Sexual Misconduct Case Review 2 - 21st October 2021 to 1st January 2023

As detailed at 1.2 in this report Police Scotland have now completed a second case review. Analytical review of the data was carried out with the following key findings established:

• There were 178 sexual misconduct reports recorded within the 15-month reporting period. The previous reporting period covers a larger timespan of 58 months and details 410 records. Thus, the current reporting period has a higher number of records per month (n=11.9) compared to the previous reporting period (n=7.1).

• There was an increase in Sexual Misconduct reports in the time period following the arrest of David Carrick, however there is no determinable causal relationship between these events.

• During this reporting period, 70% (n=125) of the victims are female, 12% (n=22) are male and 18% (n=32) are unknown.

• Of the 178 reports during this reporting period, 62% (n=110) occurred whilst the subject officer was on duty, 32.5% (n=58) were when the subject officer was off duty, 1.1% (n=2) was listed as both on and off duty and 4.4% (n=8) were not established if the subject officer was on or off duty.    
  
  

• Reports made by colleagues equated to 51% (n=89), 35% (n=63) were made by members of the public and 14% (n=26) were an unknown reporter.

• New categories have been used which align to the Professional Standards Department. These are Sexual Assault/Rape, Stalking/Harassment, Workplace Sexual Harassment, Abuse of Power for a Sexual Purpose (APSP), Power Imbalance Relationship and Sexual Misconduct – ‘Other’.

• Within the 15-month period, Sexual Assault/Rape was the most prevalent crime type with 63 (35%) reports of this category.

• Of the 178 reports, 38 (21%) were reported to COPFS
  
  
• There were 159 uniformed officers, 1 special constable, 8 members of police staff and 12 unknown designations, totalling 180 nominals due to two records with multiple accused. Within the current reporting period 12 named subjects were reported for multiple offences counting 29 (16%) reports.
  
  
• In total, 85% (n=153) of officers/members of staff were male, 9% (n=16) were female and in 10 (6%) reports the sex of the accused is unknown. The most common age bracket is 31-35 with 32 records, and the majority of subjects (52%) are aged between 31-45.

High level analysis of the data relating to Perpetrator and Victim Demographics including age, sex, rank, length of service, division, and abuse categories allowed identification of future improvements.

The following 7 recommendations shave been identified during the review and are now being progressed through PSD governance.

• Recording processes for Sexual Misconduct investigations involving police officers and/or members of police staff on the Scottish Intelligence Database (SID) and Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (iVPD) must be complied with as per the current Police Scotland Standard Operating Procedures and National Guidance.
  
  
• PSD Gateway must be used as the single point of contact for all sexual misconduct reports on every occasion.  Every report of sexual misconduct must be recorded by PSD Gateway on iBase (Police Scotland internal corruption database).  Every report must then have a suitable closure appended by PSD Gateway regardless of whether they are investigated internally or externally to PSD.
  
  
• Policy and Enquiry logs to be utilised throughout reports of Sexual Misconduct.
  
  
• Appropriate welfare strategies should be implemented immediately on a sexual misconduct investigation being initiated.  Strategies should be inclusive for victims / suspects / witnesses and should ensure appropriate updates being recorded within policy logs and/or investigation files.  
  
  
• In repeat reports of Sexual Misconduct PSD should ensure an appropriate risk mitigation plan is created and implemented.
  
  
• All instances involving police perpetrated Sexual Misconduct to be considered by PSD National Conduct unless the investigation has identified a malicious report.
  
  
• A standardised sexual misconduct review template should be created for all future sexual misconduct reviews.