THAMES Valley Police has been recognised as one of the top forces in the country at dealing with domestic abuse.

A report out today by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary condemns many of the forces for the way they handle domestic abuse.

It said the overall police response to victims of domestic abuse is not good enough and police forces need to take decisive action to rectify this.

However, Thames Valley Police was one of the better forces out of the 43 in England and Wales.

The report said the public in our area can have confidence that generally the police provide a good service to victims of domestic abuse and help keep them safe.

Tackling domestic abuse is a priority for the force and victims who are at greatest risk of harm receive a more bespoke service from specialist domestic abuse officers, it said.

However, the report highlighted there is more the force could do for victims assessed to be medium or standard risk and they could work more with other agencies.

TVP assistant chief constable, John Campbell, said: "We welcome the positive HMIC feedback and are pleased that the report acknowledges tackling domestic abuse is a priority for our force. Also, that our staff has a good understanding of what needs to be done to provide a good service to victims.

"Our specialist officers received praise for their work in the report, which says that victims who were at greatest risk of harm receive a more bespoke service. These officers regularly work together with dedicated victims’ advocates to offer specialist support guiding victims through what is often a very traumatic and emotional journey."

The force was singled out in the report for its notably comprehensive training of officers and staff over the last two years on risk assessment, honour based violence, stalking, harassment and coercive control.

In Thames Valley, domestic abuse accounts for five percent of calls to the police for assistance.

Of these calls, 43 percent were from repeat victims and domestic abuse accounts for 7 percent of all recorded crime.

TVP recorded 9,728 domestic abuse related crimes for 12 months to the end of August 2013. Of these crimes, 25 percent resulted in a charge, 13 percent resulted in caution and 1 percent had an out of court disposal, for example, a fixed penalty notice for disorderly conduct.

ACC Campbell added: "We acknowledge the areas for improvement and are already in the process of addressing the recommendations in the report. In particular, that high rate of domestic abuse arrests by Thames Valley Police needs improvement to convert to successful prosecutions resulting in convictions."

Go to www.speakouttoday.co.uk for find out more about the force's campaign to tackle domestic abuse.