Police doing nothing after breach of non mol...

[feduppp]

Hi everyone, new to this so hopefully I don’t mess it up. Sorry it’s long!

Was with my ex for 4 years, I was beaten, abused, he had alcohol and drug issues. 2 children together. 2 years ago with help from a local DV charity I moved away with the kids to start fresh. He had contact with them up until jan 18 when he strangled his then girlfriend and I finally had proof he was an abuser.

In May 18 after him turning up at my house and threatening me while the children were here I got an emergency non molestation order granted. He contested this and after returning to court with even more evidence they granted continuation of the order. All the while he has been harassing my family with multiple long messages, turning up several times to my mothers place of work etc.

In August he has breached (again) and was reported to police immediately. Here I am over 3 weeks later and no one has even given him a talking to and told him to leave me alone. I’m just being fobbed off every time I ring for an update. Anyone had any similar experiences? I’m lost for words and feel like the 3 times I’ve attended court and had to relive the evidence I bought forward was a complete waste of time. So disheartened.

The police have managed however to in that time refer me to social services. Who I have received a letter from saying they have no concearns as I have acted appropriately in safeguarding myself and the children. Utterly betrayed by the police who are meant to be enforcing the order.

Help!!

I've been in your position.
I felt so let down and in all honestly I ended up on the very edge of a breakdown.
He made false accusations towards me and I spent 3 separate nights in police cells after he said I'd attacked him.
The last accusation was caught on CCTV and proved he was blatantly lying. Weirdly I was also interviewed by a woman DC on that occasion. She believed me straight away.
He ended up with a massive fine and was told in no uncertain terms in court it would be prison if he did anything again.
He has left me alone since.
Non Mol's are a bit frustrating. My ex kept getting arrested and taken to A&E because he was either intoxicated or presented with MH issues. But it did work eventually.
I really hope you get some peace soon

Thank you so much MrsTommyBanks it’s nice to know I’m not the only one.
That sounds awful. I’m
So glad he’s left you alone. I just feel like they are passing me from pillar to post, no one seems to have read the full file, no one seems to have any urgency at all. After him turning up and threatening to kill me it took them 6 days to even come out to me.
I understand how hard it must be with the policing cuts but there needs to be more effort. Thank you again for helping me realise I’m not crazy x

You are not crazy. Its a shit state of affairs and my heart goes out to you.
In all honesty I'm still not completely over it all. It was nearly four years ago now.
Are the solicitor s that sorted your Non mol doing anything?

The solicitor has been great and honestly couldn’t have done more. It’s litterally the last link of the chain which is the police to enforce the order (which I went through hell and back to get) but for whatever reason it just isn’t a priority! Thank you again x

It will work. It does take time.
Try having a chat with Women's Aid. They might be able to liase with tour local DV team.
I'll be thinking if you and wishing you well x

No advice sorry but just wanted to let you know you're not alone.
DH reported his ex for harassment 18 months ago, and many times since. She stalks, harasses and threatens him/us. At the beginning of the year police were supposed to obtain phone records and caution her. We are still waiting, and it's still going on. It's a joke.

MrsTommyBanks, in regular contact with women’s aid who have also been great, I cut 20 inches of hair off this year and donated my sponsor money to them. I’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for them. Thank you again x

No thanks needed at all. Am happy to offer any support I can. Its a lonely place to be.

Keepingbees I so feel for you. The pressure it puts on you is unreal. And there is just little to no urgency to deal with anything like this. Hope she backs off and gives you a break.

Also don’t let it ruin your relationship. I tried to have a relationship and was with a guy for 7 months but the abuse he was also getting from my ex caused a rift and it just became too much.
Don’t let her get to you!!
Thank you for your support x

Social services referrals will be automatic in order to ensure safeguarding of the children. Likely done by a different department to those who will investigate the matter. I agree the service is appalling but the police have to prioritise and this will be done based on the risk assessment they have carried out.
You could call and ask to speak to the officer in the case and if it has not been assigned, a supervisor. But you will likely be told the above. That’s how it works in my force unfortunately because there simply isn’t the man power.
It’s fantastic more women feel able to report domestic abuse but the police cannot keep up with demand.

KMoKmo since the 3rd August he has breached 14 times and no one has even gone out to him. Also I was curious about the referral protocol as I hadn’t been refered on any of the other 13 times, even though some of those incidents were worse than this most recent which was what I was refered for. So I rang the social services department that sent the letter and was told that for my area the call handler/officer in charge was the one to decide to check the box for a referral or not. So understandably I feel annoyed by this.

In the last 2 weeks I’ve rung and left several messages for the DC in charge of the case and not had a single call back.

Absolutely understand there isn’t enough man power, but no wonder more women don’t come forward when the road is this treacherous.

I'm so sorry to hear how badly you're being let down here.

Please call the police again and ask to speak with the Duty Inspector. They won't be able to put you through (highly unlikely anyway), but please state that you are calling to make a complaint about the lack of action and that you expect to hear from the Duty Inspector today (whenever you call them - ie right now or tomorrow morning). If you are not safe now, call them immediately, but expect to hear back late tonight.

