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Domestic Violence Protection Notices and Orders
- Flowchart Contents
- Policy Statement
- Principles
- Domestic Violence Protection Notices - Responsibilities
- All Police Officers and Police Staff
- PNC Bureau
- Detective Inspector - Gatekeeper...................................................................................
- Superintendent or Above - Authorising Officer (AO)
- Domestic Violence Protection Orders – Responsibilities
- Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) Team
- District Safeguarding Unit/Domestic Abuse Unit
- Integrated Offender Management (IOM).....................................................................
- District Intelligence Units (DIU)
- Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT)
- PNC Bureau
- Additional Information
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Flowchart
Districts consider DVPN following domestic abuse
Officer completes DVPO 1, 2 and 3 and seeks gatekeeper (DI) approval to submit to Authorising Officer (Supt)
Yes^ AO (Supt)^ authorises?
Yes
Not granted
Granted
Districts:
- Record supervisor rationale on OEL
- Inform victim
- Ensure victim has been signposted to specialist support agencies
No
Districts:
- Create DVPN occurrence
- task PNC Bureau to create notice on PNC.
- Inform victim of the prohibitions.
- Book court for DVPO
- Serve DVPN on perpetrator along with Notice of hearing
- Task DVPO team (LD DVPO TEAM)
- Task district IOM
Districts:
- Monitor breach of DVPN. If breached inform DVPO team
- Notify the victim and relevant dept/agencies of the breach
- Consider identification of substantive criminal offences
- Collate evidence and prepare court papers
- Attend court within 24 hours
DVPO team or SGU staff (Sat am court):
- Conduct research and prepare DVPO application and overarching statement
DVPO team or SGU staff (Sat am court):
- Caseworker attends court within 48 hours to apply for DVPO
DVPO team or SGU staff (Sat am court):
- Create DVPO occurrence
- Scan DVPO onto Niche and update OEL
- Inform victim of the restrictions and the duration of the DVPO and signpost to specialist support agencies as required (such as IDVA)
- Inform Social Care of DVPO if children involved
- task PNC Bureau to create order on PNC.
- Update support agencies who are already supporting victim
- Email district SGU and IOM
- Task OIC
- Task DIU for Corvus tasking
Districts:
- Serve DVPO on perpetrator and monitor breaches (Corvus tasking, briefing etc.)
- IOM to take ownership and to task enquiries to other depts, such as NPT
- SGU to create an intervention and management plan with multi-agency engagement
DVPO team or SGU staff (Sat am court):
- Inform victim and agencies involved
- task PNC Bureau to remove order from PNC.
- Email district SGU and IOM
District SGU to review DASH risk assessment and ensure that the victim is in referred to appropriate agencies
DVPO breached?
Districts to consider identification of substantive criminal offences. If breach of DVPO, arrest and task DVPO team to deal
DVPO Caseworker or SGU staff (Sat am) to attend court regarding breach and inform victim and relevant dept/agencies of the outcome
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- Issue DVPNs, if the perpetrator is in custody, before any existing powers to detain them have expired. NB: o There is no power contained in the Crime and Security Act 2010 to detain a person in custody while a DVPN is considered; and o No requirement for them to be in custody so that a DVPN can be served.
- Take into consideration where the incident occurred and where the victim resides when making a decision about whether to authorise a DVPN and apply for a DVPO. If the incident took place: o Outside of West Yorkshire but the victim resides in West Yorkshire, the presumption will be in favour of authorising a DVPN / DVPO; or o In West Yorkshire but the victim resides outside West Yorkshire and in a Force area that has not yet adopted this legislation, consider if the case qualifies for a DVPN on a ‘case by case’ basis. The presumption will be in favour of West Yorkshire Police proceeding by sending a police officer into another court jurisdiction or by making the application to Leeds Magistrate Court.
- Ensure district senior leadership teams supervise the ongoing management of DVPO cases and this includes a proactive multi-agency approach and investigators/co-ordinators monitor, evaluate and update risk assessments and management plans.
- Refer DVPO cases involving children to children’s services as per local procedures and, if appropriate, education and health services.
- Refer cases to MARAC and instigate safety planning regardless of whether a DVPN/DVPO is issued or not. District SGU’s: o Will take cases to MARAC where a notice or order is issued and the case is high risk ; and o Are encouraged to share all notices and orders with MARAC partners even if the case is deemed as ‘medium risk.’
