Wiltshire Police say Home Office rape outcome data doesn't "accurately reflect their position"
The force says it due to the different ways data is submitted
Last updated 13th Oct 2021
Wiltshire Police say Home Office data about rape outcomes "doesn't accurately reflect their position".
They say it's due to different ways police forces submit their data.
Wiltshire Police is currently one of three forces nationwide which reports crime outcomes manually, which creates a lag in the data provided.
Over the past 12 months the number of reports of rape resulting in a charge or summons has risen from 3.8% to 4.1%.
What does the force say?
A spokesperson for the force said: "We completely accept that these amended figures still do not represent where we want to be as a police force and we are continuing to do everything we can to improve our outcomes.
"It goes without saying that we take reports of rape and sexual assault incredibly seriously and we want our communities to have complete confidence in reporting these types of offences to the police. Dealing with rape and sexual assault is the Force’s priority.
"We have been working closely with our colleagues at the Crown Prosecution Service to improve our joint response to rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) and now have a tri-force Wessex RASSO Action Plan in place."
"We are pleased to say that we are already seeing the benefits of this approach and we are hopeful that this will be reflected in future data. We are seeing more cases referred to CPS more quickly. We are also increasing the number of perpetrators being charged and prosecuted.
"This is not something which can be drastically improved overnight, but we want this to be a sustained, long-term action plan that makes a real difference for victims and brings offenders to justice.
What is the force doing to improve?
As always we would urge victims of rape and sexual assault to report offences to the police, no matter how long ago they occurred, so they can be fully investigated."
A range of measures have been introduced such as a greater focus on improving the service they provide for victims and increasing the likelihood the perpetrator will be brought to justice.
They have recruited extra specialist staff to ensure victims are supported throughout the whole process and all RASSO cases are investigated by specially-trained detectives.
In addition, all cases are prosecuted by specialist lawyers who are trained to understand the challenges that are often associated with such cases.