Hertfordshire Police wrongly cancelled reports of sexual and violent offences

The Shared Data Unit analysed the most recent inspectors' reports of crime records from 43 police forces across England and Wales, Hertfordshire Police's most recent inspection was in 2017.

The reports detail whether inspectors believed the correct decisions were taken to cancel crimes.

The Shared Data Unit compiled and analysed the most recent data contained in published reports from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Rescue Services (HMICFRS) on police forces' "crime data integrity".

Inspectors reviewed a sample of situations when a crime was reported, but police officers later decided no crime had actually taken place. Inspections were carried out between 2016 and 2020.

Hertfordshire Police was judged to 'require improvement' in the most recent inspection and the force was judged 'requires improvement' for 'how accurate is the crime recording'.

The Home Office promotes a victim-oriented approach to crime recording. That states that a belief by the victim that a crime has occurred is, in most cases, enough to justify its recording as a crime at the outset.

If additional verifiable information (AVI) - such as CCTV footage or a written statement from a victim - comes to light that shows a recorded crime did not take place, the crime record can later be cancelled.

The watchdog says victims should know the status of their reported crime when it has been cancelled or transferred to another force for investigation. When a crime is cancelled, victims should be given an explanation.

The Data team found that at least 19 forces in the sample audit had wrongly cancelled reports of rape, in Hertfordshire there was no wrongly cancelled reports of rape.

Hertfordshire Police had incorrectly cancelled one of the sexual offence records in a sample of 20 reviewed by inspectors - 38 forces had incorrectly cancelled at least one report of a sexual offence.

Thirty-seven forces had wrongly cancelled reports of violent crime - Hertfordshire Police had wrongly cancelled one of the violent offence records in the inspectors' sample of 20.

Hertfordshire Police had incorrectly cancelled two of the robbery offence records in a sample of 20 reviewed by inspectors - 28 forces had wrongly cancelled reports of robbery.

A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “Hertfordshire Police apply the guidance for cancelling crime as per the Home Office Counting rules.

"There are only four people in the Constabulary that can cancel crime, the Force Crime Registrar, his deputy and the two Dedicated Decision Makers.

"All these people have between them many years of experience in crime management.

“In reference to cancelled crime, the HMIC 2017 report noted that in their sample that all rape offences had been authorised and correctly cancelled. Their overall judgement on cancelled crime in Hertfordshire was good.

“Hertfordshire Constabulary puts the victim at the centre of its recording practise and will only cancel a crime where there is additional verifiable information that it did not take place.

"The HMIC in their 2017 report noted that Hertfordshire practice was good and demonstrates appropriate consideration of victims’ needs.”

Charity Rape Crisis said the "failings" were "completely unacceptable".

Katie Russell, national spokesperson for Rape Crisis England and Wales: “Wide disparities between the way different police force areas handle rape and sexual offences, and the premature and inappropriate dropping of investigations into these extremely serious crimes, have long been issues of concern.

“This latest analysis of data from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary highlights that these issues are still very much current.

“This is part of a wider context in which our criminal justice system has been significantly failing victims and survivors of rape, sexual abuse and all forms of sexual violence for many years.

“The majority of people subjected to these crimes still don’t have the confidence to report to the police, but despite increasing numbers who are choosing to come forward, charging, prosecution and convictions rates are at an all-time low, while the overwhelming majority of rapists and sexual offenders are walking free."

There has been a large decrease in the number of cancelled crimes recorded across all forces according to Home Office data, in 2015-16, there were 65,983 cancelled crimes and in 2018-2019 there were 43,242.

A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman said: "Our priority is to ensure that victims have the confidence to report crimes, safe in the knowledge that they will be fully investigated and that they will receive appropriate support and information.

"We are working to further improve the accuracy of crime reporting, which is governed by detailed counting rules set out by the Home Office.

"The accurate recording of crime can be influenced by many factors which may not be clear at the beginning of an investigation.

"The transfer of cases from one force to another, or a different crime to the one reported being identified following an initial investigation, can impact on these figures and does not represent a recording failure.

"Additionally, it may become apparent that a crime never actually happened. In these cases, police will use the verifiable information they have obtained to justify closing a case, and will never close a case if they are merely unclear as to whether a crime happened or not."