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ACPO
RAPE
SUPPORT
PROGRAMME
USE OF DEDICATED TEAMS
September 2010 – January 2011
OVERVIEW
The Association of Chief Police Officers, in partnership with the Home Office, remains committed to
improving the police service performance in rape investigation. As a means of developing service quality,
the Home Office sponsored Rape Support Programme has been actively supporting forces and
disseminating good practice over the last four years. To their credit, all forces have demonstrated a
willingness and desire to improve their response with a number of forces implementing a form of dedicated
team approach. This is of particular note when considered against the current landscape of a climate
whereby competing demands on resources and budgets has never been so intense. In this regard, it is
therefore imperative that the investment is a sound one.
Drivers for improvement
The focus of attention on adult rape remains intense. There has been further high level activity, most
notably the review conducted by the Victims Champion, Sara Payne and by Baroness Stern. Indeed
Baroness Stern made the following specific comments and recommendations:
2.5 “The work that the Association of Chief Police Officers has been doing in partnership with the Crown
Prosecution Service and National Policing Improvement Agency is designed to improve the approach taken
by all forces in responding to and investigating rape complaints. We have therefore based our
recommendations on the assumption that all forces aspire to provide a high-quality service to everyone
who reports a rape. The Guidance on Investigating and Prosecuting Rape seems to us to reflect the very
best that a police service can achieve and we would make no suggestions for improvements to it. We
recommend that the Association of Chief Police Officers should continue the work of seeing the guidance
implemented in every police force.”
2.6 “We were very impressed with the specialist police units. It may be that the combination of high-level
investigation, victim care and a focus on vulnerable people provided for by specialist units is the best way
forward. We therefore recommend that the Association of Chief Police Officers works with the National
Policing Improvement Agency to assess the benefits of this specialisation in terms of its cost effectiveness,
the number of victims reporting, the level of victim satisfaction and the opportunities it provides for a more
strategic approach to protecting the vulnerable.”
In order to assess the merits of such an approach and in response to this recommendation eight forces
have been selected as a representative sample for review.
Terms of reference
The purpose of the Association of Chief Police Officers review process is to assess the benefits of the
specialist team and evaluate the effect of these tactics on investigative outcomes benchmarked against
current available data. In addition, where appropriate, identify good practice for wider dissemination and
make suggestions which might assist forces to improve.
2
Methodology
The review took place between September 2010 and January 2011 inclusive and was carried out by Carol
Ashworth (retired police officer and member of the Association of Chief Police Officers Rape Support
Programme) and supported by Dave Gee MBE (retired police officer).
A cross-section of officers and police staff were interviewed using a diagnostic model including semi-
structured interviews with key personnel, focus groups of practitioners and on-site informal visits in eight
forces. For the purposes of this report they have been anonymised and are referred to as Force A through
to Force H.
In addition to the in-force visit, the reviewing officer undertook a paper review of 32 case files relating to
investigations that were undertaken by the dedicated teams (four in each force). All cases had been
assessed as having sufficient evidence to support the threshold test for prosecution. The files were
selected by the force and were representative of those cases whereby the decision not to proceed was
made by either the Force or Crown Prosecution Service.
A review was not conducted of any investigations undertaken by officers outside of the dedicated team.
DATA SOURCES
This report was written using information from the following sources:
The Association of Chief Police Officers/Crown Prosecution Service/National Policing Improvement
Agency Guidance on Investigating and Prosecuting Rape 2009;
Rape Support Programme Questionnaire completed by each Force;
CPS Area Questionnaire completed by the Area Rape Co coordinator;
Rape Investigations and Prosecutions Summary - Home Office statistics;
Relevant force documentation;
One to one structured and semi structured interviews with the persons listed above;
Previous Association of Chief Police Officers Rape support programme visit reports 2009;
Case files selected for review.
All of the information contained in this report is either sourced directly from internal force
documents or represents a summary of the beliefs and perceptions of those interviewed. The
limited timescale of this review has precluded any detailed work to corroborate some of the
information supplied through interviews.
