Category: Policing

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.'"

"To create a system that provides real protection for victims, there needs to be better effective enforcement of breaches of bail," says Victims Commissioner as she calls for breaches of pre-charge bail to be made a criminal offence.

The Victims’ Commissioner tells the College of Policing what the new Victims' Code means for police staff and officers.

The Home Office Minister has responded to the Victims’ Commissioner’s letter regarding police recording of hate crimes.

Victims’ Commissioner welcomes “welcome and clear-sighted move” by Home Secretary to reverse and end the presumption against bail, which “was a misconceived move” and “bad for victims.”

The police data on honour-based abuse "shows we are doing these victims a disservice," says Victims' Commissioner.

Dame Vera says some of the most vulnerable people in society suffer significant, avoidable harm in fear fear that criminal justice authorities will treat them as a questionable immigrant, not a victim. "This has to stop," she says, "and I am pleased to see HMICFRS has recognised this in its report."

Crown Prosecution Service data, issued yesterday, shows a further fall in the number of charges for rape despite police referring more cases to them.