Staffordshire Police have slashed the time it takes to respond to non-emergency domestic incidents – after previously leaving victims waiting for more than a day. New figures from the force show that in December, officers took an average of three hours 45 minutes to arrive at ‘grade two’ domestic abuse incidents.
This was a huge reduction on the 31 hours 18 minutes it took to respond to the incidents in March 2024. Along with investments in the force’s control room, this has largely been the result of re-classifying some incidents as grade three – where the risk is considered lower than grade two – to ensure an ‘appropriate’ response.
The force has also started giving victims the option of speaking to specially trained officers through a video call, instead of having them visit their home. But senior officers say ‘further work’ is needed before the force hits its target response time of two hours 10 minutes.
The average response time for all grade two incidents was 74 minutes in December. The target response time for grade one incidents, where there is an immediate threat to life, is 15 minutes.
Staffordshire Commissioner Ben Adams quizzed officers on the improvements in response time during his latest public performance meeting.
Deputy Chief Constable Jon Roy said attendance at domestic incidents at been a ‘huge focus’ for the force. He said:
”It’s been a real challenge, and,in truth, we had too many calls that were sitting as grade two incidents that should have been re-risk assessed and re-graded as grade three to give the appropriate form of response. That risk wasn’t being managed in the way we wanted it to be. It created a significant pot of incidents that then wasn’t being responded to effectively or quickly enough.
“Since a peak in March last year there’s been a significant and sustained reduction in the time that it’s taken, from a peak of upwards of 31 hours on average to respond to a grade two domestic abuse incident – which none of us would try and suggest was in any way acceptable – down to less than four hours.”
In March there were 610 domestic incidents classed as grade two, compared to 305 in December.
But DCC Roy said the new approach had not resulted in longer response times for grade three, meaning the delays had not simply been moved elsewhere. He added:
“There’s no complacency on our behalf. We are still not achieving our two hour target, which is a strict target and we will not budge on, and there is further work to be done. But there has been a significant improvement.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Victoria Lee explained that some domestic abuse victims now preferred to speak to the police through a video call in their ‘moment of crisis’. She said:
“Most importantly, the call-takers are specially trained domestic abuse experts. They’re able to offer the right advice to our callers at the first opportunity, and also identify the threat, risk and harm that they might not see themselves.
“It opens up that visual gateway – a picture paints a thousand words, in terms of what’s happening to that victim at that moment. It gives us that evidential capture as well.
“Some victims don’t want a police car outside their home address. They like to be in the safety of their own home, and they don’t want anyone else to know what’s happening.”
DCS Lee said that victims would receive a video response within an hour and a half, and that 97.5 per cent of those who took up the option preferring it to an in-person visit.
Mr Adams welcomed the introduction of the video call option. He said:
“The opportunity to capture someone at their real moment of need, and perhaps when they’re at their most vulnerable, and have that empathetic conversation with an expert, is really key. You could almost argue it’s better than the traditional method for many people.”
The number of domestic abuse crimes recorded by Staffordshire Police fell from 20,265 in 2023 to 17,997 last year, an 11 per cent drop.
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