Review into believing victims at the time of reporting (Henriques recommendations)
The College of Policing is continuing to gather views from a number of organisations to ensure there is a clear agreed position on belief across policing before a final decision on the review's recommendations is taken.
The police service has worked closely with others in the criminal justice process to build the confidence of victims to come forward and report allegations of crime. When they do so, it is vital that they are received with empathy, feel supported and that their allegation has been taken seriously, to ensure the public's confidence in reporting crime continues to improve.
The role of investigators is then to keep an open mind and carry out a full and impartial investigation, to prove or disprove allegations.
The College of Policing is currently considering the outcome of a review into the terminology used to guide police when an allegation of crime is made, which is set out in Home Office crime counting rules.
This was discussed at a Chief Constables' Council meeting on 18 April and the College will now consider the views expressed, alongside other feedback from policing, before taking any further action.
The review carried out for the College of Policing came from a recommendation in a report by Sir Richard Henriques, Independent Review of Metropolitan Police Service's handling of non-recent sexual offence investigations
Contact Information
Notes to editors
A copy of the review is attached.