After a recent report criticised the policing of domestic violence, criminologist Professor Nicole Westmarland explains how academics will work together with Durham Constabulary to improve officer training.

I have a constant stream of cops knocking on my door. Not because I’m a persistent offender, but because I’m a Professor of Criminology at Durham University specialising in the study of male violence against women. Over recent weeks I’ve had some interesting visits. One officer, in particular, stood out as being particularly fascinating. He travelled up from Sussex Constabulary to talk about my research on police specialist rape teams. He was interested in how my research could influence the way they structured their sexual offence investigations to make sure they were the best they could be.

As he was leaving, he told me, ‘I’d love for you come down to Sussex and point out all the things we could be doing better. I’m not interested in praise for what we’re doing well, he said, I want to know the problems’. This is a rare invitation indeed! Many are happy to take some criticisms as long as it is accompanied by pats on the back. But few openly request solely the criticism.

So it was of relevance that we recently saw yet another long list of police failures in relation to the policing of domestic violence. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) reported that the policing of domestic violence is a poor relation to the policing of other offences, following its inspection of all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

The report found ‘significant shortcomings’ which included a lack of visible leadership and direction set by senior officers; a lack of skills and knowledge needed to engage with victims; and a haphazard approach to collecting evidence at the scene of incidents. These failures were significant enough to lead Home Secretary Theresa May to announce that she would be taking the lead on this area of work to ensure HMIC findings are addressed.

One of the areas of failure was that of poor attitudes towards domestic violence victims, which HMIC said might stem from a lack of understanding. They criticised forces that relied on e-learning, stating there was an ‘urgent need’ to ‘overhaul’ training on domestic violence. Forces were urged to think more creatively about how to improve officers’ knowledge and understanding on the topic. The HMIC review also reported that the voices of victims needed to be heard, but that very few forces routinely asked for their views. While they acknowledge it is difficult to do this sensitively and safely, it is still important that it happens, they stated.

The definition of domestic violence introduced by the government last year includes ‘patterns of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour’. The review found that educating officers about this was important and should not be underestimated. They quoted one victim who told them ‘The psychological stuff is so difficult to explain to the police’.

This echoes work we have done here at Durham with colleagues at London Metropolitan University which found that women often describe the constant ‘walking on eggshells’ as difficult, if not more so, than the physical acts of violence. Living in relationships thick with tension, threats, and fear can be as harmful to women and children as physical violence can be.

The HMIC report points out, that situations where there is considerable control but no immediate physical violence can be fatal, resulting in domestic violence homicides.

Durham Constabulary was one of the forces that did receive some praise within the HMIC report. However, they recognise there is still work to be done. We will be working with Durham Constabulary on a project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to address many of the problems identified in the HMIC report.

In particular, we will be innovating in the area of police training on coercion and control. This means incorporating victims’ voices into the training using drama-based methods – about as far away from e-learning and sitting in front of a computer as you can get.

The HMIC report highlighted that although police leaders have ‘declared’ that tackling domestic violence is their priority, they must act decisively to make this an operational reality. Opening up their doors to criticism, and working in partnership with their local university to improve matters is a decisive step, and we hope together to ensure that improved responses become an operational reality. Professor Nicole Westmarland Co-Director, Durham University Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse Word count: 720