11 July 2008
More police resources needed to increase rape convictions
John Yates, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has called for every police force to set up a specialist squad to investigate rape allegations to improve the conviction rate.
The conviction rate for rape currently stands at just 6% nationally, but this hides a wide variation in responses from 13% in Cleveland to 3% in Cambridgeshire. Hard knock life, NPC’s report on violence against women, published in April this year, highlighted this low conviction rate and how this represents an injustice towards women.
NPC believes that an improved police response is one of the factors that could help increase this conviction rate. Most cases drop out of the criminal justice system before they go near the courts, with only 19% of complaints going to trial. Presumably most women who report crimes to the police want an investigation, so what is going wrong?
John Yates has highlighted previously the patchiness in the delivery of support and advice for rape victims. Although currently there are uniformed officers who have been trained to deal with sexual assaults, investigations are carried out by detectives who are drawn from a general pool, and do not always fully follow guidelines.
One problem is that often the police do not believe victims: this may be one reason why the police currently designate too many complaints as ‘no crimes’ according to reviews of police procedures. Charities have also told NPC that women are put off going through with the trial because of poor communication from the police. While other women report that the police, perhaps with good intentions, emphasised the tough aspects of the court case—so much that they decided not to go through with the court case.
Many women believe that rape trials are going to be only the attacker’s words against her own. But on the contrary, there is supporting evidence in over two-fifths of cases. Specialist police squads would help gather this evidence properly and ensure that it is taken to trial, thereby reducing some of the pressure on the victim.
Charities have been calling on the police to improve their treatment of victims of rape for years. They have also worked to tackle the low conviction rate themselves by providing advocates to support women through the police investigation and trial. These advocates help liaise with police officers, prepare the women for trial and offer emotional support.
However, ultimately tackling low conviction rates is the responsibility of the state, not charities. The call for specialist police squads should be heeded by police forces across the country so that victims can get the justice they deserve.
Angela Kail
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