- Record all information for the DVPN / DVPO process on Niche and monitor performance.
- Endeavour to recover the payments for the contested DVPO applications (not breaches) made to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service from the perpetrator by applying to the Magistrates Court.
Domestic Violence Protection Notices - Responsibilities
All Police Officers and Police Staff
Initial Action (^) Police officers and police staff are responsible for:
- Gathering evidence and information early on and, considering the incident as a whole, collating information to give to the AO, including: o State of the scene, injuries and demeanour of those present; o Previous calls to the address;
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o The presence and welfare of children under the age of 18 whose interests you consider relevant to the issuing of the DVPN (whether they are related to the perpetrator or not); o Other witness accounts; and o Any other available intelligence held by other agencies.
- Completing a DASH risk assessment. Those assessed as ‘standard’ will be excluded from the DVPN/DVPO process once this risk grading has been confirmed by the gatekeeper.
- Completing the DVPN form before reaching an NFA conclusion and creating a DVPN occurrence on Niche.
- Finding out what the complainant thinks about a DVPO before applying for one.
- Making contact with a gatekeeper as soon as possible, particularly if this is outside normal office hours and the night cadre detective inspector has to be contacted using existing Force protocols. The gatekeeper can be bypassed and the authorising officer (superintendent) approached directly if this can be justified.
- Completing forms DVPO1, 2 and 3 on Niche and ask a detective inspector to check they are correct and suitable for a superintendent to consider.
- Being present when the perpetrator is allowed one occasion to take essential items out of the home, in consultation with the victim. This may depend on their circumstances, the length of time they are barred (potentially 28 days if the DVPO is authorised at court) and their explanation of what they need and why, e.g. money, personal papers, clothes, toiletries, medicines and items that they need for work.
Serving a DVPN (^) Police officers and police staff are responsible for:
- Serving the notice, in writing, on the perpetrator in person.
- Sending an email to court to book the hearing, as per the protocol.
- Asking the perpetrator for a residential address for the purpose of serving them with the Notice of the Hearing of the application for the DVPO (summons). Ideally, this information will be known before serving the DVPN so that the ‘exclusion zone’ takes into consideration this new address where the perpetrator plans to reside. The perpetrator does not have to provide an address (and this cannot be grounds for seeking to remand them in custody) but, if not, they should be informed that the court may hear the application in their absence. Ordinarily, the Notice of Hearing will be served with the DVPN except for cases outside of West Yorkshire court jurisdiction.
- Asking for other methods of contacting them in order to help determine the ‘exclusion zone’ and to enable enquiries to be made to arrest them if the DVPN or DVPO is breached, e.g.: o Work address; o Email address; o Any social media address; and o Any telephone numbers.
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- Providing them with: o A copy of the DVPN, which can either be in person, via email or post; o The identity and contact details of the OIC, any support caseworker or Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) who will be contacting them; o An information leaflet which contains details of organisations and voluntary agencies that provide programmes and associated support services; and o Information about Cocoon Watch and Police Watch.
DVPN Not Authorised
Police officers and police staff are responsible for:
- Recording the supervisor’s rationale on the OEL.
- Informing the victim and ensuring that they have been signposted to specialist support agencies.
Breach of a DVPN
Where the police have reasonable grounds to believe that the DVPN has been breached, police officers and police staff are responsible for:
- Making efforts to arrest the perpetrator at the earliest available opportunity. Breaching a DVPN is not a criminal offence so there is no power of entry to arrest so you must use s17 PACE, prevent a breach of the peace or other criminal offence that has been committed. Neither is there a power to take a person’s fingerprints, photograph or DNA.
- Updating PNC regarding the breach as soon as practicable and the wanted/missing report must clearly outline the circumstances of the breach and the powers for dealing with it.
- Identifying further substantive criminal offences and gathering all available evidence to support taking action regarding the breach and prosecuting criminal offences. The criminal offence, if proven, must take priority but consideration should be given to pursuing the breach of DVPN, to secure a DVPO and support an application to ‘remand in custody’ until they can be brought before the Magistrates Court for the hearing (within 24 hours of arrest). A breach of DVPN on its own, only gives the police the power to arrest and detain the perpetrator for the next available court and only serves to bring forward the DVPO hearing.
