Big rise in investigations into police's handling of Rotherham CSE

A watchdog says it’s now working on nearly 100 investigations into how South Yorkshire Police handled claims of historic child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

The number has risen by more than a third compared to this time last year.

Operation Linden, the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) operation looking into the allegations, grew to 98 investigations by the beginning of April 2018 compared with 62 investigations at the same point in 2017.

The watchdog has a team of 35 investigators working on this, who have so far completed 45 of the reports. 33 current and former police officers remain under notice that they are being investigated.

When Operation Linden has finished, the IOPC will publish an over-arching report covering all of the findings. It’s already confirmed that some of the investigations concluded so far have identified potential misconduct.

In some of the investigations where misconduct hasn’t been found, learning recommendations have been put forward.

IOPC Acting Deputy Director of Major Investigations, Steve Noonan said: “We are supporting 53 survivors and a number of complainants through a very difficult period, when they are also being asked to give evidence to the National Crime Agency to support their investigations into the terrible crimes committed in Rotherham.

“Operation Linden is the second largest independent investigation we have ever carried out, and both the complexities involved and the size of the task should not be under-estimated. We have a dedicated team of 35 investigators and support staff in place who have analysed more than 15,139 documents and pieces of evidence so far.

“As well as the sensitivities involved in engaging with survivors, we are also dealing with evidence that sometimes dates back to the late 1990s. The timeframes involved are very challenging and in a significant number of cases we are unable to identify the officers involved.

“Our aim is to not only highlight any conduct matters relating to individual officers but, crucially, to share our understanding of why such serious allegations often weren’t investigated and how this can be avoided in the future. Ultimately, we want those affected to be confident that their complaints have been comprehensively investigated, and for South Yorkshire Police and indeed all forces across the country to learn from our findings.”

In a statement, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts from South Yorkshire Police said:

“We are aware that there has been an increase in the number of investigations being carried out by the IOPC, in the main, due to the way the investigations are managed. The IOPC has stated that 45 investigations have now concluded, so far we have received reports on 24 of them and are working closely with the IOPC to ensure we learn of any further lessons to improve the service we offer to victims and survivors.

“It’s essential these matters are brought to a conclusion as soon as possible for the sake of the victims, survivors and those under investigation."