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Many forces across England and Wales have introduced a form of dedicated investigative team approach
to carry out rape investigations.
The profiles of the eight forces reviewed differ in respect of their geography, demographics, establishment
and prevalence of rape. The command structures, although similar at executive level, are disparate in the
accountability structure for the delivery of rape investigation. Ownership principally lies with either the
Serious Crime or Public Protection directorates. Well established partnerships, so necessary in rape
investigation, provide a sound framework to follow. In this regard a number of forces have included rape
investigation within the Public Protection domain.
Irrespective of where the ownership lies, the key requirement is that the importance of rape investigation is
afforded a high and visible profile within the force priorities.
The review revealed that teams introduced thus far have evolved separately under the local direction of the
force in question, leading to significant differences in the way in which they are resourced and managed.
No two forces have established the same structure which compounds the difficulty in establishing 'what
works'.
In a number of forces, the driving factor for the implementation of a team, is to improve the detection rate.
Although a laudable overall objective, there is a mistaken belief in some forces that the sole remedy lies
merely in the implementation of an investigative team. It is important for the force to understand that the
investigation of rape commences at the point of first call through to the court process and beyond. An
investigative team should not operate in isolation, rather more it is just one of the key components of a
whole end to end process that needs to be in place to achieve improvement.
The notion of success varies amongst victims, criminal justice agencies, voluntary sector and the wider
community. What constitutes success to one individual may be having the opportunity to move on with their
lives irrespective of any criminal justice outcomes. For others, success is measured by the number of
cases resulting in sanction detection and subsequent conviction. It can be argued, therefore, that the
notion of success is a subjective issue. However, whilst significant efforts are being made to introduce
‘softer’ performance measures the fact remains that for statutory agencies such as the police and the
Crown Prosecution Service, success is measured in terms of statistical outcome.
Command team decisions to allocate a dedicated resource to respond to victims of rape and serious
sexual assault represents a significant investment in resources. The structure, establishment, terms of
reference and operating framework will determine the level of that investment. There are numerous options
for a force to consider when deciding upon the most effective model which could differ dependent on
geography of the region and demographics but should be driven predominantly by the intelligence
emanating from a comprehensive problem profile. In some forces resources were allocated without real
understanding or appreciation of the actual demand or requirement of the role. The Department of Health
will shortly be publishing a ‘Response to Sexual Violence Needs Assessment’, this document should be
considered along with a problem profile to assist any future allocation of resources.
All forces visited expressed a desire to improve and achieve a better quality investigation and level of
service to the victim but there was a palpable feeling of the threat posed to resources in the current
economic climate. All forces however were keen to highlight that not only had staffing levels been retained
in the response to rape investigation it was one of only a couple of business areas of the whole policing
spectrum that has been assigned growth whereas many areas are facing reduction in staff. In the context
of competing demands on resources and shrinking budgets this sends out a significant positive message
both internal to the workforce and external to partner organisations and the pubic of the commitment and
priority afforded to this area of business which is commendable. Each force has a policy on rape
investigation reflecting the National Guidance which is a matter of good practice.
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Of the eight forces reviewed the scope of the team ranged from a single police only team in a Basic
Command Unit which was present in two forces to a joint Police/Crown Prosecution Service team covering
the whole of the Police Force. Of the remaining five forces reviewed the scope of the team sits somewhere
between the two extremes.
Differences are evident at each phase of the process particularly in the areas of:
Whether the investigation team is a force -wide resource or confined to local area;
Inclusion of victim care/suspect management elements;
Skills set of officers, recruitment and retention policies;
Terms of reference, roles and responsibilities of the team;
Location, ownership, operating hours, resources of the team;
Whether the force works in partnership with a Sexual Assault Referral Centre;
Availability/use of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors;
Partnership Arrangement with the Crown Prosecution Service.
Variation in approach perhaps reflects the lack of empirical data to support the notion that the introduction
of dedicated resources to rape investigation actually improves performance in terms of statistical
outcomes.
