Police response to safety concern for a child – West Yorkshire Police, July 2022

On 27 July 2022, a member of the public, contacted West Yorkshire Police (WYP) to report concerns for the welfare of a child. The call taker assessed the call as low risk and graded the call as standard requiring a response within 48 hours.

On 29 July 2022 officers attended the address and found two children inside. One of the children required hospitalisation and the parents were arrested. While in hospital, one of the children disclosed details of neglect and abuse inflicted by their parents.

During our investigation we reviewed telephone calls, obtained witness statements from several witnesses, and examined local and national policies and procedures.

During the investigation, we identified that a member of police staff may have behaved in a manner that could justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings. They co-operated with the investigation and provided accounts.

After reviewing all evidence, we concluded that the member of police staff did not have a case to answer for misconduct, however we recommended they receive line management advice.

We completed our investigation in January 2023.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

In this case, the investigation identified organisational learning relating to contacting social services and reviewing standard low risk logs. We issued recommendations under the legislative power, section 10 of the Police Reform Act 2002.