DAPOL
New (12 December 2024) MoJ research into the Electronic Monitoring of Domestic Abuse Perpetrators on Licence (DAPOL) makes for interesting reading. The DAPOL scheme was launched in August 2023 in two probation regions, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. DAPOL requires adult offenders at risk of committing domestic abuse to wear an electronic tag upon leaving prison, if deemed necessary and proportionate as part of the formal licence planning process. The scheme aims to strengthen offender management, help victims feel safe following the release of the abuser, and help prevent further offending.
This report presents findings from a process evaluation conducted during the first few months of delivery. The findings will be used to inform expansion of the scheme, prior to assessing impacts.
The research
The study was conducted by Elodie Rolls, Yasmin Youle and Dr Charlotte Hartwright and comprised three main strands: primary data collection through interviews and surveys with people on probation and staff working with electronic monitoring (EM) or domestic abuse (DA), an analysis of management information (quantitative) data, and qualitative analysis of probation case management records. By triangulating findings across these data sources, the research team aimed to capture the complexity surrounding the implementation of DAPOL.
Key findings
There were 442 DAPOL orders during the six-month evaluation period. Key findings are summarised below:
- The scheme was used to manage high risk individuals with complex criminogenic needs. Probation practitioners typically used DAPOL with prison leavers who had a history of violent offending, stalking and harassment, and those with an elevated risk of perpetrating DA. People supervised under the scheme often had attitudinal and psychosocial risks relating to relationships, thinking and behaviour, and pro-criminality. EM was used alongside other licence conditions such as alcohol monitoring, freedom of movement, non-contact, supervised contact, disclosure of information and (notification of) relationships. The profile of people on the scheme was consistent with established predictors of DA perpetration, suggesting that DAPOL was applied with reasoned professional judgement around DA risk.
- Practitioners viewed DAPOL as a much needed tool to manage DA risk, but refinements to data training and data access were wanted. While around three quarters of probation practitioners reported that DAPOL had benefitted risk management, some felt that improvements to the service could maximise these benefits. Some felt that more guidance should be given on how to best use location-based data. They reported that the initial training centred on ascertaining eligibility for DAPOL, with less on supporting someone once they were on it. Moreover, accessing the tag data once a person was on the scheme was said to take too much time. This sometimes meant that practitioners were less proactive with the data than they wanted to be. Practitioners expressed a preference for data they could access at their convenience, without the need for telephone or email requests.
- The capacity to corroborate a tag wearer’s location was viewed as beneficial by probation staff, victim liaison officers and people on probation. Probation practitioners reported that location data could help them spot potential patterns of risk escalation, such as where a victim’s home or work address had been compromised, should those locations not be known to the perpetrator. Some practitioners also looked for changes in tag wearers’ movements, to direct risk and compliance discussions with the person on probation. Indeed, some people on probation reported feeling reassured that the tag could corroborate their whereabouts, exonerate them if under suspicion, or demonstrate their compliance. Victim liaison officers highlighted that evidence of a perpetrator’s whereabouts meant the onus was no longer on victims to prove breaches. They felt this could help build victims’ confidence in the justice system. Collectively, these perspectives highlight that EM could be beneficial for all stakeholders, including the people required to wear the tag.
- Global Positioning System (GPS) tags were used in 96% of cases suggesting demand for location-monitoring will rise with further expansion of the scheme. Trail monitoring was the most frequently used EM licence condition under DAPOL. Practitioners used the data to identify patterns that could indicate risk escalation, for example, emerging intimate relationships, and more generally to assess compliance. Given the high uptake of location-based data in the early stages of this scheme, it is likely that demand will increase with further expansion of DAPOL.
Conclusions
There were some key issues which, if overcome, would greatly enhance the national rollout:
Making the location data much more accessible to probation staff, ideally via a simple data portal that they could log on to when needed.
Improving the tag batteries – tag wearers recounted difficulty with keeping the tag charged and reports of suspected battery faults from staff and people on probation were common.
Reducing the size of the gap which clearly identified individuals as offenders and meant that tag wearers often refrained from activities important for health and wellbeing, like exercise and socialising.
As regular readers will know, I have been urging the MoJ to move to the use of mobile phones for all EM tasks which would greatly reduce both costs and stigma.
Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here