PCC scrutinises progress to tackle serious violence on behalf of the public

Police and Crime Commissioner Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts has exercised her duty to hold the force to account, placing Serious Violence under the spotlight in her latest scrutiny meeting.

The Derbyshire PCC hosts six Public Assurance Meetings (PAM) every year to measure the force's progress against the public's top priorities, as outlined in her Police and Crime Plan.

The meetings, which are available to view in a podcast format on the Commissioner's website, provide the PCC with an opportunity to acknowledge good practice and, where necessary, to challenge the Chief Constable for further improvement.

They also feature a question-and-answer session with the Chief Constable, with questions submitted by residents in advance, the highlights of which are covered in the podcast.

In her recent PAM, the PCC examined a report by Derbyshire Constabulary detailing the significant progress being made to address Serious Violence including Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) which is a top priority for the public and one of six featured in the Commissioner's Police and Crime Plan.

Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts said: "Nationally, we know that a woman is killed by a man every 2.7 days. Globally, every ten minutes a woman is intentionally killed by a partner or family member. Nearly one in three women aged 16 to 59 will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime and one in four women in England and Wales have been raped or sexually assaulted as adults.

"These figures highlight the stark reality of gender-based violence and the challenges we face as a society to protect women and girls, and to root out the attitudes and behaviour that allow such violence to be accepted and permissible.

"The report shows the force is making great strides to tackle VAWG and Serious Violence and to identify and safeguard victims and potential victims earlier to reduce their risk of harm. This action has driven down offending and improved criminal justice outcomes while also enhancing the overall experience of victims of these appalling crimes.

"But there is always more to do. We must remember that VAWG is not just a problem for the police, it impacts all of us and it is the collective response of our communities that matters and is pivotal for turning the tide. The Chief Constable shares my view that a whole-system approach is vital to break generational cycles of harm and to reach more young people before they hit adulthood when their behaviour has become entrenched."

Headlines of the report include:

• Increase in positive outcomes by the force's dedicated High-Risk Domestic Abuse (HRDA) and Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) Teams from 18% to 39% and from 6% to 12.9% respectively. These outcomes cover multiple VAWG offences including rape and other sexual assaults, stalking and harassment, assaults, controlling and coercive behaviour and criminal damage. 
• 563 enforcements related to VAWG undertaken over the past 12 months alone with 900 children safeguarded.
• Increase in number of stalking protection orders with 67 secured this year and improved management of domestic violence protection orders that has seen the breach rate increase by 160%.
• Better use of data to identify those who pose the highest risk to the public alongside active management of these individuals to prevent or reduce offending, targeting the ‘top 100 suspects' and proactively enforcing conditions.
• Launch of the Call it Out campaign to challenge those demonstrating unacceptable or misogynist behaviour, reaching thousands of people across universities, colleges and schools with support from both Chesterfield and Derby County football clubs. 
• Several perpetrator intervention programmes funded across Derbyshire to reduce reoffending and improve victim safety. These went live in October 2024. 
• The work of the Derby and Derbyshire Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), hosted by Derbyshire Constabulary, works closely with police and other serious violence partners to reduce and prevent serious violence. 

In the PCC's podcast, Assistant Chief Constable Michele Shooter, who leads on Neighbourhood Policing for the force, said overall Serious Violence, defined in Derbyshire as violence that results in significant injury with or without weapons, had reduced over the past three years.

She said the force had visited at least 100 schools this year with a raft of interventions and educational work delivered by partners and Safer Neighbourhood Teams. Additionally, the force had developed a new board game called ‘Shattered', that had been rolled out to educational settings and was now being showcased nationally by a children and young person's forum.

In other work, the force has continued to deliver test purchase operations to prevent knives and other weapons from getting into the wrong hands. For example, stencils were purchased for use with semi-permanent chalk spray to spread the message "Choose Life, Drop the Knife" in serious violence hotspots.

During the meeting, the Chief Constable responded directly to individual questions submitted by the public in advance. These covered a range of issues from assaults against shopworkers and the need to protect male victims of domestic abuse and violence and abuse to tackling sexism and sexual harassment within policing itself and the confidential reporting mechanisms in place to maintain high standards.

The podcast and associated papers are available here.