Two out of five police forces lack rape units

TWO-FIFTHS of police forces do not have designated rape and sexual offences units, new data shows.

At least 17 out of 43 forces in England and Wales are tackling sex crimes without specialist rape and serious sexual offences units (Rasso).

Four of those forces, including Greater Manchester Police (GMP), closed their Rasso units within the past 10 years, according to The Guardian.

GMP, as well as the Gwent and Cheshire constabularies, said they had moved Rasso officers into local policing units instead, with Gwent claiming it would “provide the best service to victims”.

Five forces did not respond to a Freedom Of Information request from the newspaper, meaning that the actual figure could be higher. It comes after The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that another unit investigating sexual crimes – the Met Police’s child abuse investigation team – is facing accusations from former officers that it is “broken”.

Campaigners have expressed alarm at the lack of Rasso units. The chief executive of Rape Crisis, Jayne Butler, told The Guardian: “The lack of rape and serious sexual offences units is of extreme concern. At a time when public confidence in police is at an all-time low, it’s imperative that police forces are handling all allegations of rape and sexual offences with the upmost care.”

In 2020-21, there were 1,109 convictions out of more than 55,600 complaints of rape, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Of all reported, just 3,539 were passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.