Number of Domestic Violence officers halved

The number of PSNI officers in Derry, Strabane and Limavady with a dedicated domestic violence remit has been halved in an unpublicised move, Derry News has learned.

There were previously six domestic violence officers across the area, this has now been reduced to three. The area covered has also been expanded to include Omagh, in County Tyrone.

In addition, an ongoing pilot project involving the PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in which police are no longer required to submit all domestic abuse investigation files to the PPS, means alleged perpetrators may now not be charged with any offence.

A PPS spokesperson told The Derry News: “The pilot, which started in November 2023 and is running for 18 months, includes robust quality assurance measures and safeguards including specifically on cases involving potential domestic abuse.

“The pilot is the result of detailed work between the PSNI and the PPS, with oversight from the Criminal Justice Board, and we have engaged extensively with key stakeholders, including Women’s Aid and other victims’ groups, on it.

“It is in recognition that a new, more proportionate approach is needed to deliver some services, particularly in the context of the long-term financial and resourcing pressures on both organisations. However, given the safeguards built in, it is not the case that fewer cases than would have done before are proceeding to court, and neither is that its intention.

“Tackling domestic abuse is a key priority of the PPS and we take our responsibilities to victims extremely seriously. We handle all cases we receive from police in line with our Policy for Prosecuting Cases of Domestic Abuse, and consider them carefully, sensitively and objectively.”

Under the previous operating model, police investigators had to submit all files to the PPS where an offence was suspected to have taken place, where there was an identifiable suspect and where there was any evidence, however weak, to link the suspect to the crime.

This included files where in the view of the investigating officer, the evidential Test for Prosecution could not be met.

According to the PPS spokesperson: “Under the No File Decision pilot, police are not required to submit certain files where a recommendation not to prosecute is made for each of the suspects in the case, and where it is appropriate to take no further action.”

Marie Brown, CEO of Foyle Women’s Aid and the Family Justice Centre, said she intended to raise the reduction in domestic violence officers locally at the Derry Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP). 

“Belfast has between 12 and 14 domestic violence officers, which is not a fair allocation. There are clearly issues around equality of services for the West,” she said.

A PSNI spokesperson confirmed there had been three domestic violence officers at Strand Road barracks, covering Derry city, Limavady and Strabane “for at least five years”.

The spokesperson said: “The PSNI Public Protection Branch mirror the Health Trust boundaries - Western Trust will therefore cover more than one police District (including Fermanagh and Omagh, and Derry City and Strabane).

“Currently there are three Public Protection Branch Domestic Abuse (DA) officers based in Strand Road that cover Limavady town, Derry City and Strabane. There are also three DA officers based in Omagh that cover Fermanagh and Omagh, however, if and when required, they can also serve Derry City and Strabane. 

“This has been the situation for at least five years.”

Prosecutions at courts and case processing time for domestic abuse related cases dealt with in 2022/23 to 2023/24 have been published by @Justice_NI

Read more at: https://t.co/jlgRRtzXBH pic.twitter.com/Lh35FRpw80

— Justice NI (@Justice_NI) January 7, 2025

Awareness about the reduction in domestic violence officers came as figures released by the Department for Justice this week showed the Derry City and Strabane District Council area recorded the second highest number of convictions for domestic abuse related offences in the North in 2022/23.

There were 106 domestic abuse convictions in Derry and Strabane, compared to 222 in Belfast. 

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon was third with 93 convictions. The total number of convictions across all 11 local government districts was 840.

Also released this week, the 2023/24 statistics showed an overall increase in the number of convictions to 1,515.

Of those, Derry and Strabane had 153 convictions, third behind Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon with 214 convictions, and Belfast with 398.

The figures related to cases where there was a conviction for at least one offence prosecuted under the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021. They also related to cases dealt with at Crown Court and magistrates’ courts.

Marie Brown highlighted that the way in which domestic violence figures are being calculated has also changed. 

“This happened under the Tory Government when the Home Office re-examined how domestic violence figures were counted,” she said.

“What we have now is that with one person there will be a range of incidents counted as one case of domestic violence. 

“They are not counting individual incidents, which makes it look like less domestic violence is taking place. In spite of this however the figures are up. For anyone wondering why this is, it is about resourcing. 

“In England, Scotland and Wales all of the police services were given extra money to tackle domestic violence but the PSNI wasn’t given any. That is the key issue for us, the PSNI is not being given the money to focus on domestic violence victims.

“15 or 16 years ago we had a lot more going on in terms of dealing with domestic violence. The situation is worse now. We need to resource this work,” said Ms Brown.

Marie Brown said the PPS-PSNI pilot project should be referred to the Human Rights Commission.

“We need to see if it is happening elsewhere and if is it safe? Is it the case that breaches of court orders are not being taken forward to the PPS?” she added.

“We also have to ask who within the PSNI is going to look at the domestic violence incident files and make the decision whether or not to forward them to the PPS? 

“We only have to look at the Katie Simpson case to see that the two officers involved have retired. That was a family in a police station, begging, saying there is a lot of information here. 

“I understand, Justice Minister Naomi Long has since brought in guidelines stating that during investigations, PSNI officers can’t retire. 

“Questions need to be asked about how we are going to keep victims safe. How are we going to ensure confidence in the system?” said Ms Brown.

A Department of Justice spokesperson told The Derry News: “The decision whether or not to allow an officer to retire is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.”

Marie Brown said, while it was good the number of convictions for domestic abuse related offences was going up, there were “lots of perpetrators breaching court orders and being prosecuted”.

She added: “We know that a lot of women aren’t even going to the police, they are just getting non-molestation orders and not reporting offences at all. 

“If they do ring the police they are being told, ‘There is no-one here’ or ‘We just have your word’.  Women are worn out or fed up proving the breach.

“I would like to see the PSNI taking a more proactive approach - taking finger prints off doors and using camera footage. 

“Domestic violence legislation needs resourced. It was passed here without funding and it was watered down in comparison to England. For example, housing was taken out of it. 

“There is a pressing issue here around housing and homelessness. Women experiencing domestic violence are often not  able to afford accommodation whereas in England they are placed in a safe place as a priority,” said MsBrown.

It emerged on Thursday, there had been, on average, 92 domestic abuse calls per day to the PSNI between Chirsmas and the New Year - January 2, 2025.

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Responding to the figures, Commissioner Designate for Victims of Crime Geraldine Hanna said: “Victims of domestic abuse often talk about how the festive period is a time of particular danger for them and this is sadly reflected in this data.

“Over the last number of years we have increasingly heard the message from the government and the criminal justice system that domestic abuse is unacceptable and victims should come forward.

“The challenge now for them is to make sure their actions match those messages. Victims need properly resourced support and a criminal justice system that deals with their cases efficiently and in a trauma-informed way.

“I am pleased to see the police publishing this data. Capturing data like this is a key step in understanding and combating domestic abuse. Publishing it helps to inform the public and provide transparency.

“Next year I would welcome the publication of some more specific demographic data including the break-down of the age of victims.”

A day earlier, the First Minister and deputy First Minister announced the launch of the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) Local Change Fund, which will see £2 million shared across all 11 councils to enable them to support EVAWG action in their local areas.