- Formally interviewing them regarding the breach so that they have the opportunity to explain their actions, admit or deny the breach and/or put forward any alibi or defence if this will assist the police and defence in preparing for the hearing, avoiding adjournments and further distressing the victim.
- Informing the victim as soon as practicable and, if necessary, taking alternative protective measures.
- Tasking the DVPO team to ensure that they are aware of the breach of DVPN.
- Informing any other agency already notified that the notice has been issued.
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PNC Bureau
DVPN Authorised
As the DVPN is created within Niche, a high priority task is passed to the PNC Bureau which is responsible for, as soon as is practicable:
- Updating PNC with the: o Details of the individual subject of a DVPN; o Date, time and police force issuing the DVPN and any pre-arranged court hearing for the application of the DVPO; o List of the prohibitive conditions; o Power of arrest without warrant for a breach; and o OIC details and a 24/7 contact which should be the district safeguarding/domestic abuse unit/district hub supervisor.
Detective Inspector - Gatekeeper
Responsibilities (^) Detective inspectors, who are acting as gatekeepers, are responsible for:
- Determining the suitability of the request before contacting an authorising officer to considering granting a DVPN/DVPO.
- Reviewing any criminal investigation, ensuring that all enquiries have been exhausted and offering appropriate guidance to the response / investigating officer. This also includes reviews of any ‘non crime’ incidents where the nature of the conduct together with any previous incidents may or would amount to a criminal offence under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. This avoids ‘repeat’ incidents being treated in isolation where a restraining order would be preferable.
- If deem a DVPN/DVPO is appropriate for the case in question, contacting an authorising officer as soon as possible, particularly if this is outside normal office hours where the PACE superintendent has to be contacted using existing Force protocols.
- Requesting appropriate conditions are considered.
Superintendent or Above - Authorising Officer (AO)
Responsibilities (^) Superintendents or above, who are acting as AOs, are responsible for:
- Authorising the issue of a DVPN to the perpetrator when there are reasonable grounds to believe that: o They have been violent towards, or has threatened violence towards an associated person; and o It is necessary to protect that person from violence or a threat of violence by them.
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Domestic Violence Protection Orders – Responsibilities
Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) Team
Important (^) If the DVPO application is to be heard at the Saturday morning court, specially trained officers within the Safeguarding Unit/Domestic Abuse Unit are responsible for the below tasks.
Applications (^) The DVPO team is responsible for:
- Researching police systems to gather evidence to prepare the DVPO application.
- Completing an overarching statement.
- Applying for a DVPO to Leeds Magistrates Court sitting in its civil capacity no later than 48 hours after the DVPN is served in accordance with the protocol.
Granted (^) The DVPO team is responsible for:
- Scanning a copy onto a new DVPO Niche occurrence so that the PNC Bureau is tasked to update PNC as soon as practicable with the conditions of the DVPO and remove the DVPN.
- When a DVPO is contested, updating the DVPO occurrence summary section regarding ‘costs awarded’ or ‘costs not awarded’ and notifying Business Support so they can raise an invoice.
- Providing the victim with a copy of the DVPO either in person, via email or by post and informing them: o About the prohibitions contained in the DVPO and what they mean; o Of the duration of the DVPO including the expiry date; o What action they should take if the alleged perpetrator breaches any of the prohibitive conditions; o That the responsibility for complying with DVPO conditions rests primarily with the perpetrator, however, they should cease all contact for the duration of the DVPO; o Of the identity and contact details of the OIC, support caseworker or IDVA who will be making contact with them; and o That West Yorkshire Police ‘proactively’ police DVPOs which means their neighbourhood policing team will contact them and regularly conduct ‘home visits’ and will ask to ‘search’ the home to check the perpetrator is not present.
- Informing Children’s Social Care of the DVPO, including the restrictions on the perpetrator, if children are involved.
- Informing support agencies whom the victim may already be in contact with.
- Informing the district SGU and IOM that the DVPO is in place.
- Tasking the OIC on Niche.
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- Tasking the District Intelligence Unit (DIU) for Corvus tasking.
Refused (^) The DVPO team is responsible for, as soon as practicable:
- Informing the victim that a DVPO has not been granted and that the prohibitions contained within the DVPN no longer apply.
- Informing all other relevant agencies.
- Updating Niche so that the PNC Bureau is tasked to update PNC as soon as practicable and remove the DVPN.
- Updating the district SGU and IOM that the DVPO has not been granted.
