Senior Met officer talks sense on rape
By Laura Woodhouse | 4 March 2008, 02:12
From today’s Guardian:
Police are contributing to the “appalling” conviction rate in rape cases because officers too often fail to take alleged victims seriously enough and settle for mediocrity in their inquiries, the senior policeman responsible for raising standards in rape investigations has told the Guardian.
The Metropolitan Police’s assistant commissioner John Yates said detectives don’t apply the same professionalism to rape as they do to other serious crimes. He blamed police for too often greeting complainants with scepticism and inertia, and said officers “must absolutely accept the victim’s version of events unless there are very substantial reasons to do otherwise”.
Here’s hoping words lead to action.
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