How Durham Police is speeding up public information requests with Microsoft technology
Durham Police has harnessed the power of Microsoft technology to streamline the reporting and management of sensitive information requests from the public.
Detective Inspector Andy Phillips, who has been with Durham Constabulary for 27 years, believes “lives are being saved” by providing the public with the information they need to make informed decisions when it comes to their safeguarding.
Andy has responsibility for the force’s Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub, a body each police force across England and Wales has set up to share information with agencies and partners to improve the safeguarding of children and adults.
Every police force in England and Wales has to implement Clare’s Law and Sarah’s Law (see details below), which entails processing hundreds of information requests a month and assessing whether the person asking for the information has a right to know. This takes a lot of time and research.
“if there’s a woman at risk of domestic violence or abuse, getting that information sooner could potentially save her life“
Without a standardised method of dealing with such requests, Durham Police found itself often breaching the guideline 28-day turnaround period for such disclosures, attracting censure from the police regulator.
“We were handling Excel spreadsheets, Word documents and emails,” says Andy, “which became quite chaotic and unmanageable as the number of applications grew.”
‘Incredible speed’
So Durham Police partnered with tech consultancy Robiquity, one of Microsoft’s first Power Automate partners, to develop bespoke case management systems for Clare’s Law, Sarah’s Law, and so-called Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) applications.
MARACs are interdisciplinary meetings attended by representatives from police, health, child protection, housing, independent domestic violence advisors (IDVAs), probation and other specialists from statutory or voluntary sectors.
“The speed at which they were able to deliver it was incredible“
Their primary function is to safeguard adult victims, but they also consult with child safeguarding agencies where necessary.
The collaboration saw the police and Robiquity working closely together to design and refine a more automated way of managing the applications. The resulting case management systems took just four months to build and implement.
“The speed at which they were able to deliver it was incredible,” says Andy, “and this had a lot to do with the Microsoft Power Platform technology.
“We are now hitting about 17-days on average to make a disclosure, well within the 28-day guideline,” he says.
‘Significant improvement’
While each application varies in complexity, Durham Police is saving 15 minutes on average per application, says Andy. Having visibility into the status of applications through easily accessible dashboards also enables better tracking and work-flow management, he adds, while case managers have more confidence that they have all the data they need securely to hand.
Charlotte Allen, a case supervisor for Durham Police, said: “I have seen a significant improvement in the number of disclosures we are completing within the 28-day timescales. The apps make it so much easier to see exactly what stage an application is at.
“You can see exactly what is happening with each application by just a click of a button. The system is extremely user friendly and has had such a positive impact across our team.”
When you have a small team handling hundreds of applications a month, time savings and efficiency improvements like these have a dramatic difference to operations, Andy reflects, but also to the potential victims.
“The idea is to give people the correct information so they can make informed decisions around their safeguarding,” he says.
“Ultimately, if there’s a woman at risk of domestic violence or abuse, getting that information sooner could potentially save her life.”
‘Amazing breakthrough’
Carol Whicher, Clare Wood’s aunt, has been an energetic campaigner for Clare’s Law. Reacting to Durham Police’s case management automation project, she said: “This is an amazing breakthrough, and I applaud all involved in this innovative project.
“Time is of the essence when processing disclosure applications. This will improve the safeguarding of victims and potential victims of domestic violence, and ultimately save countless lives.”
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that 2.3 million people in England and Wales aged 16 and over experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024.
But up to 60% of domestic abuse victims report no further violence following MARAC and Independent Domestic Violence Advisor intervention.
Joy Allen, Durham’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “Tackling domestic abuse and gender-based violence is a key priority for me, and I have invested in a raft of proactive measures to increase the safety of victims.
“The force was keen to improve the efficiency of its Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme to protect potential victims and prevent abuse.
“I was pleased to offer my support to design a solution that has not only increased the speed at which disclosures are made but has also freed up valuable police time to spend on other frontline duties.
“Every victim is one too many. Any action we can take to prevent these offences happening in the first place and protect victims from serial abusers must be grasped at the earliest opportunity.”
Future innovation
Durham Police is exploring further enhancements to the systems, including automating the research stage and applying AI to speed up the process even more.
“The technology is there to do it, and while we are processing applications effectively now, automating the research stage would enable us to handle even more cases, faster. That’s got to be good for everyone,” says Andy.
He hopes that other police forces will follow suit and automate the handling of these information requests as quickly as possible.
More about Sarah’s Law and Clare’s Law
After Sarah Payne, 8, was abducted and murdered in 2000 by a convicted sex offender, a new law – known as Sarah’s Law – came into force in 2011. It gives parents, carers or guardians in England and Wales the right to ask the police whether someone with access to a child has a record of child sexual offences.
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme – known as Clare’s Law – came into effect in 2014, after Clare Wood, 36, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2009. It allows police to disclose whether someone’s partner has a history of domestic violence.