Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 49
49
Deferred
Paragraph: 120
Encourage forces to establish specialist police rape and sexual offence teams with resources.
Conclusion
We repeat our previous recommendation, made in our report on “The investigation and prosecution of rape”, that the Government strongly encourage forces without specialist police rape and sexual offence teams to put such teams in place and with sufficient resource, including capacity for ongoing training and development.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response focuses on initiatives to reduce the redaction burden in digital evidence, including a working group, simplified guidance, funding for automated redaction tools, and a pilot, but does not address the recommendation for specialist police rape and sexual offence teams.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
120
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
63. The deployment of officers is a matter for Chief Constables. 64. As the National Policing Lead for Adult Sexual Offences, Chief Constable Sarah Crew highlighted when she gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, it is important to recognise that there will be different considerations in different force areas. 65. To help drive consistency nationally, we have launched a National Operating Model for the investigation and prosecution of rape. All forces in England and Wales are now implementing this new approach to rape investigations. 66. Further action includes 2,000 police investigators receiving new specialist training in rape and sexual offences by April 2024.
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