Specialist policing units as a pathway towards procedural justice for domestic abuse victims

The available research on specialist policing responses to violence against women and girls highlights multiple benefits. However, there is limited evidence about the key features of specialist units, the specific mechanisms that lead to improved outcomes, and the extent to which procedural justice theory can be seen to underpin specialist alternatives to ‘business as usual’ policing approaches. This paper advances knowledge on the topic of specialist policing units designed to improve the response to VAWG, with a specific focus on domestic abuse, by reporting findings from two interlinked mixed-methods research projects that took place in Wales during 2023–2024, including workshops with representatives from the four police forces and a case study from one police force. Several types of data were collected and analysed: focus groups with police (n = 10 participants), interviews with police and partner agencies (n = 10), domestic abuse cases referred to a specialist unit over a 9-month period (n = 387), and survey feedback from domestic abuse victims (n = 413). The workshops revealed strong consensus around specialist units having a defined remit and a clear mission of being victim-led, with dedicated time and resources including specialist knowledge and expertise and arrangements in place for working in close collaboration with partner agencies. The Operation Diogel case study demonstrated how these underlying mechanisms generated a range of improvements when put into practice, including higher victim satisfaction, better safeguarding and criminal justice outcomes, and enhanced tradecraft, teamworking and morale amongst the officers involved.