Colchester review

Consideration should be given to the option of developing an assessment process, to assist front line officers in assessing the dynamics of abuse, who is the primary perpetrator and the presenting risks. This would require wide consultation given that DASH is used nationally by police forces and accredited by the National Police Chiefs Council.

The use of the THRIVE assessment model should form part of future CPD for control room Call takers and Dispatchers, to assist them in completing the assessment process, including identifying the precise nature of the Threat, Harm and Risk and enabling them to utilise THRIVE to determine the incident Header and the incident response priority grading.

Essex Police should review its current Policy and procedure relating to the completion of DASH risk identification assessment process in cases where it is unclear who is the suspect and who is the victim and where it is also unclear that any criminal offence has taken place. The benefits of completing DASH assessments with both parties involved in order to holistically assess and understand risk should be considered.

Primary Care should consider how to ensure that screening for domestic abuse and safety assessments are carried out as standard practice when patients present with Mental Health issues and when mental health reviews are completed as standard.

A review into NHS systems and the functionality of information sharing needs to be undertaken. How to transfer medical notes between G.P. practice’s to ensure crucial medical information isn’t lost should be considered.

Learning from this IMR should be shared and debriefed by a manager within control room staff who were involved in Call Taking, Dispatch and Supervision in relation to STORM incident EP-20201212-0100.

Essex Police should review its current working practice of recording those involved in non-crime DA incidents as either the ‘Victim’ or the ‘Suspect’. The review should consider whether in cases where no offences are identified, the use of the Athena classification ‘Involved Party’ for both parties, would be more appropriate.