Current practice on non-molestation orders published in response to super-complaint
The College of Policing has published refreshed ‘current practice’ for non-molestation orders (NMOs) to ensure they are used “consistently and effectively” by forces to help protect victims of abuse.
It follows an investigation into a super-complaint submitted by the Centre for Women’s Justice, which highlighted inconsistent and ineffective use of NMOs across forces, including a lack of understanding of the application process.
It raised concerns officers sometimes advised victims to apply for NMOs as an alternative to taking police action, and in some instances, when an NMO would not be appropriate.
The college says the current practice information is to support chief officers responding to the super-complaint recommendation that “chief constables should review and if necessary, refresh their policy on how the force processes notifications of NMOs, so officers can easily identify if an NMO exists”.
The current practice came from a review of information provided by 32 forces. The college said forces using NMOs most effectively typically shared common processes around areas such as recording and updating information, local monitoring and responding to and processing breaches, and safeguarding and transferring victims.
Superintendent Manjit Atwal QPM, College of Policing head of delivery for the national violence against women and girls taskforce, said: “Nobody should have to live in fear of violence and everyone in policing knows we have to do more to better protect women and girls.
“NMOs can be an extremely useful tool to crack down on perpetrators and protect the public whilst providing victims with the care and support they deserve.
“Although we found many examples of good practice from forces such as proactive checks by neighbourhood teams, contact with victims to offer them reassurance, and building rapport with a suspect to encourage compliance, there was a lack of consistency.
“From the data we discovered the most effective use of NMOs occurred in forces with clear systems in place and where these were routinely considered as part of safeguarding plans.
“The College of Policing has shared this information with forces so they can review and drive more consistent and effective use of NMO across policing.”
Supt Atwal added: “The college already has significant resources available to frontline officers to support them in responding to incidents day and night in our violence against women and girls toolkit.”
NMOs are also known as civil court orders or injunctions. The college says officers should consider using them in plans to safeguard victims and their children as they prevent abusers from: using or threatening violence against a victim; and intimidating, harassing or pestering victims.
A breach of an NMO is a criminal offence.