Petition calling for the mandatory suspension of all police and staff accused of VAWG with over 50K signatures

Refuge have delivered more than 50,000 petition signatures to Number 10 Downing Street, on the year anniversary of the Baroness Casey Review launch.

The petition, which is part of the charity’s Remove the Rot campaign, calls for the mandatory suspension of all police officers and police staff accused of violence against women and girls, pending the outcome of an investigation.

As it stands, there is currently no obligation for police forces to suspend officers or staff who are being investigated for allegations of violence against women and girls. In fact, current guidance states that officers will not be suspended unless suspension from duty is essential in the interested of an effective investigation or in the public interests. While Refuge would argue that suspension in any case involving VAWG would be in the public interest, data would show that this view is not shared by police forces across the country.

Last year, Refuge collected data through a Freedom of Information request, which showed that between 1^st May 2022 and 1 May 2023, there were 1,124 cases of VAWG-related misconducted or gross misconduct across the 26 police forces in England and Wales who responded, but on average only 24% of police officers and staff accused were suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.

VAWG is about control, coercion, and power, and being in the police only increases this for perpetrators. This is especially true for those who are promoted, while under investigation, which Metropolitan Police Chief, Sir Mark Rowley, disturbingly said was allowed in a recently leaked internal memo.

In a recent survey released by Refuge, obtained through YouGov, 59% of women said that their trust in the police would increase if a policy of immediate suspension from duty for police officer and staff accused of violence against women and girls was introduced. This, combined with the 50,000+ signatures on this petition, show the strong support for mandatory suspension within the police.

While immediate and consistent suspension of police officers and staff will not magically restore women’s trust and confidence in the police, it will help. Women need to be confident that when they are reporting abuse to the police, they are not speaking to a perpetrator themselves, and that their reports will be taken seriously.

They urge the Government to respond to this petition immediately by implementing the mandatory suspension of all police officers and staff accused of VAWG related misconduct, pending the outcome of investigation, immediately. They have requested a meeting with the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister to discuss our policy asks around policing and are campaigning for this change to be made in the Criminal Justice Bill currently going through the House of Commons. Abigail Ampofo, Interim CEO of Refuge, said:

“I would like to thank every person who has signed and shared this petition, helping us get to an incredible number of signatures. It is amazing to see such a large number of people coming together, to hold police forces accountable for the people in their ranks and improve protections for the women and girls they are supposed to protect.

Over the last few years, there has been headline after headlines about heinous abuse against women and girls, perpetrated by people within the police. We’ve heard accounts of police officers abusing their power to commit atrocities, often with impunity for long periods of time, and perpetrators being involved with active domestic abuse investigations.

It is deeply shocking to Refuge that it is not currently mandatory for police officers and staff to be suspended, pending investigation, when they are accused of violence against women and girls. In any other profession, suspension would be the norm, as would frequent vetting, so what makes policing any different? As an institution who are supposed to protect the public from harm, the police should be held to the highest of standards and any allegations of abuse against officers should be treated with the utmost seriousness.

At Refuge, it is our hope that this petition, signed by so many people, will show the Home Secretary that enough is enough. It is time that we remove the rot from police forces across the country and start restoring women’s trust in policing to protect them.”