Thames Valley Police now has one of the country’s highest arrest rates for domestic abuse-related offences three years after the force’s short comings were highlighted by the inspectorate of constabulary, according to Jason Hogg who becomes chief constable in April.
“It was never in the report, but the inspectors told us informally that they identified what they described as domestic abuse fatigue,” Hogg, currently deputy chief constable, was quoted as saying by the This is Oxfordshire news website.
“Since then we have made domestic abuse a core priority in terms of our performance and we have three core measures which we have progressed over time.” They are: arrive at an incident quickly, be proactive in making arrests and focus on outcomes for the victims.
In his case, personal tragedy overlaps policing priorities. “I lost my mum when I was a child. She was a victim of domestic abuse and she was murdered when I was a child.
“It is not something I talk about often but it is something I feel passionately about and as chief constable, domestic abuse will certainly be at the forefront of everything I do because it is clearly the biggest group of some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”
He also commented: “Domestic incidents are number one for what officers attend and, sadly, they attend some cases multiple times because some vulnerable people are in those difficult relationships.”
