Image copyright Science Photo Library Image caption Some coercive behaviour can "slip through the net"

Front-line police officers dealing with domestic abuse incidents are being trained to spot the signs of coercive or controlling behaviour.

Research for the College of Policing suggested that officers were focusing on cases involving violence and overlooking other risk factors.

Three unnamed police forces in England and Wales are taking part in a pilot scheme following the study.

Coercive or controlling behaviour became a criminal offence last year.

Making threats

The research found that although most domestic abuse incidents were handled in a "professional" way, some officers still displayed "negative and uninformed" attitudes.

In particular, police tended to neglect cases where suspects did not use violence but tried to control their victim in other ways such as by making threats.

The report said: "A tendency for the police to focus on physical violence and what has occurred at the current incident can result in them missing abuse which is characterised not by physical violence and injury but by continuous coercion and control in other forms."

The researchers concluded that if risk was not assessed properly some cases would "slip through the net".

In response, the College of Policing is setting up a pilot scheme to help officers identify possible patterns of abusive behaviour.

'Devastating impact'

David Tucker, the college's lead for crime and criminal justice, said: "We know in some cases of coercive control that violence is threatened in combination with surveillance and other tactics of intimidation which allow perpetrators to exert almost complete control over a victim's life without recourse to physical violence.

"This pilot will assist front-line officers in identifying patterns of abusive behaviour and, in particular, it will help improve officers' understanding of the risks around coercive control.

"We want to support the police service to be more effective in protecting people from the devastating impact domestic abuse can have.

"We acknowledge the efforts of police and partners in tackling domestic abuse and hope this new tool will help focus attention on a form of abuse that can be less obvious but high-risk."

Soap storyline

Polly Neate, chief executive of Women's Aid, said it was vital that officers had a thorough understanding of coercive control.

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw says the scheme is unlikely to address the problem of workload highlighted by the researchers.

One officer said he had a backlog of 170 domestic abuse cases any of which could result in a murder.

Domestic abuse was highlighted recently in BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers when the character of Helen Titchener was found not guilty of attempting to murder and of wounding with intent her abusive husband Rob.

The much-debated storyline sparked a national debate about domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and a flood of donations to women's charity Refuge.