and others who were personally known to the woman. They carefully analysed the response of Sussex Police to the man and the woman, against local policies, College of Policing guidance, and legislation.
Our investigation showed that police officers and staff reported feeling ill prepared to deal with allegations of stalking, and that training was not provided by Sussex Police to deal specifically with this issue. We made a number of learning recommendations to the force, as well as two national recommendations (see below).
Based on the evidence available, and after discussion with Sussex Police, three officers attended disciplinary proceedings.
One officer was found to have a case to answer for misconduct for not giving the woman an opportunity to respond to allegations made by the man and giving her ‘words of advice’ about wasting police time, and for failing to consider force policies on domestic abuse. As the officer was no longer serving, no further action was taken.
Another officer was found to have a case to answer for gross misconduct for not complying with force policy regarding protection from harassment and domestic abuse, failing to adequately address prevalent issues while dealing with the woman, and for failing to respond to a report made by the woman. The officer would have been dismissed had they still been a member of a police force. Their name was placed on the police barred list.
A third officer was given a written warning at a misconduct meeting after being found to have committed misconduct for not taking past incidents, or the domestic context of the woman’s allegations, into consideration when deciding on police course of action.
Three more officers received management action.
We completed our investigation in June 2018 but waited until all disciplinary proceedings had completed, in summer 2019, before publishing its outcomes.
IOPC reference
Recommendations
When officers or staff move to a different role they should be given training and support to carry out the new role. Transition training and support should also be made available.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police recognises that officers and staff need to be provided with the training and knowledge to undertake their roles effectively and provide the best possible service to the public. We are committed to providing continuous professional development through the ongoing delivery of training and guidance.
All new recruit Constables follow the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP). This is an extensive training plan that equips them with the broad academic and practical skills to undertake the role of a police officer. The training has a significant focus on safeguarding, ranging from how to identify and respond to vulnerability to domestic abuse, child protection and protecting vulnerable adults at risk. An enhanced session on stalking is provided by the Force lead to ensure officers are able to see the bigger picture, identify stalking behaviours and take appropriate action. All officers are taught how to effectively interview suspects using the national interview model (PEACE) and undertake risk assessments using DASH/S-DASH risk models that are available on our Single Combined Assessment of Risk Form (SCARF).
To improve our response frontline officers and staff across the Force have undertaken a mandatory Domestic Abuse Matters two day training package. Officer briefings have been delivered locally to ensure all officers and staff understand how to identify abuse, safeguard victims and hold perpetrators to account. Continuous Professional Development is achieved through the provision of online videos and training through the National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies (NCALT). Over 250 Domestic Abuse mentors have been trained and embedded across the Force to provide advice to colleagues and champion our response to Domestic Abuse.
Sussex Police have taken action to improve the provision of stalking training to officers and staff. 2,685 current officers and staff have completed a mandatory NCALT training package on stalking and harassment. The College of Policing have recently produced a new updated package that is currently being rolled out across Sussex and Surrey. Compliance is tracked centrally by Learning & Development, and Divisional Commanders and Departmental Heads are responsible for ensuring their staff are delivering a quality service. A bespoke vulnerability and stalking training programme has been delivered to over 800 frontline officers and staff across the Force in partnership with Veritas Justice (our independent stalking advocacy partner) to change culture and ensure the workforce recognises stalking patterns of behaviour and take positive action. This training has also been extended to wider criminal justice partners i.e. National Probation Service and Magistrates. Stalking and Harassment training is provided to all new recruits, Professionalising Investigation Programme (PIP) 1 Investigators and Call Handlers who join the Force. Additional training is provided by Investigative Training to PIP 2 Investigators. Enhanced stalking training is provided by the Detective Chief Inspector who holds the role of Stalking and Harassment Force lead. This training has been quality assured by Veritas Justice and is provided to all new recruits, investigators and call handlers. Additional inputs are provided to Divisional supervisor training days, Independent Advisory Groups and Magistrates. Over fifty Stalking and Harassment trained officer SPOCS (Single Points of Contacts) are in place across Sussex Police to review incidents brought to their attention by colleagues, provide support and champion our response to stalking.
