Lincolnshire
Police Authority

An influential Police Authority committee has welcomed Force plans for a special team to deal with cases of sexual assault in the county.

Latest figures produced by the British Crime Survey show that, in the year to December 2010, the number of sexual offences has increased by 16 per cent., or 58 cases.

Deputy Chief Constable Neil Rhodes told the Authority’s Finance and Performance Committee that the new team, called Emerald, would have a dedicated investigation capacity and would be in place by the end of the May.

Committee Chairman Rod Must said that although the latest crime figures showed Lincolnshire was still one of the best-performing forces, the committee was concerned about any figures that showed an increase in any category of crime.

Mr.Rhodes said a great deal of work had been done - including the establishment of a sexual assault referral centre and a support unit – to encourage victims to report assaults.

He added:” The new team is being set up as part of the policing change programme.  An increase in crime is never acceptable, but we have done all we can to encourage reporting of sexual offences and I would have been surprised if, after all our efforts, the number of people who felt they could report such offences had not increased “.

Chief Supt. Heather  Roach head of operational support, is responsible for crime management and strategy. She said:” Over the past few years the Force and the Authority have invested in measures to improve the way in which we treat victims of crime. A rise in the number of reported cases of sexual assault indicates a greater degree of confidence in the system.

Where we have found room for improvement is in the way we prosecute the people responsible, that’s why Emerald Team was set up. We now have specially trained, skilled detectives to investigate these crimes.

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Some of the law and some of the procedures, especially when you get to court, are pretty complex.

This new initiative bodes well for making sure that, when appropriate, people are taken to court”.

The British Crime Survey concluded that, in the year to October 2010, there was a nine per cent. reduction in recorded crime in the county, compared with a six per cent national average

Offences of criminal damage were down by 20 per cent (national average 17 per cent)

Eight per cent of respondents reported a high level of perceived anti-social behaviour (national average 14 per cent)

Sixteen per cent of respondents classified people being rowdy or drunk in public places to be a fairly big or very big problem. The national average was 24 per cent.

Fourteen per cent of respondents perceive people using or dealing drugs to be a fairly big or very big problem in their local area. The national average was 26 per cent.

Mr. Must commented: “There are some very important and good results. Some impressive figures”.

The committee was carrying out its annual review of Force performance, which covers every aspect of the way in which Lincolnshire is policed.

Mr. Rhodes told the committee:” These figures come at a time of tremendous change. I am certain we can maintain levels of improvement and improve performance. In areas where we have done well, we will not rest on our laurels”.

Referring to crimes of violence, he said: “We have redesigned this side of our operations with a view to producing better results. We have to have our officers understand that their job is to detect and arrest”.

He also said that officers “ought to know that they need to be tenacious and follow things through, not just fill in forms”. He added: “We are determined that there should be tenacious investigation, not ticking boxes.

Some officers were in the position of having to spend inordinate amounts of time on computers. Not now”.