Performance
In terms of assessing the impact of the dedicated team approach on statistical performance the picture is
varied. Some forces have added to their range of performance indicators with the introduction of more
rounded measures including:
Confidence and satisfaction;
Independent Sexual Violence Advisor feedback;
Increase in reporting rates;
Increased detection rates;
Crown Prosecution Services discontinued cases;
Unsuccessful prosecutions.
It is important to stress that for many of the forces reviewed the impact of the dedicated team approach has
yet to be maximised. However increased reporting rates were experienced in each force following the
launch of the team approach. This increase has been maintained in some of the forces whilst in others the
reporting rate has now stabilised.
The lack of relevant data collection in some forces compounds the inability to provide a clear, definitive
'before and after' statistical picture of the impact of a dedicated team approach. All forces recognise the
need to become more sophisticated in data collection and are actively adopting or developing case tracking
processes which should prove helpful in the future.
Cost benefit analysis
None of the eight forces reviewed had undertaken a cost benefit analysis of their respective business
model. Given the significant investment in resources it may be beneficial to undertake such an exercise in
order to establish the cost of service delivery which in turn may realise opportunities to increase
effectiveness.
On the evidence provided by forces to date, there is insufficient empirical data available on which to base
any firm conclusions as to the benefits of adopting dedicated investigation team approach. In terms of
statistical performance, all of the forces have experienced peaks and troughs in sanction detection and
5
conviction rates. It is clear, however, that from anecdotal evidence and some more reliable local surveys,
softer impact measures including victim satisfaction and confidence amongst partner agencies are real
positive outcomes. Before any firm conclusions can be drawn, existing practice will need to become fully
embedded and comparisons between existing and future performance data made to support any
adjudication as to their effectiveness.
There are a number of factors that appear to make a positive difference through the research
carried out in this report:
Ensure that the ‘end-to-end’ service is provided;
Development of composite dedicated team approach across whole force;
Realign victim care staff and investigation team to single line management structure;
Ensure relevant data collection to understand how well the unit is delivering against
its purpose;
Ensure that team members have minimum skills set and relevant PIP level training;
Develop the prosecution team ethos with The Crown Prosecution Service to improve
the number of offences brought to justice;
Effective Forensic Physician provision;
Effective third sector partnerships.
There is a need to consider further cost benefit analysis.
6
REVIEW FINDINGS
Influencing factors on Dedicated Team effectiveness
The adoption of a quality end to end process in line with the principles of the NPIA/CPS Guidance on
Investigating and Prosecuting Rape 2009 is key to improving the effectiveness of the dedicated team
approach. All forces should ensure that they are compliant with the Guidance in relation to:
Initial Contact
First Response
Investigative Grip
To be less effective at the point of interface with the victim and the wider investigative requirements at this
stage can diminish the effectiveness of the dedicated team following their engagement with the crime.
Force A Force B Force C Force D Force E Force F Force G Force H
No of offences 335 200 337 270 347 169 109 602
Sept 2009 to
Sept 2010
Force A Force B Force C Force D Force E Force F Force G Force H
Specially Trained Officers
Not dedicated
role
Dedicated
force-wide (outside
resource BCU)
working
remotely from
investigative
team
Dedicated
resource for
BCU only
Co-located
within
investigative
team
Combined role
of STO and
investigator
Force A Force B Force C Force D Force E Force F Force G Force H
Investigation
Dedicated
resource
Split site
Dedicated
resource within
BCU structure
Dedicated
resource for 1
BCU only
Dedicated
force-wide
resource
centrally
located
Dedicated
central
resource co-
located with
CPS
7
Force A Force B Force C Force D Force E Force F Force G Force H
Composition of team
Investigative 1 x DI 1 x DI 1 X DS 1 x DI 2 x DI Investigators 1 x DI 1 x DI
element 3 x DS 4 x DS 3 x DC 4 x DS 3 x DS on each 2 x DS 6 x DS
12 x DC 23 x DC 24 x DC 18 x DC division 12 x DC 22 x DC
9 x SOLO 6 x investigative
1 x Intel officers
Researcher 3 x investigative
1 x Intel Analyst support officers
3 x Rape lawyers (police support
2 x Paralegal staff)
case workers
Force A Force B Force C Force D Force E Force F Force G Force H
Training
ACPO standard ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL ALL
There are some significant differences which are self-evident. For example:
The number of personnel engaged in Force A for 212 offences amounts to 16 whilst the number in
Force D for 270 offences is 30. In Force B, there are 200 recorded offences with 28 staff. A simple
offences/staff ratio indicates that Force A carry a greater workload than colleagues in Force D whilst
Force B has the greatest number of staff to investigate the lowest number of offences. When
compared with the sanction detection rate Force B performs the best of the three at 30.5% with
Force A BCU based team at 29.2% and Force D at 16.3% for the sample period. (See Figure 2)
below. In all three cases staff are trained to national investigative standards although in Force D this
wasn’t complete until mid 2010.
