The Metropolitan police failed to investigate scores of rape allegations because officers did not record them as criminal offences, the Guardian has learned.
An internal review by Scotland Yard found that women who complained to police that they feared they may have been raped or suffered a serious sexual assault had their concerns dismissed in up to six London boroughs. In a breach of police policy, officers instead classed the incidents as crime related incidents [CRI], meaning the cases were not investigated properly, informed sources say…
The practice of dismissing women’s fears of rape and failing to class them as crimes is believed to have continued for several years and was ended last year. The review that identified the practice was triggered by the Worboys case.
When the procedure was corrected it led to a spike in recorded rape cases, up by 25% over the past year, at a time when overall crime in London fell.
Reflect upon how much of policing can be politics – and shouldn’t be.
The police clueless? What a shocker.
“An internal review by Scotland Yard found that women who complained to police that they feared they may have been raped…”
Umm, what? They didn’t know if they’d been raped or not?
It just goes to show you can’t be too careful!
Seems that now we’ve got two crimes for each rape case. One is the rape. The other is the failure to log it as a crime.
Paddy-O, Just consider it a combination of bad reporting on the parts of both the press and the officers. Women who’ve been raped or sexually assaulted may not be in the clearest frame of mind when they get to the station and may just genuinely be afraid of reporting it and what it will mean for their lives to be on trial as if they are the criminal. Rape victims are often treated as badly by society as they were by the rapist.
hhmmm and the oveall crime rate has fallen …. i wonder, could they be under reporting other crimes???
Patty-O and Ms Scott – you should really read the article prior to making such comments.
“The most common type of case the practice occurred in was one where a woman went to the police fearing she may have been raped, but was unable to remember what had happened. This can be a common feature where an attacker has used drugs to overpower a victim or when alcohol is involved.”
#6 – Nimby,
That’s what I get for skimming. Thanks for the correction.
Did they just start the practice of not recording them as crime in that year? If it has been that way for a while, and there isn’t anything in TFA to say it wasn’t, then a spike from the previous year should be expected. They weren’t recording them then either.
But I’m with Paddy-O on this one. How does one not know they have been raped? If I go to the police and say, “Officer, I might have had my wallet stolen.” should they record that as a stolen wallet. Did I get drunk and give my wallet to someone in a bar?
# 6 Nimby said, “The most common type of case the practice occurred in was one where a woman went to the police fearing she may have been raped, but was unable to remember what had happened. ”
Makes sense. With that kind of witness you aren’t going to get a conviction.
#9 – Did you intentionally leave off the final bit of that quote? Here it is again, for your enlightenment: “This can be a common feature where an attacker has used drugs to overpower a victim or when alcohol is involved.”
It’s quite possible to get a conviction. Trust me, it isn’t easy to have sex without leaving some evidence behind. If the victim reports the assault soon enough, it may be possible to detect signs of the rape or traces of the drugs.
By the way, if Paddy refers to your ethnicity and not your fondness for peppermints or rice, then I hope you have a good day, today.
# 11 Nimby said, “It’s quite possible to get a conviction. Trust me, it isn’t easy to have sex without leaving some evidence behind.”
Actually, lacking a witness to testify that sex wasn’t consensual means almost impossible to get a conviction… It then comes down to he said, she said. Any competent defense atty can blow that out of the water. I see why the police didn’t report those as crimes. Lack of evidence to substantiate, much less make an arrest.
> I see why the police didn’t report those as crimes. Lack of
> evidence to substantiate, much less make an arrest.
No, thats why the DPP wouldn’t posecute. The police didn’t report them to keep their statistics looking nice.
# 13 ac said, “No, thats why the DPP wouldn’t posecute.”
The DPP is going to prosecute anything that the police don’t report to them?
Crikey… I agree with Paddy-O…. again…
A number of studies of the issues of “roofies” or date rape drugs has concluded that it is mostly an urban legend. Of course there are exceptions to this, but the idea that large numbers of guys are going around and buying drugs in order to get girls to sleep with them is absurd. Guys have known the effects of beer goggles for years. We just don’t complain about it.
