Clare’s Law and requesting domestic abuse offender data
How to make an application under Clare’s Law
To make an application the applicant needs to attend a police station in person where a police officer or member of police staff will take the details of what prompted the enquiry and talk through the next steps.
A safe means of contacting the applicant will be established and police will carry out some initial checks to make sure there are no immediate concerns, if there are, or if police are told a crime has taken place, they may act on this information. The applicant will be asked to give their name, address and date of birth.
If the applicant lives in Bexley Borough their nearest police station is Bexleyheath Police Station, 2 Arnsberg Way, Bexleyheath, Kent DA7 4QS. Or visit: www.met.police.uk to find another nearest police station. Once an application is made, police and partner agencies will carry out a range of checks.
If these reveal a record of abusive offences or suggest a risk of violence or abuse, police will consider sharing this information.
Police aim is to help people to make a more informed decision on whether to continue a relationship and provide help and support when making that choice.
If the police decide to reveal what they find, also called making a ‘disclosure’, this will usually be to the person at risk. This is unless, in the circumstances, someone else is better placed to use the information to protect the person at risk from abuse.
There may be occasions when police will not let an applicant know whether a disclosure has or has not been made.
Any disclosure will be made in person; none of the disclosure is made in writing and the applicant will not be given any documents.
