Rape suspects' arrests being delayed as police being diverted to festivals, watchdog warns

Credit: PA

Police are delaying arresting rape suspects and cancelling appointments with victims because investigators are being sent to staff football matches and festivals, a watchdog has warned.

Inspector of Constabulary Michelle Skeer made a string of recommendations as she urged forces to make improvements after also finding several of the officers in rape investigation teams at forces visited by the watchdog were trainees who were not fully qualified.

The report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), published on Thursday, said: “In half the forces we inspected, Rasso (rape and serious sexual offences) personnel are routinely diverted to supporting events such as football matches and festivals.

“Forces should recognise that this means Rasso investigators end up cancelling appointments with victims or delaying arrests. It only adds to their workload pressure.”

In nearly every force, “half of Rasso teams are personnel who aren’t fully qualified and are still training”, it added.

The proportion of suspects being taken to court for rape is still among the lowest levels recorded, with a charge rate of 2.6%, according to the latest available government figures.

The inspection findings come after Home Office-funded Operation Soteria was launched in 2021 in a bid to overhaul and improve how police investigated sexual offences and rolled out across all forces in England and Wales last year.

While too early to judge the programme’s success, the watchdog looked at progress so far at nine forces who had adopted the measures since its launch and concluded that “major changes are required for it to be successful on a national scale”.

Making 14 recommendations for improvement to chief constables and bodies including the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing, Ms Skeer said: “For too long, victims of rape and serious sexual offences have been failed by the criminal justice system. Many struggle to come forward, out of fear of not being believed or being unable to access support."

In May, then home secretary James Cleverly vowed to put more sex offenders behind bars after thousands of police officers were specially trained in investigating rapes in the wake of claims the offence had effectively become decriminalised.

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At the time, the College of Policing said 4,540 officers in England and Wales had completed specialist training on investigating rape and sexual offences.

The College - the body responsible for police training - said officers had been trained in each of the 43 forces across the two nations but did not disclose how many officers per force have received the training.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “This government will make sure victims of rape or sexual abuse get the justice they deserve.

“While we welcome the progress being made, in far too many cases victims are being let down. That’s why it is so important that the police continue to make long-lasting improvements and put perpetrators behind bars.

“We will carefully consider the recommendations made in this report and work with the police to make the changes victims deserve.”

Chief Constable Sarah Crew has welcomed the findings. Credit: www.joiningthepolice.co.uk

Chief Constable Sarah Crew, the NPCC's national lead for rape and adult sexual offences and Operation Soteria’s senior responsible officer was pleased to see the report found the programme to be a "game changer" for policing. “This highlights the reason why it is so important that in early adopter forces a positive cultural change in the way policing views these types of investigations is already taking place."In fact, within our own evidence gathering, we have seen more cases being referred to prosecutors and we are seeing more suspects being charged. For example, in the year ending December 2023, charges for sexual offences were up by 18% compared to the previous year, while adult rape charges increased by 38% in the same period."We know that we are asking a lot of forces, as adopting the six-pillar way of working and the national operating model do require transformational change at every level. This can often be impacted by the amount of resources available and this is again picked up in the report in terms of resource pressures and short-term funding arrangements being a major risk to the delivery of Soteria.“As the report says, the system wide benefits this programme offers are ‘a major opportunity for the criminal justice system to finally give victims the service they deserve’ and only by working together and making this a national model, not only for investigations of rape and serious sexual assault offences but even for other types of crime, can we achieve this."It is important to note that we were at an early stage of implementation at the time of the inspection and, while the signs are positive and strong, we still have much to do to transform.“Force problem profiles still need to be improved, Early Advice from CPS isn’t used consistently and we continue to have a shortage of rape and serious sexual assault offences trained detectives, although we are offering increased support and advice for these challenges and the College of Policing are working to provide appropriate, timely, training to all involved in this area of policing. For example, we recently ensured 4,000 detectives were given specialist training – over double the target set by the government at that time."

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