The appointment of a lead officer at Chief Superintendent level to improve police performance in the prevention and detection of violence against women and child exploitation, has been welcomed by Marie Ash, SDLP election candidate in Derg.
Marie Ash,.
Welcoming the “important questions” asked by her party colleague and SDLP policing board member, Dolores Kelly, regarding police action to protect women against violence, and in particular serial abusers, Mrs Ash said the SDLP wanted to make sure police worked robustly on the “extremely serious issue” and that there was an “inter-agency approach” involved so that vulnerable people who were at risk were identified.
She added: “My SDLP colleagues in the Assembly will be watching very keenly developments to make sure this vital work continues to be on the agenda because we do not want any more women dying at the hands of domestic abuse, especially when we don’t know how many are already suffering.”
Mrs Ash said the commitment was timely ahead of International Women’s Day on Saturday last.
She added: “One of the issues the SDLP have sought to address is the way police deal with incidents of domestic violence.
“This follows an inspection report which was published at the end of last year which criticised the way the police deal with domestic violence in Northern Ireland.”
Mrs Ash concluded: “We need to look at the reasons why cases drop out of the criminal justice process at all stages in order to increase the number of cases which ultimately result in a conviction. Internal issues around the use of specially-trained domestic abuse officers and the role of the public protection units must be reconciled if we are to see a consistent and co-ordinated approach that best serves the needs of victims.”
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