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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/08/police-sexually-abuse-victims-zero-tolerance
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| The police are still ignoring sexual abuse by officers. It’s time for zero tolerance The police are still ignoring sexual abuse by officers. It’s time for zero tolerance | |
| (3 days later) | |
| When the Guardian first exposed how police officers in England and Wales were abusing their power to sexually assault and exploit victims of crime, we had no idea of the scale of the problem. Today, we have more of a clue as Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has revealed that hundreds of police officers are being accused of sexually abusing victims and suspects – and inspectors believe the problem is even more prevalent than the numbers suggest. | When the Guardian first exposed how police officers in England and Wales were abusing their power to sexually assault and exploit victims of crime, we had no idea of the scale of the problem. Today, we have more of a clue as Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has revealed that hundreds of police officers are being accused of sexually abusing victims and suspects – and inspectors believe the problem is even more prevalent than the numbers suggest. |
| Our original investigation was more than four years ago and was prompted by the conviction and subsequent jailing of Northumbria police constable Stephen Mitchell, who raped and sexually assaulted vulnerable women he met on duty. Examining the details of that case, various themes emerged; a lack of supervision, a failure to properly vet officers and the turning of a blind eye to the sexual exploits of male officers, in a still macho police service. | Our original investigation was more than four years ago and was prompted by the conviction and subsequent jailing of Northumbria police constable Stephen Mitchell, who raped and sexually assaulted vulnerable women he met on duty. Examining the details of that case, various themes emerged; a lack of supervision, a failure to properly vet officers and the turning of a blind eye to the sexual exploits of male officers, in a still macho police service. |
| With that thought in mind, we felt there had to be more officers out there abusing their position in such a way. Using the Freedom of Information Act we asked forces for figures on how many officers and community support officers had been convicted or disciplined for sexual assaults, rape and abusing their position to carry out sexual relationships with vulnerable women and girls. | With that thought in mind, we felt there had to be more officers out there abusing their position in such a way. Using the Freedom of Information Act we asked forces for figures on how many officers and community support officers had been convicted or disciplined for sexual assaults, rape and abusing their position to carry out sexual relationships with vulnerable women and girls. |
| We revealed that 56 officers from 2008 to 2012 from 25 forces had been found to have raped, sexually assaulted, harassed or groomed victims or were waiting to be disciplined for their behaviour. They included constables and officers all the way up to deputy chief constable level. It seemed a large number. Indeed, one officer who chooses to exploit a victim of domestic violence in the hours after she has been attacked, when she is bruised and battered and at her most vulnerable, is an officer too many. | We revealed that 56 officers from 2008 to 2012 from 25 forces had been found to have raped, sexually assaulted, harassed or groomed victims or were waiting to be disciplined for their behaviour. They included constables and officers all the way up to deputy chief constable level. It seemed a large number. Indeed, one officer who chooses to exploit a victim of domestic violence in the hours after she has been attacked, when she is bruised and battered and at her most vulnerable, is an officer too many. |
| But such predatory abuse of power was – as Claire Phillipson, from Wearside Women in Need said – “the untouched tip of an iceberg”. | But such predatory abuse of power was – as Claire Phillipson, from Wearside Women in Need said – “the untouched tip of an iceberg”. |
| For decades in her work running women’s refuges in the north-east, she had witnessed officers turning up to the secret addresses and taking advantage of vulnerable, beaten, abused and terrified women who had fled violence. There was little anyone could do. It seemed unlikely that anyone would listen to the words of a drug addict, a prostitute, a woman with no money and no home, over a police office, even if she was brave enough to make a complaint. | For decades in her work running women’s refuges in the north-east, she had witnessed officers turning up to the secret addresses and taking advantage of vulnerable, beaten, abused and terrified women who had fled violence. There was little anyone could do. It seemed unlikely that anyone would listen to the words of a drug addict, a prostitute, a woman with no money and no home, over a police office, even if she was brave enough to make a complaint. |
