Topic: Policing

A new law standardising how and when the police can lawfully extract information from electronic devices takes effect.

Dame Vera Baird QC said the report's conclusions "fall short" as she continued to press for the establishment of a national policing protocol.

In her 2021/22 Annual Report, Dame Vera Baird reflects on the state of policing of violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Fraud has reached epidemic proportions and its scale is truly staggering. Yet you wouldn't know it judging by the criminal justice system's response.

In her 2021/22 Annual Report, Dame Vera Baird reflects on the investigation and prosecution of rape in England and Wales.

Dame Vera Baird warmly welcomes move by the Home Secretary, which she brands "game-changing".

"We are now not short on recommendations. Ultimately, the problems in investigating and prosecuting rapes are plain and clear and it is drive and leadership to bring fundamental change on the ground that is now urgently needed."

Dame Vera Baird said most worrying was Home Office data showing 30 per cent of victims withdrew reports of rape within three months, suggesting their experience had been so bad and traumatic that they could not go through with the prosecution.

To mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, we publish the full transcript of the Victims' Commissioner's speech to police earlier this year, where Dame Vera Baird urged policing to lead the way on much-needed cultural change.

Responding to the report's findings, the Victims' Commissioner said: "we must not set a precedent whereby defendants are able to use the stresses of lockdown as a justification or defence for killing," as she warned agencies to be "hyper-alert to any form of 'Covid blaming.'"