The highest number of staff/cases ratio is in Force G where 109 offences were recorded with 15
staff available (10 staff pre-June 2010).
In Force G, Force H and Force E, the composition of the teams includes some police staff, some of
whom are ex-police officers.
Specially Trained Officers
The Guidance makes reference to the variety of terms used for this role such as SOIT, SOLO and SAIT.
For purposes of consistency such officers are referred to as Specially Trained Officer throughout the
guidance.
The role, function, skills, responsibilities, operating hours and structure for deployment of officers
undertaking such roles vary enormously ranging from those eliciting the initial account and providing
support through the forensic medical examination phase to those that incorporate the comprehensive
victim account through to those combining the role with being the investigating officer in the case. This
element of service delivery provides for the most disparate of practices.
The Guidance outlines that the fundamental principle of the role of the specially trained officer is to ensure
that victims of rape receive the appropriate care to meet their needs so that they feel supported and thus
less likely to withdraw support for the investigation. The specially trained officer should act as the single
point of contact with the victim to advise on the progress of the case acting as a conduit between the
investigating officer and victim.
In order to meet this objective, officers must be effectively recruited, trained, deployed and supported in the
role. Most crucially they must also be embedded though distinct from the investigation process. In addition
to avoid a post code lottery of standards for victims the services of a specially trained officer must be
delivered throughout the twenty four hours a day across the entire force area. Whilst all of the eight forces
8
reviewed can achieve some of the elements, only the structure adopted within Force E wholly meets this
criteria and in this regard should be considered as good practice.
Investigation
As well as having disparate practice within the role of specially trained officer there are also added
complexities around the investigator role. A differential exists in respect of the stated terms of reference,
skills set, operating hours and structure for supervision and deployment.
Owing to competing demands for resources, a number of units were established with either insufficient
numbers of staff to meet demand or staff without the experience or qualifications commensurate with
managing the level of responsibility and seriousness associated with the offences of rape. In two forces
both features prevailed which had the effect of being 'set up to fail'. To their credit both forces have taken
remedial action and are making progress.
One of the most crucial elements to improvement in the investigation of rape is addressing cultural
attitudes, stereotypes, values, judgements and beliefs. From other visits undertaken throughout the country
as part of the wider rape support programme and outside of this study, some evidence of negative attitudes
towards the veracity of a victim’s complaint has been encountered. This is contrary to the advocated 'merits
based approach'.
The investigation of sexual offences is not a role that is either preferred or desired for many officers, thus
establishing a specialist sexual offences team with individuals appropriately recruited and selected for their
aptitude, skills and experience, for such work is a cornerstone principle for success. Given the right
leadership, support and development opportunities the dedicated team is more likely to manifest itself in
delivering a high quality product which in turn delivers positive outcomes.
9
The Prosecution Team
Throughout the review a most notable variance was the local partnership arrangement with the Crown
Prosecution Service. A number of forces have yet to embed or establish a mutually agreeable regime for a
process of 'Early Consultation' in line with the national protocol between police and CPS in the investigation
and prosecution of allegations of rape, which was agreed in March 2008.
