Police to ‘doorstep’ sex attack suspects
Pilot will target men known to prey on vulnerable, drunk women
MEN suspected of sex crimes are to be targeted in a revolutionary new police crackdown.
Officers are to begin doorstepping predators who have managed to avoid prosecution due to insufficient evidence – but who are thought to still pose a serious threat to women.
The tactic will concentrate largely on men who repeatedly target drunk or vulnerable women.
The scheme – called Persons of Interest – will be launched shortly as a pilot in one of Scotland’s 14 divisions.
Written warnings will be handdelivered to suspects on the authority of Louise Raphael, the detective superintendent who leads Scotland’s new national rape task force.
But the fact an individual has been targeted in this way will not be shared with his employer or family, in a bid to stay on the right side of human rights legislation.
Suspects would almost certainly already have been spoken to by the police, often under caution while detained under questioning.
Yesterday, however, as details of the scheme emerged, it received a lukewarm response. Sandy Brindley, of Rape Crisis Scotland, which has actively campaigned for better rape convictions, said: ‘Prevention should be a big part of what the police do.’
Brian McConnachie, a leading QC, remained far from convinced, adding: ‘There is a risk that this could be abused.
‘You know what communities are like. The word can quickly go round that the police have been at somebody’s door. So I don’t see the point.
‘The police should focus on gathering evidence for a prosecution. I should have thought interviewing somebody under caution would have a much more chilling effect than visiting them.’ But senior Police Scotland officers defended the move and claimed it did not mean they had given up on criminal investigations.
Ms Raphael claimed the approach was considerably more favourable than doing nothing at all. She explained: ‘If there are people who we are
not able to get a suf- ficiency of evidence against, because of the challenging nature of the crimes they are suspected of, then until now the only alternative we have had has been to do nothing.
‘Well, I don’t think doing nothing is acceptable given we have a fundamental responsibility to prevent crime.’
The move forms part of a major overhaul in attitude by Police Scotland towards rape and sex offences since the single force was established 15 months ago.
Ms Raphael confirmed police were anxious to tap in to underreporting of rapes, although it was previously difficult to encourage women to come forward without a proper strategy in place.