Having significantly increased awareness of stalking across the workforce, in collaboration with Surrey Police, a new face to face stalking training package has been commissioned and is under development. This will ensure officers have all the skills required to investigate offences thoroughly and effectively. It will be delivered to all frontline officers and staff (including response and prevention officers, investigators, call takers and front office staff) to further improve their knowledge of stalking and will focus on improving standards of investigation. The package is being designed in consultation with the stalking leads from both forces to ensure it delivers the sufficient range of material and the right level of detail. Due to the links between domestic abuse and stalking, the training programme will refresh current risk assessments and will be rolled out starting in December 2019.
Sussex Police continues to update officers and staff through the use of team briefings with new developments and procedures to improve our response to stalking and domestic abuse. Intranet pages are kept up to date to provide a comprehensive warehouse of information that is accessible by frontline officers using their mobile data terminals.
When transitioning to a new role, officer and staff training needs are now assessed by their new line manager and a bespoke plan for that officer / staff member is developed and implemented promptly. Officers and staff also have personal responsibility to ensure their knowledge is up to date utilising training material made available by the force thematic leads and are supported by mentoring and buddy schemes locally within departments and across the Force.
Domestic Violence (DV) and stalking training should be made mandatory for all police officers and staff who may be needed to make an assessment in this regard, and there should be regular refresher training concerning the identification of such issues and the necessary risk assessments. This would be especially pertinent to staff involved in frontline work, and investigations. The IOPC recommends a review of current training involving DV and stalking, to verify if it is sufficient to allow officers to identify relevant issues, and to carry out the necessary risk assessments.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police has reviewed our approach to Domestic Abuse and Stalking and continues to update our policy and procedures. Stalking and domestic abuse training is mandatory for all staff and continuous professional development is provided to keep knowledge levels up to date. As a direct result, we have seen a significant increase in the number of stalking crimes identified and recorded that has in turn led to an increase in arrests and searches of premises. We undertake scheduled quality assurance dip checks and audits to ensure training is embedded and leads to improvements in operational delivery.
All new recruit Constables follow the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP). This is an extensive training plan that equips them with the broad academic and practical skills to undertake the role of a Police Officer. The training has a significant focus on safeguarding, ranging from how to identify and respond to vulnerability to domestic abuse, child protection and protecting vulnerable adults at risk. An enhanced session on stalking is provided by the Force lead to ensure officers are able to see the bigger picture, identify stalking behaviours and take appropriate action. All officers are taught how to effectively interview suspects using the national interview model (PEACE) and undertake risk assessments using DASH/S-DASH risk models that are available on our Single Combined Assessment of Risk Form (SCARF).
To improve our response frontline officers and staff across the Force have undertaken a mandatory Domestic Abuse Matters two-day training package. Officer briefings have been delivered locally to ensure all officers and staff understand how to identify abuse, safeguard victims and hold perpetrators accountable. Continuous Professional Development is achieved through the provision of online videos and training through the National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies (NCALT). Over 250 Domestic Abuse mentors have been trained and embedded across the Force to provide advice to colleagues and champion our response to Domestic Abuse.
Sussex Police have taken action to improve the provision of stalking training to officers and staff. 2,685 current officers and staff have completed a mandatory NCALT training package on stalking and harassment. The College of Policing have recently produced a new updated package that is currently being rolled out across Sussex and Surrey. Compliance is tracked centrally by Learning & Development, and Divisional Commanders and Departmental Heads are responsible for ensuring their staff complete it.
A bespoke vulnerability and stalking training programme has been delivered to over 800 frontline officers and staff across the Force in partnership with Veritas Justice (our independent stalking advocacy partner) to change culture and ensure the workforce recognises stalking patterns of behaviour and take positive action. This training has also been extended to wider criminal justice partners i.e. National Probation Service and Magistrates.
Stalking and Harassment training is provided to all new recruits, Professionalising Investigation Programme (PIP) 1 Investigators and Call Handlers who join the Force. Additional training is provided by Investigative Training to PIP 2 Investigators.
Enhanced stalking training is provided by the Detective Chief Inspector who holds the role of Stalking and Harassment Force lead. This training has been quality assured by Veritas Justice and is provided to all new recruits, investigators and call handlers. Additional inputs are provided to Divisional supervisor training days, Independent Advisory Groups and Magistrates.
Over 50 Stalking and Harassment trained officer SPOCs (Single Points of Contacts) are in place across Sussex Police to review incidents brought to their attention by colleagues, provide support and champion our response to stalking.