In a number of forces, frustration exists within both organisations in respect of some very practical issues:
lack of decision making by investigators with regard to endorsing files for 'No further Action';
completeness of investigation;
quality of video interviews of witnesses;
limited timely access to advice from a rape specialist lawyer;
timeliness of charging decisions;
risk averse decision making by rape specialist lawyers.
All these issues have a detrimental effect of the overall and combined success of the prosecution team.
Conflict resolution is eminently more achievable within a small scale environment. All forces and Crown
Prosecution Areas recognise the value of a establishing a strong prosecution team and did report sound
working arrangements at both strategic and operational levels to improve congruent outcomes.
Rape specialist lawyers did provide good evidence of the benefits of working with a dedicated investigative
team. These include:
action plans can be swiftly and efficiently drawn up and addressed;
higher quality of investigation;
improved lines of communication with investigators.
In addition, within Force E the co location of the prosecution team offers enhanced benefits. The collective
view of lawyers and officers was that they could not think of any downside to the arrangement. Many
positive experiences were highlighted which include:
a genuine feeling of being a Prosecution team;
joint daily briefing provides for consultation, advice, guidance, problem solving and conflict
resolution from the outset;
an improved and consistently higher standard of investigation/prosecution file;
total efficiency in the timeliness of advice, action, charging decisions, resulting in the most
expeditious 'report to court' processes;
elimination of administrative/bureaucratic functions between agencies ;
a holistic and coordinated response to victims;
higher quality of service to suspect management.
Significant cost savings have also been realised. For example administration, transportation of files
between offices and travelling costs of staff have been eliminated. This obviates the need for a full time
administrative assistant, fuel costs and working time of staff.
Force E have in effect taken the prosecution partnership to the next level. The Crown Prosecution Service
covering this force have deployed and co-located a team of rape specialist lawyers and case workers to
complement the dedicated team of specially trained officer and investigators to form a wholly composite
team. This facilitates the early consultation process from the outset and engenders a real prosecution
team ethos.
10
Furthermore, to its credit, during the course of considering how to improve their response to rape, Force E
and the local CPS grasped the 'end to end' concept and reviewed the entire process map from report to
court. In Force A the evaluation of their unit is awaited.
As a result, in support of the dedicated combined team approach Force E has also implemented a
structure whereby all suspects arrested in the 'forensically acute' phase are processed through a single
custody site in the force area which has dry cell and improved medical examination facilities for the
management of suspects and the technology to downstream monitor suspect interviews. Subsequently
persons charged are directed through a single local magistrates through to the city Crown Court. This has
a number of advantages such as, streamlining the process, the custody and court staff become adept at
handling suspects for sexual offences and generally professionalises the whole process.
The most impressive outcome is the efficiency in bringing offences to justice. The team report one case
taking less than sixty days from report to a court outcome. In addition suspects are dealt with in a timely
fashion with bail dates cancelled where necessary and to- date there has never been an occasion where a
bail date has had to be extended owing to a charging decision being awaited. This provides public
reassurance in the Criminal Justice System which is commendable.
Consideration was also given to including a dedicated scientific crime scene examiner/forensic
submissions officer to the team. This was not considered necessary or viable, however on receipt of a
report of a rape or serious sexual offence that investigation takes primacy over all other work.
A dedicated research and analytical capability within the team was considered essential and so is also
included which completes the dedicated team. This team has been established for just twelve months.
Whilst the statistical performance is highlighted in the relevant section below, anecdotally the review team
found overwhelming support for this structure within the police and prosecution service at both strategic
and operational levels and most notably within external partnership agencies.
From all the forces visited this structure appears to provide the most consistent, comprehensive,
streamlined and effective standard of service delivery to victims of sexual assault, together with the most
appropriate support framework for the staff undertaking this most demanding of roles.
It is reflective of addressing all the elements in a chronological fashion but as a holistic 'end to end' journey
and in this regard it provides an aspirational model of practice.
