Sexual predator suspects face new police danger list
Controversial scheme will see warnings issued without charges
SUSPECTED rapists are to be warned they are on the police ‘ radar’ even when there is not enough evidence to charge them.
The controversial Police Scotland pilot scheme comes after a rise of almost a quarter in reports of rapes in Scotland over the past year.
Warnings are to be issued to individuals deemed to be showing sexually predatory behaviour who have come to the attention of police.
The proposals are still being developed but last night there was concern that the notices to individuals, which will be logged on a police database, may affect innocent people, particularly as they would show up if someone applied for a childcare or teaching job.
Emma Carr, of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘This policy is a disaster waiting to happen. Labelling someone as a likely criminal before a crime has even been committed completely contradicts our basic legal principle of innocent until proven guilty.
‘The fact that these warnings could be flagged up as part of the job application process for some jobs is wholly disproportionate and unacceptable.’
Detective Superintendent Louise Raphael, who heads the Police Scotland national rape taskforce, said: ‘There are people who are suspects for crimes, are named individuals for crimes, that for whatever reason, evidentially, we just don’t have enough that would allow us to pursue that through the criminal justice process. But the actions of that individual are such that it causes us concern. And I’m of a view that we need to try to do something about that. We need to engage with those individuals.
‘What we’re looking at is some form of warning to those type of people just about their conduct and the fact that, actually, you can’t continue behaving like that and that we have got you on our radar. We are aware of your previous conduct and we’ll be looking at you in the future.’
Warnings, which have to be approved at a level of superintendent or above, would be recorded on the Scottish Intelligence Database and be subject to standard retention procedures.
Miss Raphael added: ‘We wouldn’t embark on any of this recklessly. None of this would be done on a whim, for example. There would need to be a pretty strong intelligence case to suggest we need to intervene… and actually have some dialogue with this person to try to discuss the errors of their ways, apart from anything else.
‘It would be very unusual, for example, for us to even consider a
‘This is wholly unacceptable’
warning on the back of an isolated incident. I am not saying that wouldn’t happen but it would be very unusual.’
A formal application process for a warning to be issued would exist, the reasons for an application being considered would be documented and a risk assessment carried out to leave a clear ‘audit trail’ for bodies such as the Scottish Police Authority.
Last week, the Scottish Daily Mail revealed plans to allow the prosecution of domestic abusers for ‘non-violent’ behaviour such as intimidation.
Those proposals, which have the backing of police and senior prosecutors, also sparked concern that innocent people could be wrongly convicted.
Last week, police said the huge r i se in r ape allegations was ‘extremely encouraging’ because it showed growing faith in the reporting system among victims.
But earlier this month thousands of people took to the streets in Glasgow for a mass anti-rape demonstration following a string of brutal, unsolved sex attacks.