Dad of Salford domestic abuse victim Clare Wood backs GMP's new Public Protection Division

TRAGIC VICTIM: Clare Wood

By Ian Silvera

The father of domestic abuse victim Clare Wood is supporting the launch of a new specialist Greater Manchester Police victim support division.

The new Public Protection Division (PPD) is dedicated to improving the quality of investigations and providing support for victims and vulnerable members of our community, and is said to have the backing of Clare's father Michael Brown. 

Providing teams of highly skilled and experience officers who are dedicated to investigating crimes against vulnerable people, the PPD will be targeting offenders and supporting victims.  Its introduction is in response to the fact that public protection is recognised as a high risk area of policing. GMP also acknowledges the need to change its approach to investigations and supporting vulnerable people.

Head of the PPD, Detective Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle said that this is a huge step forward in protecting victims and targeting offenders.

She said: "We have responded dynamically to recent cases where failings were identified, recognised that mistakes have been made in the past and are committed to ensuring that they will not happen in the future.

In addition, a new Serious Sexual Offences Investigation unit will be introduced this summer to deal with all cases of rape across Greater Manchester ensuring a consistent approach for victims, no matter what the circumstances of the incident are, and help to bring more offenders to justice.

Mr Brown was due attend the official launch of the division today.