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Investigators at the police watchdog are to undergo specialist training designed to help them spot the often-hidden signs of controlling and coercive behaviour, including cases in which abusers target household pets.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed that more than 150 senior investigators, casework managers and decision-makers – as well as new trainee investigators – will take part in the bespoke programme in February. The sessions will cover offences across the Violence Against Women and Girls spectrum, from digital stalking and non-fatal strangulation to the patterns of manipulation used by coercive offenders.
A significant element of the training will focus on animal abuse, where perpetrators threaten to remove, starve or kill a pet in order to maintain control over a partner. Amanda Rowe, the IOPC’s Director of Engagement and VAWG lead, said growing research showed this tactic was increasingly common.
“Pet abuse is being recognised as a red flag issue as more academic studies show it as a tactic for coercive behaviour,” she said. Citing analysis by the National Centre for Domestic Violence, Rowe noted that animal abuse featured in 6.51% of 64,000 witness statements examined last year. “It’s becoming a very prevalent factor.”
She added that the emotional bond between victims and their pets made the threat particularly powerful. “Abusers target animals to intimidate and exert control over partners… for many this threat prevents or delays them from leaving an abusive relationship,” she said, warning that such behaviour could escalate into wider violence.
The course will be delivered by Cate Webb-Jones, the IOPC’s Operational Lead for VAWG and a former public protection officer with a decade of frontline experience. It comes a decade after controlling and coercive behaviour became a specific criminal offence in England and Wales, during which more than 20,600 charges have been brought.
Rowe said the watchdog had a crucial role in improving the police response to victims. “The training will upskill our investigators so they can better identify some of the nuanced tactics used by offenders,” she said, adding that it would also challenge stereotyping and victim-blaming and help staff scrutinise how forces safeguard vulnerable people.
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