Police Safeguarding Changes - Effective 25th April 2023
The DARA model will be used by across all departments within the organisation. Many of you were part of the Task and Finish Group created from DASVEG and was chaired by the PCC’s Office.
During the consultation process you asked Durham Constabulary the following points:
- Force to confirm who their secondary risk assessors are?
- Confirm the reason for departing from the Safe Lives recommendations?
- How will the force incorporate questions regarding risk from sexual violence in the initial assessment?
- How will the force incorporate questions regarding risk to children in the initial assessment with the victim / family
- Force to consider a victim impact assessment on the transition to DARA
- Force to confirm the position on being able to change the DARA Questions and a ‘Durhamised’ DARA Model
Following on from this feedback their developers have made the necessary changes for the transition to DARA. These changes does not prohibit or prevent partner services from referring domestic abuse matters in with a DASH risk assessment, their processes have been designed to allow the recording of external DASH documents.
Safeguarding Dissemination reports will be updated in line with these changes but will now also include;
Body Worn Video(BWV): All BWV references will automatically be included in the dissemination report. Partners can request to access to the footage to understand first hand the events which were taking place upon police attendance, this should assist in future risk management planning and strategy discussions.
Crime Details: Where there is a linked crime to a Safeguarding report, the dissemination report will automatically provide all crime references and the crimes type. E.g. CRI00123456 – Criminal Damage, CRI00123654 Stalking.
Through The Eyes of the Child. This has been expanded to cover the voice of the child:
- What are the views of the child on the incident in their own words?
- What does it mean to live in that household in their words?
- What have you told the child about what is going to happen?
All responses will be included in the dissemination report so that partners can understand the initial impact of domestic abuse on the child.
Risk Management: Additional risk management questions have also been included:
- What action(s) have the attending officers undertaken to safeguard the victim, wider household and other potential victims at risk?
- What risks remain in place beyond initial attendance or beyond reporting?
This should assist services in understanding what additional support and interventions maybe required and how these can be managed moving forward.
Domestic Abuse Typology: This will be included in the dissemination report and falls in line with HM Governments statutory guidance such as IPA, Teenage Relationship Abuse, Abuse by Family members etc
Domestic Abuse: statutory guidance (accessible version) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Claires and Sarah’s Law- Durham Police are taking a proactive approach and are now ensuring that this is front and centre for all attending officers to make the necessary and proportionate disclosures. They want to ensure that the victim is better informed about their safety and how we can manage this.
Vulnerable Adults: Following previous feedback, the following questions have been added into the Vulnerable Adult form:
- Does this person have care or support needs?
- Do they require support in caring for another?
- Is the person (or the person they are caring for) at risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or other harm?
- Is the person unable to protect themselves or another from abuse, neglect, exploitation, or other harm?
