More support on your doorstep for domestic abuse victims in Nottinghamshire

In April, Nottinghamshire Police launched a new response car service to support victims in Mansfield and Ashfield at peak times on Friday and Saturday nights.

Initially set to run for a trial period of 12 months, the service has now been expanded to cover the whole of Nottinghamshire, with two cars on duty covering the north and south of the county.

Each car is staffed by an independent domestic violence advisor from Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid and Juno Women’s Aid.

The service works to support all victims of domestic abuse, but pays particularly close attention to those reluctant to speak to officers.

By pairing a police officer with an expert domestic abuse advisor, the initiative aims to deliver the best possible support to victims, improve the rate of prosecutions and better safeguard victims.

‘Innovative’

Detective Constable Paul Crofts said: “We take all incidents of domestic abuse extremely seriously and are committed to getting victims the best support and advice as soon as possible.

“This helps us to keep them safe and allows us to collect the very best possible evidence to use in future prosecutions.

“Sadly, we know victims of domestic abuse can retract complaints or become less cooperative in the days after incidents have happened – often because of pressure from the perpetrator or their family.

“We also know they can be very fearful of the consequences of a criminal investigation on their family life.

“So far we have had some very encouraging results and some good engagement from victims who had initially been very reluctant to talk further about what happened to them.”

Caroline Henry, Nottinghamshire police and crime commissioner, said: “We know that too often that victims are reluctant to speak out in situations of domestic violence, and so I was pleased to be able to fund this innovative new service to give victims on-the-ground instant support and advice from trained advisors.”

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