Case file review
An integral component of the evaluation of forces was the paper review of several investigation files. All but
one of the files were selected from those that had been deemed to fall short of the threshold/full code test
for prosecution. The purpose of this exercise was for the reviewing officer to capture a snapshot of the
decision making processes of both the Crown Prosecution Service and relevant dedicated team supervisor.
Whilst there was variance in the findings between some forces a number of thematic issues emerged.
Challenges exist in the form of the:
Consistent application of the 'Merits based approach' to decision making. There remains much
scope for the prosecution team to build a case around the victim testimony using evidence
regarding the psychology of a victims response.(In particular one of the files provided a good
example for use as a case study to highlight victim behaviour);
Language used needs to remain professional;
Standard of presentation of files. There is room for improvement in respect of lay out, grammar,
consistency i.e. forms used, hand written versus typed;
Summary needs to be factual and balanced, devoid of individual officers judgements and opinion;
11
Understanding the medical evidence;
Recognising and co-ordinating support from external organisations for victim care.
Interviews held with rape specialist lawyers elicited their overwhelming support for the benefit of a
dedicated team. They were able to provide many personal examples of where having officers in a specialist
role had made a positive difference. These included better presented case files, improved access to
investigating officers and early consultation in some areas.
Undertaking an independent case file review was an illuminating exercise which highlighted the prevalence
of practices and thought processes, some of which are borne out of years of culture, misinformed beliefs
and a lack of understanding of the nuances of rape investigation.
In summary forces are to be commended for working really hard to improve outcomes by restructuring
resources, policies and procedures all of which are necessary ingredients. In the context of the pressure on
a 'dedicated team' to realise tangible success in the form of stark statistical performance measures there is
a risk that investment in a team will not be considered worthwhile or beneficial. It is therefore imperative
that officers are afforded the appropriate training to assist in developing a greater understanding of the
subtle nuance of responding to rape investigation which is more likely to yield success.
Staff welfare
The nature of responding to victims of sexual violence is recognised as emotionally demanding. All forces
at present provide formal support in the form of a 'mandatory' appointment with the respective force welfare
officer. Whilst this is an admirable effort it is unlikely to wholly meet the needs of all staff, indeed a number
of individuals interviewed actively expressed a dislike for the process and saw it in a very negative light.
Routine 'clinical supervision' is considered core to the role within other partner organisations and essential
for safe practice. There is merit in researching the benefits of the provision of support by an external
professional for members of the dedicated teams in a similar way to child protection or other emotionally
demanding roles.
12
Performance
Traditional measures of police performance have been centred around the rates of reporting, detection
and conviction and whilst they remain indicative of performance it is acknowledged in some circles that a
more sophisticated and inclusive suite of indicators might identify more reliable outcomes.
Each of the forces subject to review set out objectives for the dedicated team approach. Again there is
variance in the stated aims ranging from a desire to increase the numbers of reports, a reduction in the
incidence of attrition to an increase in the rates of detection and conviction. However, all forces were keen
to stress the importance of improving the overall quality of service delivered to a victim or level of victim
satisfaction. In practice all forces have found this difficult to elicit or measure in a quantifiable way. In
summary there is an urgent need to update the current suite of measurements.
As previously outlined the response to sexual violence has to be seen in a holistic context. Each element
of the response has to be effective in order to maximise impact. It follows therefore that the implementation
of a team to address one of the elements or in one district is likely to manifest itself in an improvement in
that element alone. To effect real change not only do all the elements need to be in place they also need
to be allowed time to knit together and develop maturity, skills, experience and trusting external
partnerships to produce a yield. In this regard therefore, to date all the forces reviewed should be
considered to be in the embryonic phase of development.
In terms of raw data, Figure 3 below represents the total number of rape offences between 2009 and 2010
for each of the eight forces visited.
In three of the eight forces, the actual numbers of offences have risen and in the remaining five a marginal
reduction has been achieved with the exception of Force H where the reduction in recorded crimes is 88
on the previous year (12.75% reduction).
In terms of sanction detections, the national average has shown a reduction of 1.8% and in four of the
forces surveyed there has been varying reduction ranging from -0.8% in Force G through to -6.5% in Force
E.