In collaboration with Surrey Police a new face-to-face mandatory stalking training package has been commissioned and is under development. It will be delivered to all frontline officers and staff (including response and prevention officers, investigators, call takers and front office staff) to further improve their knowledge of stalking and will focus on improving standards of investigation. The package is being designed in consultation with the stalking leads from both forces to ensure it delivers the sufficient range of material and the right level of detail. Due to the links between domestic abuse and stalking, the training programme will refresh current risk assessments and will be rolled out in December 2019.
Sussex Police continues to update officers and staff through the use of team briefings with new developments and procedures to improve our response to stalking and domestic abuse. Intranet pages are kept up to date to provide a comprehensive warehouse of information that is accessible by frontline officers using their mobile data terminals.
When an officer’s role on an investigation is complete or an offence has already been dealt with, this should be updated immediately on computer systems.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
All new stalking crimes reported must always be allocated to a specified named officer on duty to contact the victim face to face and undertake an investigation; this officer’s details are recorded on the Niche Occurrence Enquiry Log (OEL) crime report. All officers have personal responsibility for ensuring data accuracy by updating the Niche report when their role has concluded and promptly filing investigations that have been completed. Tasks are created in Niche to clearly show call takers when an investigation is transiting from one department to another i.e. frontline to investigations, in which case personal contact is made to a supervisor in accordance with the THRIVE assessment.
Call takers will undertake a Niche search to determine whether any live investigations are ongoing, linking the CADS and confirming that the investigation has not concluded. Any new information for existing investigations will be added to the Niche record and brought to the attention of the existing investigating Officer or allocated to a new named Officer on duty in accordance with the THRIVE assessment.
Consideration should be given to recording a new incident with every call. This would ensure that information that is coming in is reviewed and appropriate action taken. This is especially pertinent when both the victim and perpetrator have markers for stalking, domestic violence, or any other serious or complex matter.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police have made changes to Contact Centre guidance and call handlers have been trained not to update any closed incidents with new information; this is now business as usual within the Force Contact Centre and quality assurance has been undertaken to confirm this is embedded. Instead, a new record is created every time a new call is received and the circumstances are subject to a THRIVE assessment to assess the risk and determine the Police response. Call takers will undertake a Niche search to determine whether any live investigations are ongoing, linking the CADS and confirming that the investigation has not concluded. Any new information for existing investigations will be added to the Niche record and brought to the attention of the existing investigating Officer or allocated to a new named Officer on duty in accordance with the THRIVE assessment.
Contact Centre staff have received crime recording and stalking training. They understand what constitutes a ‘course of conduct’ and recognise stalking patterns of behaviour to identify offences and record crime accurately.
Sussex Police have implemented mandatory flagging in Niche for all stalking victims and perpetrators. This enables all officers and staff to quickly identify vulnerability so appropriate action can be taken.
Sussex Police should ensure all current police staff and police officers are trained and reminded to use the most effective search technique when searching for telephone numbers.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police has introduced vulnerability and THRIVE training to all staff that includes the requirement that thorough intelligence checks are undertaken to gather all available information to conduct accurate risk assessments.
Within the Force Contact Centre, call handlers have been specifically trained and tutored how to undertake computer system checks on any phone numbers provided by the caller to determine whether they have come to Police attention before.
Following implementation in 2014, effective use of the Niche crime and intelligence system is now business as usual and all officers and staff now have a good knowledge and understanding of how to use it to undertake intelligence searches including phone numbers.
Guidance on how to undertake effective searches of phone numbers has been updated within the Force Contact Centre and quality assurance has been undertaken to check staff understanding.
Sussex Police should ensure that the DASH forms used on the Single Combined Assessment of Risk Form (SCARF) automatically prompt officers to ask the eleven S-DASH questions when a positive response to Question 8 is given.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police have updated the SCARF to include a warning dialogue box to prompt completion of the S-DASH if Q8 is answered affirmatively. A technical fix has also been put in place to ensure the S-DASH opens automatically when the DASH document is completed. Mobile data terminals have also been updated so officers cannot close the SCARF without completing the S-DASH.
Daily scrutiny through the Divisional Daily Management Meeting process takes place to ensure that the risk assessment is correctly completed for all crimes of stalking.
Sussex Police have updated the SCARF to include a warning dialogue box to prompt completion of the S-DASH if Q8 is answered affirmatively. A technical fix has also been put in place to ensure the S-DASH opens automatically when the DASH document is completed. Mobile data terminals have also been updated so officers cannot close the SCARF without completing the S-DASH.
