Specialists in 999 control rooms will assist police calls after Raneem Oudeh’s murder due to police errors. The law aims to improve responses.
This law comes from Labour’s plan and is named after Raneem Oudeh and Khaola Saleem. The ex-husband murdered them in August 2018. Raneem called 999 many times before her death, reporting death threats, but police did not act, making mistakes in logging and assessing her reports.
She called 999 four times the night she was killed, but police didn’t respond quickly enough. Now specialists will make sure calls get proper attention and ensure management and response. The government says this will improve things; specialists advise on risk and make referrals, finding missed chances to protect victims.
This first part guides a full national rollout later, covering 43 police forces in England and Wales with £2.2 million for the next financial year. Yvette Cooper spoke about the urgent need – people call police about abuse every 30 seconds. She wants to improve police response to abuse, saying victims must get the help that they need.
Raneem was told to go to her mother’s house that night, with officers promising to visit the next day. Her ex-husband stabbed her while she talked to police. Janbaz Tarin was her estranged husband, about whom she had made many calls that night.
Raneem broke up with him before the attack after learning he had three kids and a secret wife. Tarin admitted murder, receiving life in prison with a minimum of 32 years.
An inquest found police errors led to their deaths, leading to the disciplining of five officers because of failures. Nour Norris, Raneem’s aunt and Khaola’s sister, campaigned to aid abuse victims and said this announcement will save lives. Nour believes the system is finally helping Raneem and says this moment feels very emotional and very important.