Reassessing the Evidence Base: A Critical Appraisal of Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment (DARA) in Practice

In England and Wales, police responses to domestic abuse increasingly rely on formal risk-assessment tools to support decision-making and resource allocation. In 2022, the College of Policing endorsed the Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment (DARA) tool as a replacement for the widely used DASH assessment, citing improved sensitivity to coercive control and operational effectiveness. However, the evidence underpinning this national roll-out remains limited. This article presents an independent, exploratory analysis of DARA using administrative data from a police force not involved in the original pilot evaluation. The study examines changes in the recording of coercive and controlling behaviour, patterns of risk grading, consistency in officer assessments, and associations with repeat victimisation. Findings are descriptive and do not seek to establish causality or predictive accuracy. Instead, the analysis provides insight into DARA’s early use beyond pilot conditions and highlights the challenges of evaluating risk-assessment tools deployed at scale. The article contributes to wider debates on evidence standards in policing policy and the balance between innovation, operational demand, and victim safety.