UK Inquiry Tracker

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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

Force Response

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 … Read moreAccepted 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. Show less

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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 … Read more

Force Response

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 … Read moreAccepted 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. Show less

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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 … Read more

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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 … Read more

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

Sussex Police should ensure that all practitioners are adequately prepared and trained to complete risk assessments fully. Do you accept the recommendation? Yes

Force Response

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 … Read moreAccepted 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. Show less

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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 Read more

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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.] … Read more

Force Response

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 … Read moreAccepted 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. Show less

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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 … Read more

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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 … Read more

Force Response

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 … Read more

Recommendation to Sussex Police Accepted

Recommendation

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

Force Response

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 … Read more

National recommendation Accepted

Recommendation

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 … Read more

Force Response

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. … Read more

National recommendation Accepted

Recommendation

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 … Read more

Force Response

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 … Read more

Police contact with a man and a woman before he murdered her - Sussex Police, August 2016

Recommendations (18)