Police are told ‘don’t believe all you hear’

POLICE SHOULD no longer automatically assume an alleged victim of crime is telling the truth, an official review has suggested.

Instead, detectives will be told to ensure people reporting crime are “listened to” and the crime report “taken seriously”.

The default position of believing complainants has come under fire following a series of high-profile cases, including the doomed Westminster sex scandal which was launched after a single accuser, known as “Nick”, told police he had been raped and abused for nine years by a VIP gang of politicians.

The Metropolitan Police raided the homes of several prominent figures, including D-Day veteran Lord Bramall and the late ex-home secretary Lord Brittan, before the £2.5m investigation collapsed without any arrests.

In a review into the terminology of “victim/complainant” and believing victims at the time of reporting, the College of Policing – which sets national standards for officers and constabularies – makes a number of recommendations to the Government.

Among them, the report states: “The College of Policing and NPCC (National Police Chiefs Council) should approach the Home Office to amend the crime recording counting rules to remove the words ‘The intention that victims are believed’ to ‘The intention is that victims can be confident they will be listened to and their crime taken seriously’.

“If accepted the College of Po- licing APP and training materials should be reviewed to support this approach.”

Report author Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Rob Beckley – who is also head of the ongoing police investigation into the Hillsborough disaster – added: “In defending the use of the word ‘believe’, some people are concerned about any form of reversion to the ‘bad old days’ of rejecting allegations and failing to take a crime seriously.

“Having observed, through the focus groups, some extremely positive attitudes I am not convinced the culture will spring back in the absence of one word.”