If you are safe right now, and are happy to call them in the morning, ring early and expect to hear back by the afternoon. Do not be fobbed off, no matter what they come up with (short of everyone is out on the scene of a major incident and will be there for hours).

I appreciate you've been very patient so far, but you shouldn't have to be, and this is absolutely not OK by them. (ex copper)

Also regarding the risk assessment... lol... this man has hospitalised me, burnt both my children, beaten up 2 women since, I have provided police with videos of phone all said where he has threatened to kill me... I think I’m up there on the risk assessment...

SilverHairedCat thank you so much. I will absolutely do this as I am at my wits end with going round in circles. Thank you for your great advice x

What are the terms of the order? Does it have a power of arrest?

Ignore that it should definitely have one.
You need to make a complaint then as I suggested.

Yes KMoKMo it has power of arrest

And give what you've said about the risk assessment, repeat what you've written here about the history (so just short and snappy), say you're appalled this is not being taken seriously, you believe you're at risk from this man hence the nonmol, and want it resolved today. You want the Duty Inspector to contact you to discuss the next steps and to reassure you that the complaint will be investigated immediately.

They are essentially the main supervisor on duty at the weekend and will deal with complaints. They may pass it to someone else if the same rank to sort out or to a Sergeant (one below them), but they will have to supervise it. It may not see your ex in a cell tomorrow, but it should get someone out to talk to you sharpish. Especially when they look at your history - that should wake a few people up by the sounds of it.

I hope you're ok. Are you safe tonight?

SilverHairedCat I honestly can’t thank you enough. I am hopefully safe for tonight (he’s so unpredictable hence why I’m so upset it’s not been dealt with quicker) I had someone come out to me a week after this said incident and I had two plain clothes out a week ago today, I just can’t get my head around why he’s still not even been spoken to. He needs to know it’s serious and as days tick by and he’s not reprimanded for his actions then the less he’s going to take it seriously. I just want to get on with my life and honestly thought after court that would be the end of it.

Thank you again for your advice, I will be calling (again) first thing in the morning. You’ve given me a ray of hope x

Duty inspector will likely refer the complaint to the DA unit. They cannot comment on the investigation.
I find the comment ‘wake a few people up’ quite disrespectful @silverhairedcat.
Police are well aware they offer a poor service. Their hands are simply tied.
I’m not downplaying the fact you may be high risk OP but you say this happened 3 weeks ago with no contact since. It’s not right and it shouldn’t be the norm but unfortunately due to demand this is how it will be prioritised. No police officer agrees with it but there just aren’t the staff to deal. And they certainly don’t need to ‘wake up’ to anything. They are more aware of the ongoing risk to women than anyone. They see it day in day out.
You need to speak to DA team supervision and ask for the next steps and a time frame. Call daily if need be.

@KMoKMo I'm realistic. I only left 4 years ago, I'm still working closely with the police, I know the realities of budgets and staffing numbers.

However, when a DC has been allocated a DV case which on the face of what's been disclosed here, is potentially high risk, and no contact has been made with the DV victim in 3 weeks, that's disgraceful. Even if the case isn't graded as such for whatever reason, the OP has been contacting the DC repeatedly and had no response. Making a complaint is valid. Even if that is at a weekend and if the DAU aren't on duty. That's not the fault of the OP.

The Duty Inspector can, however, get someone to take initial details from the OP at least and get a complaint running before the 9 o'clock jury come back in on Monday morning. We've all been there, you write like someone who has as well. Asking gets people like the OP nowhere. Stepping to the front and declaring yourself sadly is sometimes the only way to remind people of your presence.

@silverhairedcat not only disgraceful but in breach of the victims code. But unfortunately,certainly in my area, not unusual.
I’m all for a complaint being made. It’s the only way we have any hope of changing things and ensuring more funding.
However this is ‘only’ a breach of non mol. I assume no convictions as no restraining order has been applied. In my area we have 25-30 high risks cases a fortnight. Violent offences are prioritises. Some days prisoners can outnumber staff members.
The OP’s points are entirely valid.
But I take exception to your poor choice of phrase because it suggests the DC involved doesn’t care.
In my area cases can go unallocated to an officer for weeks as the work load is simply too high. I would hope this isn’t the case here if the OP has been graded at high risk but as I said previously violent cases and live prisoners will be prioritised.

KMoKMo I think the issue here is that you seem to be so accepting of it just being this way. I’m mortified that you have just put ‘only’ a breach of a non mol. There are no convictions regarding myself but he has a long criminal record with convictions for many violent offences, including biting someone to the point of hospitalisation very recently.

Just because ‘this is the way it is’ doesn’t mean we have to accept it.

Wow.

Quite shocked by how much you’ve downplayed the situation. You’ve made me feel like a nuisance, only a breach of a mol mol...

Btw our local crazy flasher (non violent) flashed an adult yesterday and was taken into custody this morning... funily enough probably because the flasher was on the front of our local paper last week and likely media attention to his case prioritises him...