Professor John Robertson OBA

Today’s latest ‘back-of-a-cigarette-packet‘ plan by the UK Labour Government to protect victims from released violent offenders has been criticised by probation officers for lack of consultation and for certain failure as England’s tiny number of probation officers is swamped by new workload.

In February 2024,  Allan Dorans MP, the Scottish National Party’s then spokesperson on policing at Westminster and a former Detective Inspector with the Metropolitan Police, reported how a disclosure scheme in Scotland had been much more successful, as had wider efforts to reduce violent crime north of the border.

Writing in Policing Insight, Dorans told us:

The Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse in Scotland (DSDAS) has been in operation for eight years, and around 20,000 requests from relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours of people perceived to be at risk, have resulted in around 12,000 disclosures, a 58% response rate. DSDAS applications can be made in person at a police station, on the phone using 101, or online and take around 45 days for a response.

In 2022-23, 30,139 charges were reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, with a domestic abuse identifier. This was a decrease of 8% compared to the 2021-22 total of 32,776.

The vast majority of charges identified as relating to domestic abuse are prosecuted. An initial decision was made to proceed to court with 94% of charges in 2022-23.

In England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, recorded cases continue to climb, by 14% and 6.5% respectively in the last reported figures. There is now one incident for every 57 people in Northern Ireland, one for every 65 in England and Wales, but only one for every 84 in Scotland.

You can read the full article at:

https://policinginsight.com/feature/opinion/how-police-scotland-is-helping-to-reduce-domestic-abuse-by-warning-record-numbers-of-partners-violent-pasts/

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