| A police service in which a macho culture had existed for decades, where profound sexism was publicly expressed, had bred generations of officers who were able to be openly predatory. And as a police officer they had access to the personal information about victims to allow them to carry out their abuse. | A police service in which a macho culture had existed for decades, where profound sexism was publicly expressed, had bred generations of officers who were able to be openly predatory. And as a police officer they had access to the personal information about victims to allow them to carry out their abuse. |
| Subsequent inquiries over the years by the Guardian into the scale of this kind of police corruption were not willingly answered by the service. Some forces refused to supply figures on how many officers were under investigation for such offences, claiming to so could prejudice their inquiries, others said they did not have the information available and in doing so exposed a failure at the top to monitor and record such complaints. | Subsequent inquiries over the years by the Guardian into the scale of this kind of police corruption were not willingly answered by the service. Some forces refused to supply figures on how many officers were under investigation for such offences, claiming to so could prejudice their inquiries, others said they did not have the information available and in doing so exposed a failure at the top to monitor and record such complaints. |
| Some senior female officers embraced the information that the media reports had released into the public domain. In Nottinghamshire DS Jackie Alexander, then head of professional standards in the force, confronted the issue head on and raised it at the most senior levels within the service. | Some senior female officers embraced the information that the media reports had released into the public domain. In Nottinghamshire DS Jackie Alexander, then head of professional standards in the force, confronted the issue head on and raised it at the most senior levels within the service. |
| But it has taken far too many years – and involved the exploitation of far too many women, girls and in some cases young men and boys – for the police service, the authorities and the political establishment to address what the HMIC is now calling “the most serious corruption issue facing the service”. | But it has taken far too many years – and involved the exploitation of far too many women, girls and in some cases young men and boys – for the police service, the authorities and the political establishment to address what the HMIC is now calling “the most serious corruption issue facing the service”. |
| It was only this year that Theresa May as home secretary made a welcome intervention, calling for the HMIC inquiry. But what is most concerning about the HMIC details is they expose that despite cultural changes in the police service, the increase in senior female officers and the apparent end of openly expressed sexism, there are still officers using their position to take sexual advantage of the people they are supposed to protect. | It was only this year that Theresa May as home secretary made a welcome intervention, calling for the HMIC inquiry. But what is most concerning about the HMIC details is they expose that despite cultural changes in the police service, the increase in senior female officers and the apparent end of openly expressed sexism, there are still officers using their position to take sexual advantage of the people they are supposed to protect. |
| Their behaviour is not isolated, and the victims appear carefully chosen – more than a third – 39% – of the allegations involved victims of domestic violence. What does that say about the promises of the police service to take seriously a crime which makes up a third of all recorded violent crime? | Their behaviour is not isolated, and the victims appear carefully chosen – more than a third – 39% – of the allegations involved victims of domestic violence. What does that say about the promises of the police service to take seriously a crime which makes up a third of all recorded violent crime? |
| Zero tolerance appears not to be applied when it comes to such behaviour. The HMIC said there is evidence that only 40 officers have been dismissed for abusing their position for sexual gain in the past two years. That is despite forces across England and Wales receiving 436 allegations against 306 officers, 20 community support officers and eight staff in the two years to March. | Zero tolerance appears not to be applied when it comes to such behaviour. The HMIC said there is evidence that only 40 officers have been dismissed for abusing their position for sexual gain in the past two years. That is despite forces across England and Wales receiving 436 allegations against 306 officers, 20 community support officers and eight staff in the two years to March. |
| More worrying, the failure by some forces to class the abuse of authority for sexual gain as a serious corruption issue, thus automatically referring it to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, is a sign there are senior officers at the top of the police service, who are still turning a blind eye. | More worrying, the failure by some forces to class the abuse of authority for sexual gain as a serious corruption issue, thus automatically referring it to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, is a sign there are senior officers at the top of the police service, who are still turning a blind eye. |