Bedfordshire chief constable says victims of domestic abuse or stalking who don't feel safe should 'flag it' with police

Bedfordshire’s top cop said victims of domestic abuse or stalking should “flag up” that they still don’t feel safe following the force’s response to their cries for help.

During their Accountability Meeting (October 5) Bedfordshire’s police and crime commissioner (PCC), Festus Akinbusoye, asked the chief constable for an update on a judge’s recommendations following the conviction of Sarah Albone’s murderer.

“This is the case of a lady that was brutally murdered,” the PCC said.

“The suggestion was made that Bedfordshire Police should review its actions in relation to what it knew and what it could have done to prevent this domestic murder,” he said.

“If one of our residents right now is being stalked by someone, who is been threatened by a partner, or the kind of incidents that was found to have been in play in the build up to this brutal tragic murder of Sarah, what confidence do you have that Bedfordshire Police is taking this seriously and this person is being supported and attended to in the way that they should be?” he asked.

Chief constable Trevor Rodenhurst replied that the Force assesses the risks and threats of every call, and the examples the PCC listed trigger a supervisory scrutiny of the actions taken.

“I see that happening every day in cases because there is daily risk of those types of crime you mentioned coming into the force, and they’re managed well,” he said,

“[If anyone] feels that’s not the case and they need to come back to us and they need to flag it that they don’t feel safe,” he said.