9 Hampshire police workers are 'perpetrators of domestic abuse'
Nine cases of domestic abuse allegedly perpetrated by Hampshire police’s workers have been uncovered by a women’s charity.
The Centre for Women’s Justice found 666 such cases across forces in England and Wales is bringing a ‘super-complaint’ to the police watchdog highlighting ‘systemic failures’ women are experiencing.
The nine reports in Hampshire were made in the three years to April 2018. The reports across the country include both incidents where a crime was recorded by police and where they decided there was no notifiable crime.
A solicitor at the charity said a ‘locker-room culture’ within the police was trivialising violence against women, with officers putting their colleagues above victims.
All reports in Hampshire are currently investigated by the same police force that employs the accused staff, as is the norm nationwide. The charity wants this to change.
Along with the super complaint, the charity has been contacted by 81 women who have felt let down by the service after they reported domestic abuse and sexual offences committed by police.
At least one of these reports relates to Hampshire Constabulary, and the charity hopes that even more women will come forward.
A recurring theme heard from women nationwide was how their partners would intimidate them by claiming they would never be believed, with one saying her partner threatened to throw her in jail if she reported him.
One of the women included in the super-complaint said she felt ‘incredibly let down by the police’ and feared becoming a victim for the second time.
A CWJ report added: ‘At the heart of the concerns is lack of integrity, of officers manipulating the system and acting in bad faith in a variety of ways.
‘Without doubt there are cases that are dealt with properly, but we conclude that there is such a risk of policing systems being abused, that this should be reflected in special arrangements for such cases.’
Hampshire police has been approached by The News.
A spokesman for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said they had received the super-complaint and will assess it alongside the College of Policing and the Independent Office for Police Conduct to see if it is eligible for investigation.