Four of the forces have shown an increase in the sanction detection rate, most notably in Force F (14.0%)
and Force H (5.6%).
The percentage of offences no crimed has reduced in three of the forces, in line with the national
percentage reduction of 3%. In the remaining forces the percentage of offences no crimed has risen but
not significantly so ranging from 2.2% in Force E to 7.2% in Force G but the latter with relatively low
recording rates.
The national average percentage of cases reaching court that result in a conviction has risen marginally at
just over half of 1%. Here again, the picture amongst the eight forces reviewed is at variance with Force E
showing a 7.5% reduction whilst Force F, albeit on relatively low figures, have shown a 13.2% increase.
The range of performance indicators illustrate the difficulties in arriving at a sound analytical product to
confirm or deny the statistical benefits of deploying dedicated investigation teams. As in all interpersonal
crimes, there are many and varied unique scenarios which can impact upon the outcome of a single
investigation, which cannot be captured by statistical data alone.
13
Figure 3
Unpublished data - September 2009 - September 2010
Dedicated Number of Of those that go to
team offences police % resulting in a court, % resulting in
HO Data introduced recorded crimes sanction detection % no crimed by police a conviction
Force A 2010 Sept 2009 335 34.9 21.0 68.1
Force A 2009 354 25.1 24.5 75.0
Difference -19 8.9 -3.5 -6.9
Force B 2010 Apr 2009 200 30.5 19.0 69.4
Force B 2009 164 28.7 15.9 71.1
Difference 36 1.8 3.1 -1.7
Force C 2010 Jun 2008 337 32.6 11.3 80.0
Force C 2009 241 36.9 15.7 75.3
Difference 96 -4.3 -4.4 4.7
Force D 2010 Mar 2010 270 16.3 16.1 80.0
Force D 2009 279 17.6 17.9 72.5
Difference -9 -1.3 -1.8 7.5
Force E 2010 Jan 2010 347 21.6 9.4 68.8
Force E 2009 270 28.1 7.2 76.3
Difference 77 -6.5 2.2 -7.5
Force F 2010 Sep 2009 169 27.8 17.2 88.2
Force F 2009 188 13.8 14.5 75.0
Difference -19 14 2.7 13.2
Force G 2010 Jun 2008 109 28.4 16.8 83.3
Force G 2009 113 29.2 9.6 72.7
Difference -4 -0.8 7.2 9.6
Force H 2010 Nov 2007 602 25.7 15.2 78.1
Force H 2009 690 20.1 10.2 74.8
Difference -88 5.6 5.0 3.3
National Average 2010 24.6 10.9 72.1
National Average 2009 26.4 13.7 71.5
Difference -1.8 -2.8 0.6
14
Partnerships
Sexual Assault Referral Centre and Forensic Physician Provision
Whilst the provision of forensic medical examination facilities and forensic physician provision is not the
focus of this review both these elements are fundamental components to the whole 'end to end' process.
Thus the investment in a dedicated investigative team could be rendered less effective unless
complemented by and operating within the context of a high class holistic service. Gaps in the service
could have a detrimental effect on the willingness of a victim to support a criminal prosecution.
Again there is significant variance across each of the eight forces as to the standard of forensic medical
examination facilities and how forensic physician services are procured and delivered. A number of the
forces visited have invested in partnership arrangements to establish a dedicated Sexual Assault Referral
Centre whereas two of the forces have yet to establish such a facility. It is acknowledged that the
establishment of bespoke facilities are not the sole responsibility for the police service and there is a sense
of frustration at the lack of progress in this regard owing to complex arrangements with partners within
health agencies.
The availability and standard of forensic medical examination, forensic medical evidence, crisis intervention
and subsequent psychological and practical support offered to a victim are fundamental to the victims’
experience which has a significant bearing on the willingness or ability to support a prosecution. Once
more this reinforces the need for an 'end to end' process' providing holistic 'wrap around' services rather
than merely establishing an investigation team in isolation.
