Police Scotland’s sexual crime team in Angus has been restructured after the number of rape cases “detected” fell by more than half.
Chief Superintendent Andrew Todd ordered a review of the team’s capacity after concerns were expressed about performance in the area.
A total of 63 rapes and attempted rapes were reported in Angus in the 2018/19 financial year. Only 22 of those were categorised at detected, according to newly published figures.
Victims reported 72 such crimes the previous year, with 48 detected.
Sexual crimes in general increased from 327 to 364 over the period, a jump of around 11%.
Chief Superintendent Todd’s review concluded there were no issues with the amount of time dedicated to pursuing the incidents and he also concluded the officers in place were suitably trained and experienced.
Nevertheless he decided to appoint a third specialist officer to the team. He also increased the level of senior supervision over the team.
He said: “I have concern about these numbers. What I want to highlight when it comes to sexual crime we take a victim support approach. This means we support the victim and not detection for its own sake.
“One officer may not sound like a lot, but it is an increase of 50%. I am told by colleagues that detection rates have already markedly improved.”
He said the sexual offences area was a difficult one in which to to work, giving an example of two 15-year-olds sharing indecent images with each other, meaning they were both technically victims and perpetrators of a sexual offence at the same time.
“It is a very complex area but one that we will continue looking at very closely,” he added.
The restructure came to light as part of a regular police update to Angus Council’s Scrutiny and Audit Committee.
Councillor Julie Bell, SNP, questioned Chief Superintendent Todd about a growing number of young people who are victims of sexual crime, but who are not reporting the issue to the police.
She said: “Anecdotally, workers at Angus Women’s Aid are saying they are getting a lot of young girls coming forward after relationships have broken up saying they have been coerced into sexual practices and they are reluctant to come to the police about it.”
Chief Superintendent Todd said the point reinforced the complicated nature of investigating sexual offences.