Joint statement from Deputy Chief Constable of Gwent Police Mrs Carmel Napier and Assistant Chief Constable of South Wales Police Mr Nick Croft:
"Uppermost in all our minds today is Joanna Michael. As the first anniversary of Joanna's death approaches, our thoughts are with her children, her wider family and all her friends as they continue to rebuild their lives as best they can following her tragic murder by Cyron Williams.
"Gwent Police and South Wales Police are working closely together to address the issues set out in the IPCC's report. We fully acknowledge the findings of the IPCC investigation and both forces have been working hard to implement the recommendations identified.
"Disciplinary proceedings are ongoing in both forces into the conduct of two call handlers, and, as this process remains live, we aren't able to go into further detail at the present time.
"We both acknowledge fully that the service given to Joanna Michael in the early hours on August 5th 2009 was not reflective of the usual high standards our communities should expect."
Statement from Deputy Chief Constable of Gwent Police Carmel Napier:
"Firstly on behalf of Gwent Police I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to Joanna's family and friends. Joanna's death at the hands of Cyron Williams was a tragedy.
"The IPCC Commissioner's report makes it clear that on the night of Joanna's death she was let down by the Police, she did not receive the service she should have done.
"It's our job to protect and help vulnerable members of the public and we are sorry that we failed to do that for Joanna. There are no excuses
- we simply did not respond as we should have.
"I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Joanna’s family and am willing to meet with the family at any time to make this apology personally.
"We fully accept the findings of the IPCC in regards to our call handling and I would like to reassure the public that an action plan based on those findings has been implemented.
"Changes we have introduced include appointing a dedicated Force Communication Suite Trainer. The trainer has responsibility for undertaking training needs analysis for all staff to identify any specialist training that call handlers may require and ensuring that the training is completed.
"The Force has also introduced an aid memoire for all call handlers which is based on the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) document "Guidance on Investigating Domestic Violence". This gives quick and easy access to simple reminders of the information call handlers should obtain and record when dealing with a call relating to domestic violence.
"In order to measure the quality of how domestic violence calls are handled supervisors now ensure that dip sampled quality assurance checks are completed in accordance with the recommendations of the National Contact Management Principles and Guidance and are structured against the National Call Handling Standards.
"In practical terms this means that 50% of all domestic violence related 999 calls, and 25% of all non-emergency domestic violence related calls are now required to have quality assurance checks conducted. These checks will make sure that call handlers are complying with policy, and that the correct grading is being applied to calls.
"In regards to working more closely with South Wales Police an incident exchange system is now operational between South Wales and Gwent which is proving beneficial in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in the management of incidents.
''The people who call the Police have the right to demand the highest possible standards from our staff and people can be confident that we are working as hard as we can to help ensure that a tragedy like this does not happen again. "
ENDS
Statement from Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft of South Wales Police:
"South Wales Police's Major Crime unit carried out a thorough investigation which resulted in the conviction of Cyron Williams for Joanna's murder and resulted in a life sentence being imposed with a minimum tariff of 20 years.
"I acknowledge fully, that for Joanna's family, this conviction, whilst bringing some comfort, will never bring Joanna back and she has left two young children who are now growing up without their mother.
"Turning now to the findings of the Independent Police Complaints
Commission's report, I regret very much the way South Wales Police dealt with the call and information that was passed on by Gwent Police. I agree with the Commissioner that the lessons learned obtained during the investigation and his recommendations should be shared. South Wales Police has fully accepted the recommendations and has acted upon them.
"The IPCC report deals with the actions taken by the individual call handlers on the night in question in managing this rapidly unfolding incident.
"Clearly, Joanna's calls to the police did not result in her getting the required response and our service that night fell below the standards I would expect from my staff. I know that all South Wales Police officers and staff will share my feelings in this regard.
"Information to carry out a full risk assessment should have been taken by the South Wales Police call handler, and the call should have been graded as an immediate response.
"I would like to reassure the public that several key changes have been made in the way we handle emergency calls. Every day, South Wales Police responds to around 1,500 incidents and our control room staff are required to continually apply their judgement and response guidelines to many complex and often confusing scenarios. This does not, however, excuse the fact that we did not respond as we should have done.
"The force has produced an action plan which directly addresses how we can avoid such an incident from happening again.
"We have put rigorous processes in place to iron out issues with misrouted emergency calls, carried out work to improve communication and administrative processes and have provided further training for our control room staff in domestic abuse. The Force has also contributed additional information to local and national domestic abuse policy.
"I would ask the people of South Wales to accept my reassurance that the less than effective response to this incident is not typical of and does not reflect the high standards and overall quality of service to which South Wales Police consistently aspires. The subsequent criminal investigation conducted by my officers demonstrated the professionalism and effectiveness of my staff and resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of Cyron Williams."
ENDS