The review into ‘appalling’ failings by Wiltshire Police has concluded

More than 30 failures have been committed by police over a domestic abuse disclosure scheme.

Chief constable Catherine Roper said the force had “let people down” and was “appalled this ever happened”.

Wiltshire Police assessed all Clare’s Law applications made to them between April 2015 and August 2023 and found 33 failures.

This followed a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) about concerns about disclosures made under the scheme by a member of police staff.

Of the other failures, police believe 14 were administrative failures and 17 were service failures, for example where officers should have disclosed and did not, or where inadequate investigations were carried out.

Chief Constable Roper said: “While I hope our communities will take some reassurance from the fact that we have now looked at all these claims, we should never forget that people were put at risk because of our failures.

“We let people down and we now know that our failures may have contributed to the injury of at least two people.

“This is completely unacceptable and I remain appalled that this ever happened.

“I know I have let you down and caused you further anxiety, but I again ask for your trust and urge you to come forward if you have any concerns or information regarding people at risk of domestic abuse.”

She added that extra resources and oversight had been put in place “to ensure this important service is delivered correctly”.

The force has now made a total of five referrals to the IOPC (including the original referral) which are being investigated.

Two relate to failures where harm was caused, one relates to an administrative failure and the final referral relates to the organizational response to two previous IOPC referrals involving a member of staff in 2019 and 2020.

The police staff member remains suspended from the force.