After identifying critical failures in our service under the Clare’s Law scheme, Wiltshire Police have confirmed that they have now risk-assessed all 3,582 applications made to us.
In October, they announced an urgent review after making a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) regarding concerns linked to disclosures made under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (known as Clare’s Law) by one member of Wiltshire Police staff.
As a result, they made a commitment to reviewing every single application made between April 2015 and August 2023 (which is when the member of staff worked within the Clare’s Law team) – this was 3,582 applications.
Chief Constable Catherine Roper said: “I was clear when I announced our review in October – this is a catastrophic service failure.
“We let many people down and we now know that our failures may have contributed to at least two people being harmed.
“I am so sorry – I remain appalled that this ever happened and it rightly sent shockwaves throughout our organisation.
“From the moment this came to light, I ensured dedicated resources were put in place to work around the clock to understand where we are failed, who might be at risk as a result of these failures and the urgent action we needed to take.
“The independent IOPC investigation is continuing, and we remain in weekly dialogue with them to discuss further referrals, assist them with their independent investigation and to ensure the right level of scrutiny continues to be applied to the work we are undertaking.
“The completion of 3,582 risk assessments reassures me that we are now able to identify the people who require our immediate support.
“However, I appreciate that this is completion of work which our communities rightly expected us to have done properly the first time around.
“I know we have badly let you down, but I ask again for your trust and urge you to come forward if you have any concerns or information regarding people at risk of domestic abuse.
“We have put more scrutiny in place than we’ve ever had into both the ongoing review but also the team who are assessing new Clare’s Law applications.
“I will continue to keep you updated on this matter.”
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