Third sector and Independent Sexual Violence Advisors
It is widely acknowledged that the ownership of and resolution to address issues affecting the population is
the responsibility of the wider strategic partnership. This is particularly relevant to the response to sexual
violence where victims prefer to seek advice and guidance from the network of support agencies rather
than report to the statutory authorities. There is evidence of solid long standing partnership arrangements
in many of the forces whilst in others they are new and developing. The benefits of a partnership with an
independent sexual violence advisor service cannot be underestimated.
During the course of this review it was evident that there is no consistency to the delivery or partnership
arrangement with this service. Some partnerships are ad hoc without underpinning service level
agreements resulting in a lack of co-ordination of services. Forces are encouraged to maximise the
opportunity to harness the expertise and support that exists within the third sector organisations locally.
Of particular note, in Force B there is a male Independent Sexual Violence Advisor which is unique. This
provides choice of gender for victims which is commendable.
The third sector organisations are well placed to elicit feedback on victim satisfaction. Many
representatives from such organisations provided a very positive view of the progress made by their
respective police force and in particular were highly complementary of the dedicated team approach. The
victim’s experience of the dedicated team was described in one force as being 'brilliant'. Generally staff
highlighted how the existence of a dedicated team provides many advantages including:
improved communication between the agencies to chart progress of the case;
higher quality of care afforded to victims;
routine referral to support services;
the ability to provide appropriate level of support to the victim, in particular when a case is to be
discontinued;
the sense of feeling part of a professional team;
the participation in joint agency training which promotes understanding and trust amongst agencies.
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Good Practice
In all the forces reviewed, there were examples of good practice for consideration by all forces engaged in
rape investigation. These include:
use of problem profile to assess staffing requirements;
staff recruitment and selection process;
training of staff to national investigative standards;
published terms of reference for teams;
dedicated line management;
analyst/researcher provision;
identified rape champions on basic command units;
identified rape leads in control rooms;
strong third sector arrangements;
strategic grip on performance data;
use of sex offence investigator logs’
face to face handover of cases;
use of risk matrix for case prioritisation;
availability of crisis workers and independent sexual violence advisors;
quarterly forum to discuss performance, practice and to generate learning;
availability of specialist dry cell facilities for examination of suspects;
use of single court for rape cases;
prevention and awareness work in schools;
collaboration with academics on research to rationalise why victims disengage in the investigative
process;
co-location of lawyers and investigators;
benefits of working more closely with partner agencies;
working with hard to reach groups to improve confidence.
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Conclusion
Whilst improved statistical performance improvements are difficult to achieve, all forces operating with a
dedicated team felt that their approach would ultimately realise tangible and quantifiable benefits. In terms
of service provision they offer increased expertise and greater access from victims and from stakeholder
agencies to qualified investigators.
We are now beginning to see the evolving of sustainable improvements to the way in which investigations
into rape are conducted with the introduction of specially trained staff now available to grip investigations
much earlier than hitherto. The qualitative benefits of this approach are beginning to manifest themselves
in terms of improved victim confidence, improved officer confidence, enhanced partnership arrangements
and a more holistic, team based approach to rape investigation.
The belief is that this will ultimately produce quantifiable performance data which supports the considerable
investment in the dedicated team approach. It has to be remembered though that each investigative
component has to be in place if the investigation is to have the potential to reach the prosecution phase.
These include:
Compliance with the 2009 ACPO Guidance on the Investigation and Prosecution of Rape;
Assessment of the incidence of rape before allocating resources;
Dedicated line management;
Active supervision of the investigation at all stages;
Trained personnel amongst specially trained officers and the investigation cadre;
Early Consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service;
Effective partnership working practices between all stakeholder agencies;
Collection of common performance data that helps units to understand the problems they are
addressing;
Sharing of intelligence data with partner agencies;
Sharing of good practice via the ACPO Police Regional Representatives forum;
Strong local leadership and a positive approach.
Dave Gee MBE
Carol Ashworth
ACPO Rape Support Programme
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