Policy fragmentation and policing domestic abuse: A critical review of Welsh police forces

This article examines operational domestic abuse policies across the four Welsh police forces: South Wales Police, Gwent Police, Dyfed-Powys Police, and North Wales Police. In the absence of a binding national operational policy prescribing a uniform policing response to domestic abuse, forces continue to develop locally defined policies and guidance that vary in scope, legal accuracy, operational coherence, and approaches to safeguarding. Drawing on a comparative qualitative content analysis of policy documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests, the study identifies inconsistencies in how domestic abuse is defined and operationalised, and in how key interventions, including positive action and structured risk assessments, are embedded within force policy. The article argues that policy divergence across Wales creates the conditions for avoidable variation in frontline decision-making, with implications for procedural justice, police legitimacy, and the consistency of victim-facing practice. The article concludes that a standardised, evidence-informed national operational framework would strengthen coherence, accountability, and victim safety in domestic abuse policing.