Breach of DVPO (^) The DVPO team is responsible for:
- Presenting to the court before the end of the period of 24 hours beginning with the time of the arrest if this is to be heard Monday-Friday. District staff are responsible for presenting the breach on Saturday morning.
- Informing the SGU/DAT teams of the outcome of the breach.
- Informing the victim and relevant agencies of the outcome of the breach.
Contact Details (^) The DVPO team have been operational since the 12th^ February 2018. More information on the team and contact details can be accessed.
Rejecting a DVPO
The DVPO team have the authority to challenge any DVPO application brought to their attention based on the information presented, if there are inaccuracies or omissions.
If the DVPO team feel that it is most appropriate to reject a DVPN/O sent by district, the DVPO Supervisor is responsible for:
- Consulting with the DCI of the Safeguarding Central Governance Unit.
- Making contact with the Sergeant, Inspector (gatekeeper) and the Superintendent to consult with them on the proposed decision, including providing a full rationale and noting any contrary views.
- Documenting the full rationale as to why the DVPO team have not taken the application on the OEL of the DVPN and crime occurrences, including details of the conversation had by the officers at District.
District Safeguarding Unit/Domestic Abuse Unit
Important (^) If the DVPO application is to be heard at the Saturday morning court, specially trained officers within the Safeguarding Unit/Domestic Abuse Unit are responsible for carrying out the duties of the DVPO team (above).
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- Updating PNC regarding the breach as soon as practicable and the wanted/missing report must clearly outline the circumstances of the breach and the powers for dealing with the breach.
- Arresting and remanding the perpetrator in custody and tasking the DVPO team to present to the court before the end of the period of 24 hours beginning with the time of the arrest if this is to be heard Monday-Friday. District staff are responsible for presenting the breach on Saturday morning.
- Completing DVPO4 and attaching to the occurrence.
- If arrested in another district or police force area, notifying and transferring the perpetrator to the original district’s custody suite so that they can be interviewed and the case can be heard in the Magistrates Court which dealt with the DVPO. If this isn’t possible because, e.g. due to time constraints (24 hours from the time of their arrest), the other district/police force should interview, present the case to their local Magistrates Court and conduct the initial prosecution for the breach (unless they have assurances from the other district/police force that they can and will complete this). The proceedings should be transferred to the Magistrates Court originally dealing with the DVPO.
- Informing the victim as soon as practicable and reviewing the DASH risk assessment and, if necessary, taking alternative protective measures.
- Informing any other agency already notified of the issuing of the notice.
- Formally interviewing them regarding the breach so that they have the opportunity to explain their actions, admit or deny the breach and/or put forward any alibi or defence if this will assist the police and defence in preparing for the hearing, avoiding adjournments and further distressing the victim.
- Prosecuting the case jointly with the CPS for the criminal offence that has been committed and the breach of the DVPO at the same time.
Integrated Offender Management (IOM)
Granted (^) The IOM team is responsible for:
- Engaging with the subject of the DVPO and endeavouring to provide support and assistance to reduce their offending behaviour by offering pathways to support agencies, for example assistance with anger management or substance abuse or help with housing.
- Discussing the subject of the DVPO with partners within the risk of harm cohort.
District Intelligence Units (DIU)
Granted (^) District DIUs are responsible for:
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- Creating Corvus tasking in order for districts to proactively police DVPOs.
Neighbourhood Policing Teams (NPT)
Granted (^) When tasked, NPT officers are responsible for:
- ‘Proactively’ policing DVPOs by contacting the victim and regularly conducting ‘home visits’ to check that the perpetrator is not present.
PNC Bureau
Granted (^) When a DVPO is granted via Niche, a task is passed to the PNC Bureau which is responsible for, as soon as is practicable:
- Updating PNC with the: o Details of the individual subject of a DVPO; o Date, time and court issuing the DVPO and its duration/ expiry date and list of prohibitive conditions; o Power of arrest without warrant for a breach; and o OIC details and the district Safeguarding/Domestic Abuse Unit contact details.
- Removing the DVPN.
Refused (^) If the decision is made by the Magistrate’s Court not to grant a DVPO, the DVPN will cease to be in effect. Once Niche is updated, a task is passed to the PNC Bureau which is responsible for, as soon as is practicable, removing the DVPN.
Lapsed (^) When the DVPO lapses on the expiry date, PNC Bureau must remove the relevant report / marker from PNC.
