Police Accused of Failing to Respond to Threat of Domestic Violence

A death in the UK has spotlighted the failures of one police department to attend to the real dangers of domestic violence.

Earlier this month a 21-year-old woman was found dead in her apartment with fatal injuries to her head. Her boyfriend, 27, was taken into custody for her murder. He was later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The spotlight then shifted to the police department that handled the case after a complaints commission investigated the murder.

The commission found that the police department had been negligent in providing the highest level of care to the young woman. Several incidents leading up to her death should have led the department to keep a closer eye on her situation, which simply did not happen. Instead, her case, along with several other similar cases, was handled poorly. While reviewing the case, the commission found that the young woman had called the police department 11 times in the months leading up to her murder, but did not receive appropriate protection from law enforcement.

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