Rapes and hundreds of assaults have taken place on police premises

Nine rapes and hundreds of assaults have reportedly taken place on police premises (Image: Getty) Sex predators assaulted more than 160 people on police premises but hardly anyone was charged. Freedom of Information requests by the Daily Express revealed shockingly that charges resulted in few cases where crimes were allegedly carried out by officers, staff, members of the public or detainees. Caroline Nokes MP, the chairman of the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC), said: ‘These figures are truly shocking. The number of sexual assaults and or rapes on police premises should be zero. And there are some forces where it has increased in number. ‘The police are damaging themselves by not cracking down on conduct which has left too many women afraid to report crime. These figures show it is not just the Met that has a problem, and the cultures just have to change.’ Dame Caroline Dinenage, who sits on the Parliamentary committee, said: ‘It’s incredibly disturbing to think that even police premises are not safe spaces from sexual violence.’ Victims included officers, station employees, the public and those in custody. Women are likely to have been the victims in the majority of alleged cases. Essex Police recorded 36 sexual assaults within its premises, the highest of all the forces that responded to the paper’s requests. There was one report of rape last year. The FOI showed 27 of the reported sexual assault and the single rape incident were allegedly perpetrated by police officers, including special constables. The remaining nine reported incidents were allegedly a member of the public offending. Carrick was jailed for life in February on 49 charges of sex attacks, including 24 counts of rape. (Image: Getty) Lancashire Constabulary said there were nine reports of alleged sexual offences which took place within a police station. Four of the seven reports made in 2019 occurred before that year while two others were reported in 2021. Four people have been charged over the alleged incidents. Sussex Police reported six sexual assaults with zero charges. Derbyshire Police reported five incidents of sexual assaults with two people charged. All alleged offences were said to have occurred in St Marys Wharf Police Station, in Derby, and all reports involved offences committed against police staff by members of the public. On top of the 30 forces with at least one incident, three responded with zero reports, five more said the cost of compiling the request would exceed the standard limit and one withheld the information because it is set to be published on its website. Ms Olchawski said: ‘Policing culture must change. Women, with experience of gender-based violence and police abuse, must be central to reform. ‘Those voices, and in particular voices of Black and minoritised women must be truly heard and shape the plans for change. ‘We need more women in police forces up and down the country and we need them to be supported to thrive. ‘If the UK’s police forces want to restore policing by consent and genuine public trust, there must be a genuine commitment to root and branch reform, and to putting the safety of victim-survivors at the heart of everything the force does.’ Chief Constable Craig Guildford, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for complaints and misconduct, said it takes all reports of sexual assault incredibly seriously. He added: ‘This data shows the importance of doing everything we can to protect our officers and staff against sexual assaults by detainees in custody suites and elsewhere, as well as tackling rare cases of police-perpetrated abuse wherever they occur. ‘We encourage anyone who has experienced or witnessed a crime to report it to the police so it can be thoroughly investigated, and appropriate support provided to the victim. ‘All police forces expect a high level of professionalism from our officers and staff. The misconduct process for those who do not meet those standards is stringent and we will take all action within our power to root them out. Where we believe criminality has taken place, we will undertake both criminal and disciplinary investigations at the same time. ‘Police forces continue to improve their response to tackle prejudicial and improper behaviour by anyone in policing, including through increased methods of reporting and detection to pursue perpetrators and bring them to justice.’ Cressida Dick faced a barrage of criticism during her four-year tenure, including over the conduct o (Image: Getty) An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘Of the 27 cases highlighted involving allegations against police officers, 22 of the investigations have concluded with 16 finding there was no case to answer. ‘It was identified there were cases to answer in five of the investigations and, at the time the figures were provided, five were still ongoing. ‘When victims of sexual offences bravely come forward to us, our specialist officers spend time with them to support them and take their often harrowing accounts of what has happened. ‘We pride ourselves on supporting victims and our officers from our specialist Crime & Public Protection Command work tirelessly every day to do this and bring perpetrators to justice. ‘All victims of sexual assault will be offered support from specialist officers and our partner agencies and support services. ‘Essex Police expect the highest level of professionalism from all officers and staff and our process in dealing with any allegation of misconduct is stringent. ‘We have a professionalism strategy, which sets our expectations and values in terms of how officers and staff should look, lead, learn, work and behave and this strategy is reinforced through our training to new recruits and also supervisors and managers.’ Detective Chief Superintendent Jon Armory, of Kent Police’s Professional Standards Department, said: ‘The safety of officers, staff and others who visit police premises is a priority and Kent Police takes all reasonable steps to minimise the risk of them becoming a victim of crime. ‘When an offence is reported as having been committed by anybody at police property, including the 13 incidents where a police officer or employee was the victim, the allegation will receive a prompt and thorough investigation. The vast majority of employees at Kent Police serve with the commitment and dedication that the county’s residents expect and deserve. Those few that fall below the standards set are subject to disciplinary and sometimes criminal investigations.’ West Yorkshire Police’s spokesperson said: ‘A total of 17 sexual offences were reported to have taken place on West Yorkshire Police property. 11 relate to allegations made by police staff against detainees, three relates to allegations made against police employees for which no charges were brought.’ A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: ‘Devon and Cornwall Police takes all reports of sexual abuse seriously.’ A spokeswoman for Hertfordshire said: ‘The majority of these crimes relate to incidents where members of police staff/officers have been assaulted by members of the public who have been taken into custody.’ A Northamptonshire Police spokeswoman said: ‘Six of the offences were committed by members of the public whilst in police custody. The offenders were NOT police officers or police staff.’ A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: ‘Sussex Police takes all reports of sexual assaults and offences seriously, wherever they take place.’ Chief Superintendent Jennifer Wilson, Head of the force’s Professional Standards Department at Merseyside, said: ‘We can confirm we have had one incident in this time frame, which occurred in 2022 and is currently subject to an internal gross misconduct investigation by the force’s Professional Standards Department. ‘We demand the highest possible standards from all our officers and staff.’ Derbyshire Police said: ‘Police officers and staff come to work to keep people safe and not to be victims of sexual assault. We take reports of this nature very seriously and when it does happen, we will work to bring offenders to justice as swiftly as possible.’ A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: ‘Cleveland Police recognises that sexual offences cause significant harm to victims, and the significant impact on those individuals and their families can last a lifetime. We treat reports of sexual assault sensitively and we have specially trained officers who deal with the investigations.’ A spokesman for Norfolk and Suffolk Police said: ‘Both Norfolk and Suffolk Constabulary take allegations of sexual assaults and rapes extremely seriously and will investigate robustly. ‘Our analysis of the offences reveals that the majority of these were offences committed against our police officers and police staff by detainees in custody suites.’ The data includes detainee assaults on officers and staff, primarily in custody suites. It also includes reports against contractors on the police estate and reports against other members of the public on the police estate. There are some historic allegations against former officers and staff but reported between 2019 to 2022. Earlier this year Met PC David Carrick was unmasked as a serial rapist. Carrick was jailed for life in February on 49 charges of sex attacks, including 24 counts of rape. Last month, serving Met Policemen Sergeant Laurence Knight was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman while on his stag do in Brighton. He will be sentenced on Friday 28 July. Former Met chief Dame Cressida Dick faced a barrage of criticism during her four-year tenure, including over the conduct of male officers in the force in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder by PC Wayne Couzens. Dame Cressida quit her position after pressure from London Mayor Sadiq Khan as he expressed concerns over the ‘erosion of trust and confidence’ in the Met.