The Extent Of The Problem

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Due to the increase of the sexual offences in the UK over the last twenty years, is being necessary to underline the importance of the role that police plays. It is of great importance to clear up the idea of a rape and give the basic guidelines that should be followed by every police officer in case of a suspected rapist. Additionally, is recommended to be given a focus on the education and training of the police officers, as to avoid the influence that the last one receives in many ways. Finally it is vital to declare that all the suggested educational programmes must not be against the current law about rapes.

The extent of the problem

According to the Home Office (1996), the number of male offenders convicted of sexual offences in the UK has increased over the past twenty years. More specifically, in 1996 the home office reported an increase of 161% of rapists in prison settings. Also the 93% of those were convicted of other sexual offences. Moreover, the number of convicted rapists in prison population increased by 84% between 1992 and 2002 (Councell, 2003). Also, the British crime survey (BCS) (Myhill & Allen, 2002) mentioned that 0.4% of women aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales admitted that they had been raped in the year preceding the 2000 British Crime Survey, which used a sample of 61,000 victims. Furthermore, according to official crime statistics in the year 2000, 41,425 cases had to do with sexual offences while the 9743 were cases of rape (Simmons et al., 2002). However, according to Harris and Grace (1999) official recording figures of crime are very different to conviction figures. There are a lot of factors that intervene, not least the possibility that no crime has been committed.

But what exactly does rape mean?

Rape can and does mean many different things to many people, and sometimes it means many contradictory things. Rape is considered to be a non-consensual sexual offence (Sexual offences act, 2003). Rape was initially defined as:

Someone (male or female), having sexual intercourse (vaginal or anal) with a person, who at the time does not (or cannot) consent to it (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 1974).

In the more recent Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the sexual offences (Northern Ireland, 2008) this definition was expanded.

A person (A) commits an offence if:

He intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (B) with his penis,

B does not consent to the penetration, and

A does not reasonably believe that B consents

Rape definitions may vary by country and in response to legislative advocacy. Most statutes currently define rape as non-consensual oral, anal, or vaginal penetration of the victim by body parts or objects using force, threats of bodily harm, or by taking advantage of a victim who is incapacitated or otherwise incapable of giving consent. Incapacitation may include mental or cognitive disability, self-induced or forced intoxication, status as minor, or any other condition defined by law that voids an individual's ability to give consent (National Institute of Justice).

The role of the Police

The involvement of police officers in sexual offences reflects a Commitment to prevent or control sexual violence not only with the procedures that they have to follow but also with the priority that they have to give to investigate rape cases (World health Organisation, 2002,).

When someone is arrested by the police, there are specific procedures that need to be followed. Once arrested, the police take the suspect under the care and control of law and the suspect loses certain freedom, which means that the suspect is no longer free to walk away from the police station (arrest procedure- magistrates court). This report investigates three sections of the arrest procedure: the first contact with the suspected offender, the police interview and the forensic evidence.

First contact with the suspect

During the arrest procedure the suspect has certain basic human rights in order to be protected against unreasonable treatment. At the police station the suspect has the right to see a solicitor free of charge and inform someone of where he is. Moreover, the suspect must be read a copy of the codes of practice and procedures and ultimately the police officers should give to him a written note of their rights and cautions. However if the police needs more evidence, the suspect should be detained in the police station for at least 24 hours. In Pace Code (2011), it is mentioned, that police officers are allowed to use reasonable force when a) a suspect tries to hurt someone else in the police station; b) it is a matter of saving a life and c) preventing serious damage to property.

Furthermore in the past decades it was suggested that the attitudes of people toward rape are important for understanding not only their reactions to the act itself but also their behaviours concerning the victim and the offender (Brownmiller, 1975). According to Hogue’s study (1993), the attitudes and perceptions of professionals toward sex offenders undoubtedly affect their work with them. More specifically Hogue (1993) found that the most negative attitudes toward sex offenders were held by police officers and more specifically by those who had received no specialist training in sexual offending. However, the police officers who selected to participate to the training for sex offences had significantly more positive attitudes than those who were not involved in training. Consequently, one way in which positives attitudes may be emerged is through police officers’ training. The importance of providing training to professionals also is highlighted in a study by Weekes, Pelletier, & Beaudette, 1995. In Weekes et al.’s study, sex offenders were viewed as more dangerous, harmful, violent, tense, aggressive and irrational than were non-sex offenders, thus, a specialist training could useful provide professionals with guidelines for the effective management of sex offenders.

Nevertheless, not all people who are suspected of committing sex offences are guilty. For instance, some victims identify the wrong person as an offender (Connors, Lundregan, Miller, & McEwen, 1996). It is also clear that some people make malicious accusations (Oates, 2000). Therefore, the police officers should be trained to use a more open-minded and human approach when they first meet the suspects because this approach may be particularly helpful for innocent suspects (Kassin, Meissner, & Norwick, 2005).

