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Life After The Police - DV Perpetrators Rehabilitation
Continuing with the series about what police officers do when they leave the service we have an interview with an ex-colleague of mine form the Homicide Command; former Detective Constable Simon Hobson. Simon has been very busy since leaving the police and I believe his work around perpetrators of domestic violence will be a learning experience for the reader.
ConsultingCops (CC) - Hi Simon can you tell us about when and where you served with the police please? What rank and what role did you perform?
Simon Hobson (SH) - I joined the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) as a fresh faced 19-year-old boy from Tyneside in 1990 and after 5 months at the Police College Hendon, was shipped out to East London where I spent my time in uniform duties. After 4 years on Relief I was seconded to CID firstly as a PC on Divisional Burglary and Robbery Squads then as a Trainee Investigator before undertaking the Accredited Investigator Scheme. In 1998 I qualified as a Detective Constable with an initial posting in the Borough of Barking and Dagenham. What followed was a thoroughly enjoyable and varied career in Criminal Investigation with time spent in Interfamilial Child Death Investigation, Homicide and Road Death Investigation. I performed roles including Advanced Exhibit Officer, Family Liaison Officer and as an ABE specialist interviewer. After 26 years I retired from the Met and returned back home to Tyneside.
CC - What did you think you would do when you decided to leave the police?
SH - My initial intention was to take up the offer of a role within the Port of Tyne Authority, however, I was approached by a local charity who were seeking to start a Project working with Perpetrators of Domestic Abuse. It was the beginning of a new chapter for me.
CC - What jobs have you had since leaving the police and what are you doing now?
SH - I initially went to work for the local Charity I have mentioned and facilitated group work programmes for men who accepted they had been abusive within their intimate relationships and wanted to change these behaviours. I later additionally worked for the international charity Barnardo's in a similar role aimed specifically at high risk, high harm repeat perpetrators. As I gained more experience within the sector I undertook other projects such as delivering group work programmes for children who had been negatively affected by domestic abuse within their families. I was invited by Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) to deliver the Separated Parenting Information Programme to attempt to resolve conflict between parents within Private Family Law Proceedings and I later extended my role within Barnardo's delivering the national ‘Drive’ pilot scheme aimed at working with men highlighted by Northumbria Police in the Multi Agency Tasking and Coordination (MATAC) process as those at highest risk of causing serious harm to women and children with their behaviour. Parallel to the behaviour change work I trained as a Will Writer and Estate Planning and qualified as a member of the Will Writers Society allowing me to practice as a Will Writer, provider of Lasting Powers of Attorney and provider of Property protection within Trust Law. I now run an Estate Planning business as an Independent Contractor working in tandem with a National Law Firm and in April of 2022 was recruited to design and manage The Right Turn Project being Sunderland’s first ever Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Bespoke one to one Service.
CC - They are very different jobs and very different to what you did in the police. Why did you choose these jobs?
SH - Precisely for the reason of trying something different. I loved every moment of my time in the Metropolitan Police and working towards ensuring that criminals were prosecuted and subsequently punished. I cannot remember concerning myself too much with thoughts of rehabilitation for offenders and the benefit of trying to effect behaviour change by offenders of domestic abuse. At the heart of what I do now is a belief in the ability of an individual to be educated and to learn techniques which allow them to better deal with adverse emotions without using harmful behaviours.
CC - How much of your police experience has helped you with these jobs?
SH - The ability to provide the best possible service to the survivors of the abuse is at the heart of behaviour change work. The perpetrator in the room isn’t the primary client and focus should always remain on the reasons why the work is being undertaken, namely to improve the safety of women and children. My background in Family Liaison and the numerous ABE interviews that I conducted with children and vulnerable people have all stood me in good stead within my new field of work. And as for the Will Writing and Estate Planning? Long, laborious drafting of reports and legal papers with an eye on hard factual contact and fine detail that holds up to scrutiny? Any Detective past or present will feel my pain!
CC - What training did you have to complete for the future estate planning position?
SH – Initially, I attended in person at a 2-week training course as an introduction to general Estate Planning including Will Writing, preparation of Powers of Attorney, UK Trust Law and much more. I shadowed experienced, qualified Will Providers whilst further studying and subsequently being accepted as a member of the Society of Will Writers. In my first 2 years of practice all of my work in the area of Trust Law was QA’d by fully qualified Trust Lawyers with their approval and ‘sign off’ being required. It’s been quite the journey to establish myself and gain the confidence of an ever-expanding client base.
CC - I am sure our readers will be very interested to know more about the Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes. What else can you tell us about it and does it work?
SH - A number of Interventions are available for those who use harmful behaviours in an intimate relationship. After a thorough and rigorous 1-2-1 assessment process where matters are addressed such as motivation to change, knowledge and understanding of what constitutes abuse and the personal needs of the individual in relation to mental health matters, substance abuse issues, debt and housing problems etc… Then a decision is taken as to what substantive work will best suit that individual. Across the two employers that I work for there is then access to a 10-week educational programme, bespoke content of one to one Programmes of around 12-weeks in length and a 26-week intensive group work programme where up to 10 men at a time on each group will work to address their abusive behaviour. Support is offered independently to every current or significant ex-partner of every perpetrator who works with us and their choices regarding appropriate interventions post assessment are all informed by in depth risk assessments and safeguarding considerations. A Multi-Agency approach is promoted with input from Children’s Services, Police, Probation, Housing and many more interested stakeholders.
CC - How does the charity fund your position? Does it make you concerned that it could be halted due to lack of funds?
SH - My first contract back in 2015 was for only 3 months! As you can imagine coming from an environment of complete job security this was a major shock to the system. It’s the nature of the Charitable Sector that everything is reliant on funding and I soon found that every year the period January-March was an uncertain time as funding decisions were often left until the last days of March and therefore job security was never confirmed until the last moment. In April 2022 I secured a 5-year contract to launch the new Perpetrator Service in Sunderland. Almost unheard of within the Sector and finally time for me to take a breath!
CC - Do you miss being a police officer? If yes, what do you miss?
SH - This is something I thought that I would struggle with when I left the Police. For 26 years it had been such a huge part of my life. But I can honestly say that I don’t miss the actual job. I loved the vast majority of my time in the Met, I am very grateful for all that I learned and experienced and for the opportunity to have played my part. I know that it will sound like a cliché but what I do miss is the spirit, camaraderie and humour of my friends alongside whom I was so proud to serve.
CC - Any other comments you would like to make?
SH - I made friends for life in the Met. One of whom is the esteemed CEO of this company. I was just a boy when I joined the Police. I left as a man looking for a second act both professionally and personally. I’ve found both.
