Lack of progress on domestic violence in Northern Ireland

The Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, Brendan McGuigan, has called for work to be undertaken to fully achieve 12 outstanding inspection recommendations aimed at strengthening how criminal justice agencies handle incidents of domestic violence and abuse.

Mr McGuigan said he was concerned by the level of progress made to date and urged the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in particular, to apply greater strategic leadership and effort to this important issue.

"In 2010, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) urged the PSNI to adopt a more consistent approach to how officers respond to incidents of domestic violence and abuse.  We also recommended the police review the role of the domestic abuse officer and consider training a proportion of officers working in this area to higher investigative standards," said the Chief Inspector.

"Three years on, Inspectors found that differences in practice and approach still remained between different PSNI officers and police Districts, despite the further development of the PSNI domestic incident policy aimed at fostering a consistent approach.  A wider review of operational policing was also found to have stalled work to assess the role and skill set of domestic abuse officers," continued Mr McGuigan.

Inspectors believe that strategic focus is required at both senior and District level within the PSNI, to fully achieve these and other outstanding recommendations within its remit.

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