Consolidating police learning from case reviews
Overview
The VKPP’s Consolidating Learning from Case Reviews into death and serious harm workstream analyses and draws together police learning across several types of reviews including: Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews (CSPRs) (previously Serious Case Reviews); Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SARs); and Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs).
Most recently, the workstream is focussing on an analysis of police learning from Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement Reviews (MAPPA-Rs) for dissemination later in 2022. The workstream specifically analyses reviews where police have been involved in a case prior to death or significant harm.
A systems approach is taken to analysing the reviews in order to identify which factors in the policing environment support or hinder safeguarding practice and the analysis is further framed by the College of Policing’s ‘perennial issues’ to support alignment of learning at a national level.
This work developed in response to a recognised gap in effective learning for the police relating to these types of cases, as well as the wider recognition of problems in the broader system for collation and dissemination of effective learning (see Rawlings et al., 2014). The workstream seeks to bridge learning across these siloed reviews, in order to reveal common and diverse manifestations of practice gaps and missed opportunities.
Aims
This workstream aims to systematically identify key themes and practice/ knowledge gaps so that policing nationally can access, learn and prioritise its responses.
Alongside this focus, the workstream will also seek to better understand how forces learn from reviews and how this learning impacts on practice changes locally.
Impact
VKPP work in this area has led to learning that has:
- directly informed practice change locally via Heads of Public Protection and through national dissemination
- provided evidence for the National Vulnerability Action Plan which has been incorporated into Peer Review reports back to forces
- provided a subject focus within key seminars at national conferences
- informed national learning through presentations to bodies such as the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel and HMICFRS
- influenced and shaped resources for police in relation to vulnerability/ exploitation and incorporated learning in the College of Policing’s digital training development and direct entry training course
Resources
The VKPP has separately analysed different types of reviews, disseminating key learning to police within short practice briefings.
Find out more about VKPP publications
Three new briefings launched in December 2021 draw on the VKPP’s latest analysis of Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews in relation to i) identifying and responding to risk ii) responding to young parent families iii) collaborative working, victim engagement and evidence and investigation.
To complement the wider themed briefings that are produced, the VKPP has also carried out a meta-analysis of over 100 practice reviews.
The VKPP are available to deliver a bespoke learning seminar on the learning from these briefings, expressions of interest can be sent to vkpp@norfolk.pnn.police.uk