Daily scrutiny through the Divisional Daily Management Meeting process takes place to ensure that the risk assessment is correctly completed for all crimes of stalking.
Sussex Police should ensure that all practitioners are adequately prepared and trained to complete risk assessments fully.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police has taken action to ensure that all officers and staff know when and how to complete the S-DASH questions.
Force policy directs that the S-DASH question set should be completed in all instances of stalking and harassment. A comprehensive communications strategy including briefings, video logs and utilising Force Stalking SPOCs has been delivered to ensure the workforce understands where the S-DASH is located and how to complete it. Completion rates form part of the performance pack scrutinised at the Force Vulnerability Board and Divisions have a process to quality check recorded stalking offences on a daily basis through their Daily Management Meeting processes to ensure the S-DASH is completed for all incidents of stalking.
The bespoke vulnerability and stalking training programme delivered to over 800 frontline officers and staff across the Force in partnership with Veritas Justice included coverage of the S-DASH question set as did the mandatory NCALT training package that has been completed by 2685 officers and staff.
All officers and staff have received mandatory Domestic Abuse Matters training where the DASH and S-DASH are referenced to risk assess domestic abuse and stalking. All new recruits, PIP 1 and 2 staff investigators receive bespoke training on identifying signs of abuse and how to complete the DASH and S-DASH.
Computer systems have been updated to enable officers to complete the DASH and S-DASH on their mobile data terminals and technical fixes implemented to prevent cases being submitted without the correct forms being completed.
Learning from our experiences, Sussex Police is influencing the national picture by working with partners to develop models to improve the assessment of risk. Collaborating closely with the College of Policing, National Police Chief’s Council, Veritas Justice and others, we are exploring a number of options and will be piloting the new approach to test its effectiveness. An academic study, commissioned by the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, is being utilised to further improve our understanding how to identify the risk posed by stalking offenders so we can respond quickly and effectively.
Sussex Police should consider prohibiting Resolution Centre staff from investigating allegations of stalking and consider introducing a policy where, wherever practical, statements from victims are taken face-to-face.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police have taken action to ensure the Investigation and Resolution Centre (IRC) does not investigate any offences of stalking as their role does not enable them to meet victims in person. All incidents of stalking identified and recorded by the Force Contact Centre are now allocated to an officer on duty to make face to face contact and take ownership of the investigation – no recorded crimes of stalking are passed to the IRC. Call takers have received bespoke training to inform them of this change and IRC policy and internal procedures have been updated and amended. An additional level of compliance is achieved by the IRC triage supervisor who reviews all crimes passed to the unit to ensure they meet the required criteria.
Three Stalking and Harassment SPOCs are members of the team within the IRC. They provide training, guidance and advice to colleagues to help them identify stalking patterns of behaviours. Where stalking offences are subsequently identified, for example, a criminal damage is reviewed and recognised as part of a broader offence of stalking, these investigations are promptly removed from the IRC and allocated to the appropriate Safeguarding Investigation Unit (SIU) or Divisional Investigations team for further investigation.
Sussex Police should reconsider the appropriateness of issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) to victims of domestic abuse for wasting police time.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police have reviewed our approach to using fixed penalty notices (FPN) in cases of Domestic Abuse and updated our guidance to comply with the College of Policing’s Approved Professional Practice that states FPNs should not be used for cases of Domestic Abuse.
Compliance with this policy is overseen by the Force’s Domestic Abuse Scrutiny Group. No FPNs have been issued for wasting police time in cases of Domestic Abuse since December 2017.
Sussex Police should ensure that warning markers and history markers are reflected in all systems which officers or staff may use to research suspects or victims, and for the relevant people involved.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police has taken action to ensure staff can easily identify victims and suspects of stalking. When recording a stalking crime, officers and staff must create a stalking flag for each victim and suspect within the Niche crime recording and intelligence database. A technical solution has been implemented to prevent a crime recording process being completed without the flag being added.
Flags enable all officers and staff conducting research and THRIVE assessments to clearly identify perpetrators and victims of offences; it also helps us identify repeat stalking offenders. Local history markers are added to the Web storm system by officers to ensure specific safeguarding action takes place or a specific officer response is required.
Guidance has been produced, force policy updated and a communications strategy developed and delivered to ensure the workforce recognise
Stalking flags and understand their importance. Daily scrutiny through the Daily Management Meeting (DMM) process ensures the flags are in place.
