Employees Trained to Attend/Investigate Reports of Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse
KEYWORDS:
Employees, Trained, Attend, Investigate, Investigation, Reports, Sexual Violence, Officers, First Responders, Domestic Abuse, Child Sexual Abuse, Task Forces, Special Commissions, Teams
PUBLICATION NUMBER:
PUB 1055
FOI REFERENCE NUMBER(S):
14513, 14360, 14485
FOI REFERENCE NUMBER:
14513
REQUEST TITLE:
Employees Trained to Attend/Investigate Reports of Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse
DATE RANGE:
N/A
INFORMATION REQUESTED:
Please can you tell me, as of June 8th 2020 in this force:
- a) How many police officers have been specifically trained to attend to first reports of sexual violence?
b) What the name of this type of officer is? - a) How many officers have been specifically trained to investigate reports of sexual violence?
b) What the name of this type of officer is?
- a) How many people in total have been specifically trained to attend to reports or cases of sexual violence?
DISCLOSURE WITH EXEMPTIONS:
Full Disclosure
INFORMATION CORRECT AS AT:
03 July 2020
DATE OF DISCLOSURE:
08 July 2020
RELATED DOCUMENTS:
N/A
FOI 14513 RESPONSE:
Having completed enquiries within Essex Police in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating to your request, Essex Police can confirm in respect of Section 1(1)(b) the following data:
1. a) How many police officers have been specifically trained to attend to first reports of sexual violence?
All Officers are trained in relation to the first response to sexual violence within their Initial Probationer Learning Development Programme (IPLDP). In addition to this, there is a cohort of further specially trained Officers that are provided with a greater level of input aimed at giving them the knowledge, understanding and skills required to respond to a serious sexual offence incident with professionalism and confidence.
As at 31 May 2020, the Police Officer strength for Essex Police was 3273.85 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) and 3353 Headcount.
b) What the name of this type of officer is?
The role is Sexual Offence Trained Officer (SOTO). As at 10 June 2020, there were 98 of these trained Officers within Essex Police.
2. a) How many officers have been specifically trained to investigate reports of sexual violence?
Our Adult Sexual Abuse Investigation Teams (ASAIT) deal with the higher level of reports of adult sexual violence. Their core responsibilities can be broken down into the following areas:
- Any rape or sexual assault by penetration offences against adults.
- Any serious sexual offence deemed appropriate by the Detective Inspector.
These officers are trained as Detectives or are those on the Detective Career Pathway (who will receive Detective training) and many of them are trained as SOTO’s. There is also a cross-over within the Public Protection Investigation Hubs that they work within, that means many may have received additional specialist investigative training.
b) What the name of this type of officer is?
The role is Adult Sexual Abuse Investigation Teams (ASAIT) Officers. As at 31 May 2020, there were 52 of these trained Officers within Essex Police.
3. a) How many people in total have been specifically trained to attend to reports or cases of sexual violence?
This is difficult to discern from Question 1. It is predominantly Officers that would be trained to attend to reports or cases of sexual violence. Aside from this there may be Police Staff Investigators and other Police Staff roles e.g. CSI that would meet this definition, but most of these would not have undertaken the SOTO course or IPLDP training described (unless they had received it within a previous role). As an example, a CSI may have received role specific training in respect of sexual violence cases, but the skills and considerations may also be broader in nature.
FOI REFERENCE NUMBER:
14360
REQUEST TITLE:
Number of Officers That Are First Responders to Reports of Domestic Abuse
DATE RANGE:
N/A
INFORMATION REQUESTED:
Please can you tell me, as of April 1st 2020, how many officers currently working within your force have been specifically trained to be first responders to reports of domestic abuse made by the public?
