Domestic abuse specialists to be embedded in 999 management rooms
Specially-trained staff will work in 999 control rooms in a bid to improve responses to domestic abuse after a wife and her mother were murdered despite 14 calls for help.
The Home Office said the move would ensure ‘calls for help are treated with the urgency needed’.
The pilot scheme forms part of ‘Raneem’s Law’, in memory of Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem, who were murdered by Ms Oudeh’s ex-husband Janbaz Tarin in 2018.
On the night they were killed, Ms Oudeh called the force four times to register concerns for her safety. It had previously responded to 10 domestic abuse incidents linked to violence at Tarin’s hands.
This comes after a new study claimed that domestic abuse is rife amongst police officers – with complainants often being ignored or facing malicious counter-allegations.
Raneem Oudeh (right) and her mother, Khaola Saleem (left) were murdered by Ms Oudeh’s ex-husband in 2018
Ms Oudeh and Ms Saleem walk to the foyer, followed by Janbaz Tarin as he is thrown out by staff
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (front left), Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips (back right) and campaigner Nour Norris (back left) meet 999 control handlers during a visit to Kent Police’s Coldharbour Police Complex
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: ‘Victims of appalling domestic abuse need to know that the police will be there for them.
‘Today’s measures are the start of this new government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
‘Failure to understand the seriousness of domestic abuse costs lives and far too many have already been lost.
‘That’s why introducing Raneem’s Law in memory of Raneem and her mother Khaola is so vital – and has been a personal priority for me.’
Nour Norris, who is Miss Oudeh’s aunt and Ms Saleem’s sister, said: ‘Their suffering and the way the system failed them is something I will never forget.
‘Raneem’s Law will ensure that domestic abuse specialists are present in 999 control rooms so victims’ calls for help are taken seriously and save lives by making sure no warning signs are ignored, unlike in Raneem’s story.
The Home Office said the move would ensure ‘calls for help are treated with the urgency needed’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a visit to the Engineering Suite in the Metropolitan Police Command and Control Special Operations Room at Lambeth Police Headquarters
‘Knowing that Raneem’s name will now be a source of hope and protection for others fills me with a sense of pride I cannot put into words.
‘Raneem’s memory lives on in this law, and it means the world to me to know that her story will help save lives.’
The scheme will launch early next year.
The Home Office will also toughen measures in existing Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, as part of a separate pilot scheme.
Police in England and Wales record an average of 100 domestic abuse-related offences every hour.
