Something didn't sit right with me about this "police comment"... Bare with me as I'm diving neck deep down the rabbit hole here;
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "We responded to a report of a domestic incident. Officers attended to conduct a welfare check. Enquiries are ongoing and there is no further information at this stage."
It just doesn't read right.
After speaking to a colleague in the job they are of the opinion (and I tend to agree given we have very similar rules in the NHS) that unless a crime had occurred and a person arrested/charged, the police confirming that they attended a "domestic incident" would likely breach GDPR rules and could potentially leave them open to litigation. Why not just "officers attended an incident, no arrests were made, enquiries are ongoing."
It's not in the public interest to know these details at this stage as no offences were revealed or arrests/charges made.
Why would they use "domestic incident" and "welfare check" as both could lead to all sorts of unfounded accusations by the public/media?
It could also be taken as a breach of their right to a private and family life under the ECHR.
If that comment was made by a police employee it was "off the record", or more likely, the police have confirmed bugger-all to The Scum and the journalist (lol) has taken a punt that Sussex Police won't bother denying that they attended as they're too busy dealing with REAL crimes.
Dunno? I could be waaaay off!
What do you guys think?
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "We responded to a report of a domestic incident. Officers attended to conduct a welfare check. Enquiries are ongoing and there is no further information at this stage."
It just doesn't read right.
After speaking to a colleague in the job they are of the opinion (and I tend to agree given we have very similar rules in the NHS) that unless a crime had occurred and a person arrested/charged, the police confirming that they attended a "domestic incident" would likely breach GDPR rules and could potentially leave them open to litigation. Why not just "officers attended an incident, no arrests were made, enquiries are ongoing."
It's not in the public interest to know these details at this stage as no offences were revealed or arrests/charges made.
Why would they use "domestic incident" and "welfare check" as both could lead to all sorts of unfounded accusations by the public/media?
It could also be taken as a breach of their right to a private and family life under the ECHR.
If that comment was made by a police employee it was "off the record", or more likely, the police have confirmed bugger-all to The Scum and the journalist (lol) has taken a punt that Sussex Police won't bother denying that they attended as they're too busy dealing with REAL crimes.
Dunno? I could be waaaay off!
What do you guys think?