One studdy in Britan, none the less, found that virtually all the women complaining about being drugged with date rape drugs were simply drinking too much.
Additionally just minimal research into the reasons ~why~ police are reluctant to persue rape without evidence of assault reveals… About half of all rape claims are fraud.
Groan… Not only do I agree with Paddy-o, but I also agree with the police on this issue.
You can argue these basic facts with me all you want, I don’t mind serving the humble pie up again. I served a lot of it up back during the Duke Rape hoax, and was even one of the people that caused Amanda Marcotti to erase most of her blog history.
But by all means, let the flames commence.
#12, Cow-Paddy, Ignorant Shit Talking Sociopath, Retired Mall Rent-A-Cop, Pretend Constitutional Scholar, Fake California Labor Law Expert, Pseudo Military Historian, Phony Climate Scientist, and Real Leading Troll Extraordinare,
lacking a witness to testify that sex wasn’t consensual …
Not true. A woman must give her consent in order for the rape to be consensual. If she is unconscious from drugs or alcohol, or even an injury, then she did not give her consent. If the rapist can be identified, he can be convicted.
More and more Judges are intolerant about rape victims being abused on the stand and will halt a Defense Attorney that digs too deep. Several States have enacted regulations about rape victim testimony.
Oopps, My mistake. You’re the fucking expert here.
#16,
You reminded me of another high publicity fraudulent rape accusation.
So… say a basket ball player is banging a whore, and he pulls it out and pops it in the back door. Is that rape?
Hmmm, what motivation could women have for making fraudulent rape claims???
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/britain-now-the-worlds-compensation-capital-with-payouts-set-to-keep-rising-689105.html
It’s a mystery…
#18 – Yep, follow the money…
#16 – Mr. Fusion,
#12, Cow-Paddy, Ignorant Shit Talking Sociopath, Retired Mall Rent-A-Cop, Pretend Constitutional Scholar, Fake California Labor Law Expert, Pseudo Military Historian, Phony Climate Scientist, and Real Leading Troll Extraordinare,
(snip)
Oopps, My mistake. You’re the fucking expert here.
I can’t imagine that someone with Paddy’s qualifications is an expert on fucking, unless he’s the one plying his women with date rape drugs.
#19,
Yeah, Women in UK get $25,000 (from taxpayers btw) for merely making the accusation of rape? Woah. I may move to britan just to claim that I was raped. Oh wait, men don’t qualify for that entitlement.
#21 – You could probably then sue the gov’t for discrimination. LOL!
Paddy-o,
Oh check this case out. Look at that, the guy was denied the right to cross examine his accuser and bring into evidence that he and his wife continued to screw for years after the “rape” and even made home made porn together after the “rape”, and he spent 10 years in jail.
OMG, and check out his lack of bitterness over the whole thing!
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/mar/14/1m14marine01421-marine-free-after-conviction-tosse/?zIndex=67020
Now how on earth of bizaro cases like this happening, and I can trivially find a recent topical one, if women are not lying about rape, ALL THE FUCKING TIME.
#23 Holy crap! That woman should be thrown in jail and fined. Yeah, it’s a great weapon to wield, the threat of accusation.
#24,
You know, the internet is a funny thing. Virtually every liberal blog everywhere on the internet has erased virtually every article about the duke rape hoax.
Why do you suppose that is?
# 25 GregA said, “Why do you suppose that is?”
Liberalism as an ideology requires a high level of victim hood in its constituencies. If fear & hate can’t be fomented, the lib leaders can’t gain power & money.
Lol, and here I thought it was that the sanctamounious fucks who run poly blogs just don’t like the taste of crow meat.
Hmm, word comes from on high that crime needs to go down. Police cook the books and report back favorable results to their superiors. The powers that be look good to the voters.
They need to show that countries with gun control have low crime rates, and even more when you have knife control and pepper spray control.
Exactly how did this go from a thread regarding proper reporting of rape cases to a thread for advocating that women should not be allowed to report rape cases and for bashing of liberals?
#30, Scott,
Ask the fucking expert.