OFFICIAL SENSITIVE

VICTIMS S T R AT E G Y
NW180523
INTRODUCTION
This strategy outlines West Midlands
Police’s approach to supporting
victims of crime, and outlines our
ambition to improve the service we
offer.

Our aim is to;

• ensure that our victim care is fully
compliant with the Victims Code
• listen to victims and change the
way we work in response to their
feedback
• deliver a service to victims that we CONTEXT
can be proud of Policing is currently facing real challenges;
increases in volumes and complexity in calls for
service, changes in technology and criminality
We are committed to delivering the rights
and budgetary constraints are all resulting in a
contained within the Victims Code of
service facing intense pressure. Our stated
Practice as a minimum, recognising and
commitments to tackling a range of challenges,
responding to needs of victims as
including Violence and Intimidation Against
individuals.
Women and Girls, and engaging seldom-heard
We will get better at listening and communities, demand focus and change. The
responding to feedback, learning from national focus on policing continues to provide
when we could have done things better challenge to public confidence in policing.
and changing the way we work when
In the face of this, our staff join policing to
needed.
make a difference, and provide a quality service
We will pay particular focus to individuals to victims of crime – this is a key ethos in
and communities with differing needs, policing. This strategy prioritises victims and
ensuring that the service they receive is the service they receive, delivered through local
compassionate, respectful and fair. teams and specialist investigation units.
We will work together with other criminal The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime
justice service providers to deliver the best (also referred to as the Victims’ Code) aims to
possible experience for victims throughout make a victim's journey through the criminal
the whole end to end process. justice process easier and clearer. It also
outlines the support and information available
at each stage of the process.
We want the service we deliver to
victims to consistently be one we can Delivery of the Victims Strategy supports the
be proud of. delivery of the Code of Practice for Victims of
Crime and the 12 rights outlined below.
Summary of
Victims’ Rights

1
To be able to understand
and to be understood
7
To make a Victim Personal
Statement

2 8
To have the details of the To be given information
crime recorded without about the trial, trial
unjustified delay process and your role as
a witness

3
To be provided with

9
information when reporting To be given information
the crime about the outcome of the
case and any appeals

4
To be referred to services
that support victims and
have services and support
tailored to your needs
10
To be paid expenses and
have property returned

5
To be provided with
information about
compensation
11
To be given information
about the offender
following a conviction

6
To be provided with
information about the
investigation and
prosecution 12
To make a complaint
about your Rights not
being met
APPROACH
To achieve this, we have identified six key areas, underpinned by a delivery plan.

1 4
Consistency of delivery: delivery of Understand the service we provide; to
Victims Code rights in all crime types, ensure we achieve our ambition, delivery
prioritising those that are vulnerable. monitoring, audit and governance
processes are in place and effective.
We will do this by: mapping our victims’
journey; use the latest technology and We will do this by; measuring our
innovation, supported by training, to activities, comparing ourselves against
ensure our staff deliver the victims right others and seeking to provide the best
at every opportunity. possible service to the public, holding
staff to account. We will use information
to inform our decisions to improve

2
Responding to individual needs; performance. We will recognise and
improved response to everyone’s reward success.
needs, including identification of and
response to vulnerable victims.
Listening to communities; using victim

5
We will do this by; taking the time to
voice, the experience of our communities
understand and respond to victim
and feedback from our staff, to identify
needs, and ensure our staff are suitably
areas to improve and change our service
skilled to do so. This will involve
as a result.
support from both us and our partner
agencies. We will do this by; establishing processes
to understand individual experience,
working directly and with partners to

3
Delivering a service to be proud of; effectively listen to victims, recognising
putting service at the heart of our that individual’s experiences of being a
delivery, whilst demonstrating victim have an impact on the whole
compassion to those we serve. community.
We will do this by; empowering our staff We will adopt a continuous improvement
to see the person they are serving first, process that allows us to change our
helping them do this by providing service in response to feedback
training and materials. This will involve
adopting the latest thinking through

6
approaches including trauma informed Strive for Improvement; identify ways to
policing and Right Care, Right Person. develop the best possible service for
victims for tomorrow’s police service
We will do this by; listening to our
communities and using good practice
from other police services, partners and
other industries to understand what works
and what future improvements can look
like.