Police must do more to support survivors of child sexual abuse
and listen to their experiences, the Independent Office for
Police Conduct (IOPC) has said following a series of
investigations into South Yorkshire Police’s response to
non-recent allegations in the Rotherham area.
The IOPC has today published details of national and local
recommendations made to tackle systemic issues identified during
Operation Linden, which encompasses 91 separate investigations
completed so far.
They have involved looking into 265 separate allegations,
covering the period from 1997 to 2013. There were 51
complainants, 44 of whom were survivors of abuse.
Based on the findings of those investigations, the IOPC has made
a series of recommendations to improve the treatment of those who
come forward to report abuse and ensure officers are better
equipped to investigate these offences.
IOPC Director of Major Investigations, Steve Noonan said:
“Throughout Operation Linden, our priority has been the welfare
of the survivors whose bravery in coming forward has enabled us
to shine a light on the failings of the past.
“The complexity of these investigations – which have seen us take
almost 1,000 statements, log more than 1,400 exhibits, and carry
out nearly 4,000 investigative actions – is unparalleled but it
was vital to explore every line of inquiry thoroughly.
“Police understanding of this type of offending has evolved
significantly in recent years and we must acknowledge the efforts
made to improve the way these cases are dealt with.
However, there is still work to do and we have issued these
recommendations to make sure lessons are learned and mistakes of
the past are not repeated.”
The IOPC has today published details of 12 recommendations to
organisations including South Yorkshire Police and the College of
Policing. They cover subjects including: training for officers;
the support provided to survivors; information sharing between
forces; and the way these offences are recorded.
Among the areas for learning we identified are:
• A national recommendation, to the College of Policing, that the
voices of survivors should be included in training for officers
dealing with child sexual abuse
• That South Yorkshire Police should take steps to ensure its
public protection units are complying with Home Office rules
around crime recording
• A review of the laws surrounding offences committed by young
people who are being groomed or exploited, which we are asking
the Law Commission to carry out, in order to reduce the impact of
the abuse on their future life prospects.
Mr Noonan added: “Survivors of abuse will no doubt be deeply
concerned, as are we, that some of these problems still exist
today and we urge the police to act on these recommendations
urgently to provide much needed reassurance to the public.
“It is a tragedy that so many of the survivors we spoke to now
have criminal records as a result of their actions while being
exploited and there must be action across the judicial system to
protect vulnerable young people and safeguard their futures.”
During Operation Linden, the IOPC has investigated the conduct of
47 officers: eight were found to have a case to answer for
misconduct and six had a case to answer for gross misconduct.
Five have faced sanctions from management action up to a final
written warning, while one hearing is still outstanding. In many
cases, the officer had retired and due to legislation in place at
the time, could not face disciplinary proceedings.
Mr Noonan added: “We now await confirmation that our
recommendations are being implemented and are working to finalise
our over-arching report, covering 91 investigations, once the
final misconduct hearing has concluded.”
Details of our learning recommendations are available on our
website.
ENDS
Notes to editors
Linden is the second largest operation ever carried out by the
IOPC (or IPCC) after Hillsborough.
Timeline:
This refers to the 91 investigation that will feature in the
overarching report. Please note, there is one outstanding
investigation, which is nearing conclusion and will be reported
separately. Operation Linden will remain open as long as
survivors want to come forward.
• Operation Linden began in 2014 and the overarching report
covers 91 separate investigations started between 2014 and
2018.
• Action was taken in relation to several officers during 2017
and 2018 one of whom received a written warning following a
misconduct meeting.
• The last of the 91 completed investigations was concluded in
2020.
• The first misconduct hearing (where gross misconduct is
considered) took place in March 2021. The officer received a
final written warning.
• The final hearing has been arranged by South Yorkshire Police
and will take place in early 2022.
A copy of the learning report is attached to this email and can
also be found at: https://policeconduct.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/recommendations/Op_Linden_Learning_Report.pdf
