Top perpetrators of VAWG targeted under new national strategy
Women and girls will be better protected under a new national strategy using advanced data analysis and algorithms to target the most dangerous perpetrators of abuse.
It will see police forces use data-driven tools to focus on the small number of offenders responsible for the highest levels of harm.
This initiative is part of the Government’s mission to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG) by 50 per cent within the next decade.
Working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), and the College of Policing, the Home Secretary will oversee the development of a new national approach to the use of these data-driven tools – which use computer programmes to bring together and analyse a range of police data to identify and pursue offenders involved in domestic abuse, sexual assault, harassment, and stalking.
These tools, used alongside police officers’ expert judgment, will help law enforcement “prioritise and pursue the most dangerous offenders”, enabling a more effective allocation of police resources, says the Home Office.
In addition, the technology will assist in building risk profiles for both perpetrators and victims, enabling law enforcement and partner agencies to implement robust management plans that disrupt offenders’ behaviour and enhance victim safety.
This new approach will standardise the use of predictive technologies across police forces, ensuring those who pose the greatest threat are identified and managed through the criminal justice system or community-based, multi-agency interventions.
The Home Office funded NPCC VAWG Taskforce will lead on creating a framework for forces to follow.
“This framework will focus on identifying and managing the most dangerous offenders and drive forward a consistent national approach that allows those in operational policing to help meet the ambition to halve violence against women and girls in a decade,” said the Home Office.