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Checks on rape police after Worboys fiasco
Danny Brierley15 Apr 2009
Police forces will face regular assessments of how well they are investigating rape cases following a string of high profile failures.
Inspectors will examine whether police and prosecutors are following official guidance on how alleged rapes should be handled.
The new measures, announced today by the Home Office, come amid outrage over the cases of serial sex attackers John Worboys and Kirk Reid.
Both men carried on attacking women long after they were identified as suspects because of blunders by the Met.
Campaigners say some police forces are five times more likely than others to secure convictions.
In June the National Police Improvement Agency will publish guidance on how the police and Crown Prosecution Service should investigate and prosecute alleged rapes.
From next year Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary will assess forces in England and Wales on how well they are following the guidance. Forces and prosecutors will also be assessed on their performance data in bringing charges against alleged attackers.
Ministers also announced £1.8million funding for new and existing Sexual Assault Referral Centres.
The Home Office wants specialist officers to see all victims within an hour of their complaint being made.
The Government estimates up to 95 per cent of rapes are never reported. Only 6.5 per cent result in a guilty plea or verdict.
Reader views (1)
These statistics are a terrible and sad indictment of British society.
What does this say when vulnerable women who have been victims of one of the most devasting crimes of abuse know that they cannot expect fair and balanced treatment at the hands of the justice system.
Instead they opt to suffer in silence with the effects of a crime that will probably scar and haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Their should be no room for excuses. Men who largely make up the police force (and women) need to honestly ask themselves about their attitudes toward rape. Until their attitudes change, what hope is there for our young women.
- Amanda, Camden, UK, 15/04/2009 15:27
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