Sussex Police should consider adapting their finalisation letters to include a clear description of the incident to which the letter relates.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police are committed to ensuring victims are kept fully updated in line with the Victims’ Code. We have a new Victims Force Lead at Superintendent level who has undertaken a force wide review to ensure we deliver the key entitlements of the Code, support vulnerable victims and build confidence in the Criminal Justice System and Sussex Police.
Due to all stalking offences being allocated to a Police Officer for investigation, victims will not receive a pro-forma finalisation letter. It is the responsibility of the investigating officer to contact the victim(s) and ensure that they understand the investigation has been concluded and why it is being finalised.
In collaboration with a victim’s external reference group, Sussex Police has reviewed the pro-forma finalisation letters which are posted to victims of crime who have not had their incident allocated to a Police officer or staff member to investigate. Listening to what victims want, the letter format has been updated to include the date of the incident, the Home Office Classification and a description of the offence to ensure the recipient understands which incident or report the letter relates to.
Sussex Police should create a descriptor within the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system (Webstorm) to clearly identify reports of stalking.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police has created new descriptors within the Web storm (Incident Recording) System to clearly identify reports. Three new opening codes, C_Stalking, C_Harassment and C_MalComms have been created and went live following a nationwide Niche upgrade in July 2019. These new descriptors ensure frontline officers recognise the incident they are deployed to is associated with stalking patterns of behaviour and take appropriate action.
The quality and customer service team within the Force Contact Centre has undertaken a recent audit to ensure these codes are being used accurately. This quality assurance will continue to take place to ensure these are embedded as business as usual.
Sussex Police should consider resourcing the Safeguarding Investigations Unit (SIU) to deal more promptly with secondary risk assessments. [Should there be a delay in a secondary assessment, apparent risks identified in the initial assessment should be managed in the meantime.]
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Resources within our Safeguarding Investigation Unit (SIU) teams have been significantly increased since their inception in 2014, with an increase of staff in 2015/16, 2017/18 and most recently an additional 25 officers in 2019/20 as a result of the precept increase. There are still challenges in some areas to recruit and retain officers and staff in SIU’s, especially detectives, reflecting the national picture. This recognition of increasing demand has been supported at force level, for example, the recent posting of 10 members of police staff to Crawley SIU in December 2018 to help redress the detective vacancies in that team.
A force-level Investigations Programme has already taken action on a number of steps to address the issue of detective capacity. The recent national commitment to substantially increase police officer recruitment over the next four years, currently being implemented, will also help in this important area.
Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) & SIU detective supervisors review SCARF submissions from the previous 24 hours on a daily basis. There are currently no delays in secondary assessments being undertaken by detective supervisors within SIUs and all Medium and High Risk stalking cases are referred to Veritas Justice when the SCARF is submitted to the MASH. Veritas Justice undertakes a secondary risk assessment with the victim using the Screening Assessment for Stalking and Harassment (SASH).
Public Protection remains a Force priority and is committed to ensuring sufficient resources are available to manage demand. Sexual Offence Investigation Trained (SOIT) officers have now become operational (deployed in September 2018 and Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) trained in October 2018). These 24 Police staff have greatly assisted the local SIU teams in providing an enhanced service to victims of Sexual offences and create capacity for staff to focus on investigations. Public Protection is continuing to recruit additional PIP1 and PIP2 Police staff investigators.
Sussex Police should revise their policies to accurately reflect that risk assessments must be carried out in all instances of stalking. Further, officers should be instructed to complete both the DASH and S-DASH risk assessment tools in all instances of stalking.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police has updated Force policy to clearly direct that the S-DASH question set should be completed in all instances of stalking and harassment (domestic and non-domestic). A comprehensive communications strategy including briefings, video logs and utilising Force Stalking SPOCs has been delivered to ensure the workforce understands this requirement. Completion rates form part of the performance pack scrutinised at the Force Vulnerability Board and Divisions each have a process to quality check recorded stalking offences on a daily basis through their DMM processes to ensure the S-DASH is completed.
In cases of non-domestic abuse, the DASH does not aide officers in the accurate assessment of risk, consequently Sussex Police do not give that direction. The position is supported by academics with specialist knowledge in this area. We are concerned that due to the victim’s lack of knowledge about the perpetrator in non-domestic abuse incidents, victims would not be able to answer the vast majority of DASH questions which could lead to officers underestimating the risk. Our position is consistent with information received from the National Police Chief Council (NPCC) lead, Deputy Chief Constable Mills, in his letter dated 27th June 2019, that invites Forces to consider whether they may wish to adopt both forms.