DISCLOSURE WITH EXEMPTIONS:
Full Disclosure
INFORMATION CORRECT AS AT:
30 April 2020
DATE OF DISCLOSURE:
01 May 2020
RELATED DOCUMENTS:
N/A
FOI 14360 RESPONSE:
Having completed enquiries within Essex Police in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating to your request, Essex Police can confirm in respect of Section 1(1)(b) the following data:
All Uniform Officers are trained to respond to Domestic Abuse calls. This would by default include all Local Policing Area Uniformed Officers. There will also be Officers who have subsequently specialised so will have had the same training, however, are not necessarily in a “first responder” role any longer – although they could still be dealing with Domestic Abuse investigations.
Domestic Abuse Training has always formed part of the IPLDP (Initial Police Learning & Development Programme) Training in a variety of forms over a number of years and has evolved over that time increasing in content and material exponentially.
In addition to that, some years ago the Force instituted DASH (Domestic Abuse Stalking Harassment) Training that was mandatory for all staff and then this evolved into the PPA (Public Protection Awareness) Training which was also mandatory for all staff.
Over and above those trainer led sessions there have also been, and continue to be, mandatory e-learning packages on the subject that staff complete online via either NCALT (National Centre for Applied Learning Technologies) or DevelopMe.
As at 31 March 2020, the Police Officer strength for Essex Police was 3293.35 Full-time Equivalent (FTE), however, not all of the FTE would be responding to Domestic Abuse calls routinely as that covers all specialisms over and above Local Policing Area based Officers.
FOI REFERENCE NUMBER:
14485
REQUEST TITLE:
Child Sexual Abuse - Names of Task Forces or Special Commissions
DATE RANGE:
N/A
INFORMATION REQUESTED:
Initial Request
Could you please tell me the following: The names of all task forces or special commissions in the Essex Police that are set up to combat child sexual abuse.
Clarification Received
Yes, I mean (special) investigation teams.
DISCLOSURE WITH EXEMPTIONS:
Full Disclosure
INFORMATION CORRECT AS AT:
03 June 2020
DATE OF DISCLOSURE:
10 June 2020
RELATED DOCUMENTS:
N/A
FOI 14485 RESPONSE:
Having completed enquiries within Essex Police in respect of Section 1(1)(a), Essex Police does hold information relating to your request, Essex Police can confirm in respect of Section 1(1)(b) the following data:
In Essex Police we have the following teams dealing with Child Sexual Abuse:
- SALUS Team
- QUEST Team
- Child Triage Team
- Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Triage Team
- Child Abuse Investigation Teams (CAIT) across the force.
You may also find the below of interest:
https://www.essex.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/caa/child-abuse/child-sexual-exploitation/
Project Goldcrest - Initiative that will enable young people who are victims of CSE to anonymously report abuse and enable Police to gather intelligence from these reports even if the victim does not engage with Police. Self Admin Forensic Examination Boxes (SAFE Boxes) will be made available - these enable samples to be provided anonymously by victims which will then be stored for up to 25 years. If a victim then decides to come forward to Police with an evidential account the forensic samples will be available to compliment that account.
DOT.COM Programme - The force has worked with Dot.com Digital to support the development of an online platform designed to teach primary school age children about online grooming, exploitation and bullying.
Op Makesafe - An initiative aimed at training staff in hotels to recognise CSEA and how their premises might be utilised to commit offences.
Drinks Aware - Funding has been received from the NHS and OPFCC to train staff in bars and nightclubs to identify CSEA. This initiative is supported by Drink Aware. Drink Aware Crews will be placed in a number of venues across the county for a 12 month pilot to identify and reduce vulnerability in the night-time economy by working in partnership with a number of agencies.
Catalyst Project - A local partnership between University of Essex, Suffolk County Council and Essex County Council working to improve community services for vulnerable people. Using the University’s wealth of expertise in data analytics, big data and evaluation, they are developing new technology to assess and predict risk and to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of public service initiatives dedicated to community members needing support. The project is set to make a significant impact with regards to how the force interprets its data, particularly in respect of CSEA and sexual offences. It will enable the force to map offenders, victims and incidents more accurately and on a larger scale than ever before. This analysis will prove beneficial in helping the force tackle CSEA and sexual offences.