Moreover, training and experience help professionals-police officers to develop effective working relationships with suspected rapists and deal with the difficulties associated with working with this particular group. More specifically, the police officer must manage the communicative interaction, both verbally and non-verbally (Milne & Bull, 1999). However a lot of police officers reported that their work is stressful at times (Lea Auburn, & Kibblewhite, 1999). For this reason, police officers should use a number of strategies in order to deal with accumulated stresses and avoid burnout. For example they can take a break from working with suspects of rape and receive further training. Also, they can develop supportive team in which skills can be shared and feelings can be safely vented (Lea et al., 1999). To conclude, the lack of support, such as supervision, further knowledge or skills and training was mentioned also by other researchers (Epps, 1993; Farrenkopf, 1992). More specifically Epps (1993) found that more than the half of his sample worked with no supervision by psychologists or other therapists and of those who had access to supervision more than 65% reported being dissatisfied with the quality of supervision they received.

Police interview

The role of a police officer when someone is a suspected of being a rapist is to obtain valid and reliable information in order to provide the court with the exact details of the crime (Memon, Vrij, Bull, 2003). Furthermore the ability to question suspected offenders with sensitivity and skill is vitally important and it is an integral part of being a professional police officer (Burns, 1993). However, interviews with suspected rapists tend to be particularly problematic. The nature of the suspected offence means that there is very little evidence. Additionally, the police usually have only the suspect’s and the victim’s version of events to consider (Benneworth, 2007). The past decades, a lot of attention has been paid to police questioning styles (Baldwin, 1992; Milne & Bull, 1999; Smith, 1983) and many scholars have raised doubts about the ethics of police interview through the past decades (Baldwin, 1993; Gudjonsson, 2003). An investigator often has to face a wide range of information when conducting a suspect interview, such as declarations from witnesses and potential victims, forensic evidence (e.g. DNA, fingerprints) and information concerning the arrest. Therefore, police interviews appear to be more problematic for the police officers (Sukara, & Vrij, 2002). The variety of different types of information and evidence has been found to have different impact on investigative judgments and the style of interviewing is likely to be affected as well (Ask, & Granhag, 2007). For example suspect’s unwillingness is likely to affect the interview technique by, leading to more persuasive and sometimes unprofessional interview tactics (Evans, 1993; Stephenson, & Moston, 1994). Moreover the police officer’s perception and presumption about the case and the suspect may have influence on his/her way to interviewing (Hargie, & Tourish, 1999) and even increase the investigator’s belief in the suspect’s guilt (Moston, & Stepherson, 1993)

Therefore, it is, vital that police officers use effective and appropriate questioning techniques from the very start of the interview.

Promising practices

Training of police officers

Skilled examiners, not just in the collection of evidence, but also in the meanings of rape, and how to adapt procedures to the facts of a case and the local legal context.

Develop listening skills

After observations of audio and video recordings of British police interviews, Baldwin (1992) emphasized the need for professionalism. Thus, the training of police officers should include the professionalism in an interview in order to get valid information. In this term, the researcher included the use of fundamental rules of sound interviewing practice. Such professionalism provides a fair and calm interview in which suspects have the opportunity to express their points of view. In addition, professional police officers should pay attention to the suspect’s responses avoiding harrying tactics and coercion. Furthermore, according to Moston and Engelberg (1993), the interviewer should avoid a confession-seeking approach because the suspect may show unwillingness, resistance to respond or even though denial. Another recommendation for the police officers should be to establish an empathic relation, because the interviewer cannot be sure of the suspect’s guilt. As it mentioned above, not all people who are suspected of committing rape are guilty. Consequently, it is crucial to show empathy very early in the contact with a suspected offender of rape, and talk about his pain (Langfeldt, 1993). However, showing empathy and compassion was the lowest rated interviewing skill among specialist interviewers (Cherryman, & Bull, 2001). Moreover open-minded interviewers, who use a more ethical approach, may be helpful for innocent suspects (Kassin, 2005). Yuille et al. (1999) stressed also that the interviewer must have listening skills, because it is important to encourage the suspect to provide valid information about the case. Ultimately, a humane interviewing approach increases the likelihood of a confession (Williamson, 1993; Holmberg, & Christianson, 2002 )

Forensic evidence

According to the arrest procedure of the Magistrate’s court if the police believe that a suspect is involved in a crime, they have the right to take fingerprints. According to Rice and Harris (1997), rapists have been found to a great number of previous convictions, including violent and sexual convictions. Police can also ask for a DNA sample and the suspect cannot refuse. However, until the charge or caution stage, the police cannot take a photograph without the consent of the suspect and if the police want samples such as blood or urine, they need both the consent of the suspect and the authority of a senior police officer (gov.uk, 2011).