Learning from our experiences, Sussex Police is influencing the national picture by working with partners to develop models to improve the assessment of risk. Collaborating closely with the College of Policing, NPCC, Veritas Justice and others, we are exploring a number of options and will be piloting the new approach to test its effectiveness. An academic study, commissioned by the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, is being utilised to further improve our understanding of how to identify the risk posed by stalking offenders so we can respond quickly and effectively.
Sussex Police should consider including risk assessment tools on mobile data terminals, to ensure all relevant questions are explored with the victim, to avoid loss of information and delays, and to ensure the accuracy of the information.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Sussex Police enabled the Single Combined Assessment of Risk Form (SCARF) to be accessed from all mobile data terminals on 16th January 2018. This allows frontline officers to undertake and submit risk assessments promptly, reducing the need to return to the Police station and improving the efficiency of referrals to partner support agencies. A new Niche Public Protection Module is planned for, that will enable officers and staff to search SCARF data more effectively and develop a better safeguarding response.
Sussex Police should address the gap in training for all current police staff and police officers concerning ‘words of advice’ and the suitability of Police Information Notices (PINs).
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Through training delivery and our corporate communications strategy, Sussex Police have ensured officers and staff recognise the risks posed by stalkers and the need to take positive action; Force Policy has been updated to require officers to arrest the perpetrator in all incidents of stalking or record a clear justification on the OEL if they decide not to do so.
Sussex Police ceased using Police Information Notices (PINS) on 19th September 2017; a technical solution prevents officers from being able to access the document. Communication of this decision has been delivered across the force using a variety of methods including priority messages, routine orders, briefing slides and divisional and departmental newsletters.
Force policy and our internal intranet pages have been updated to reflect that PINs and words of advice are not to be used to resolve any cases of stalking. Audits were conducted by the Public Protection Strategy and Compliance team for the period of a year following their withdrawal to ensure that PINs were not used.
The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for stalking has issued a letter to Chief Constables clarifying that Police Information Notices (PINs), in any form, should not be issued in cases that involve stalking or harassment. All forces should satisfy themselves that PINs (or equivalent) are not being used by officers in cases that involve stalking or harassment.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
The National Police Chiefs' Council sent a letter to all Chiefs Constables on 5 September 2019 which includes the following:
"The National Police Chiefs’ Council are committed to improving the experience of victims of stalking and harassment offences. Accordingly, I fully support the recommendation made by the IOPC and would respectfully invite you, if you have not done so before, to consider the withdrawal of PINs within your policing area with immediate effect. Furthermore, once these notices have been withdrawn, I would ask you to satisfy yourselves that PINs or their equivalent are not still being used by officers when responding to these offences.
Finally, I would like to remind you that these changes do not relate to notices that have previously been issued and these should remain on police force record management systems."
The College of Policing (CoP) and National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) should work together to address how best to ensure forces use a skills and needs assessment approach to ensure each officer/staff member is fully equipped to perform the role they are in. This should also apply when an officer/staff member changes roles. In addition, the CoP should work with the NPCC to ensure forces have processes for senior level consideration of high-risk areas of policing so that locally mandated continuous professional development (CPD) for officers and staff is identified, delivered and audited
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
Chief Constable Giles York, NPCC Lead for Workforce, will write to all Chief Constables to highlight the national learning that has arisen from this case and to emphasise the expectation for forces to ensure that line managers are aware of the importance of undertaking a suitable assessment of skills, competence and development needs for individual officers and staff members in their current roles or when commencing a new role. The letter will also include the expectation for CPD to be provided to officers and staff working in specialist policing roles dealing with high risk.
Chief Constable York is taking forward a proposal to the College of Policing Professional Committee and Chief Constables’ Council to develop materials to support line managers to assess the skills of staff taking up new roles, particularly officers and staff taking up high risk roles and/or returning to policing after extended absences.
If the proposal is supported, this will encourage consistency across forces and provide a tool for supervisors to equip officers and staff with skills, training and mentors (as appropriate) to identify and manage risk, and effectively investigate different incidents and crime types. The proposal will also contain mandatory, auditable CPD for specialist high risk areas of policing. The work will be progressed in partnership with the College of Policing.