#SeeItSayItIgnoreIt: Rape as “Non-Emergency”

Not many years ago, the Left called for the death penalty for rape. Now, it's not even an emergency! You can't make this stuff up.

From The European Conservative

By Frank Haviland

The attempted classification of rape as a ‘non-emergency’ would be shocking in any Western democracy; but in 21st-century Britain, the home of Magna Carta, it now appears the right to justice is too much to ask.

Any migrants recently landed at Dover might be under the impression that the efficiency of our Border Force, chaperoning them to the latest stately home masquerading as an asylum centre, is indicative of the nation’s ability to get things done. Sadly, this is pretty much the extent of our public services: welcome to Britain, where nothing actually works. Not only is the UK’s public sector bloated out of all proportion, but its workers are also the least likely to show up in the morning (unless you count standing on the picket lines). If it’s not teachers, BBC journalists, university lecturers, or civil servants, it’s junior doctors going on strike—no wonder Ukrainian refugees are going home for treatment, rather than face the war zone of the NHS. 

The constabularies of Britain would naturally love to join the strikes (this affords more time for twerking and kneeling in solidarity, you understand), but regrettably industrial action is denied them under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act. That leaves the police having to search for creative ways to lighten their in-trays. One such method is downgrading priorities, something most forces have been keen to adopt. The Metropolitan police, for instance, effectively gave up on ‘low level crime’ years ago—what we used to call burglary, theft, and assault. In fact, half of UK constabularies are no longer meeting expected standards in crime investigation, which has left the public disinclined to report crime; perhaps that’s the whole point of such negligence. 

Crime in Kent

Keen to avoid the publicly reporting anything at all are Kent Police, who were embarrassed last week by the following shocking A4 printout, displayed in the window of Maidstone police station:

According to police, the list was part of their Click B4 U Call campaign, advising the public, where appropriate, to free up call handlers by reporting incidents online. Naturally, a sensible triage approach to crime is commendable, but one has to question how much thought went into the list itself. Compliments and complaints are certainly no emergency, neither arguably is anti-social behaviour, fraud, and, of course, ‘hate crime,’ which does not exist. The water then gets murky. Road traffic incidents could certainly be an emergency, as could domestic abuse, and of course crime itself! We then come, however, to rape and sexual assault, and even for the most remiss constabulary conceivable, this needs re-reading just to be believed. 

The attempted classification of rape as a ‘non-emergency’ would be shocking in any Western democracy; but in 21st-century Britain, the home of Magna Carta, it now appears the right to justice is too much to ask. We cannot easily excuse the printout as an administrative error either, because the list is ordered alphabetically, contains multiple examples the public would deem an emergency, includes rape and sexual assault, but mostly because no senior police officer has essayed such a justification. Moreover, with rape downgraded, how severe a crime does one need to commit to encourage officers out from behind their desks? I cannot help but notice that ‘misgendering,’ ‘silent prayer,’ and ‘offensive tweets’ have not made the list. Does that mean they still constitute ‘emergencies’?

Of course, Kent Police have been quick to make the customary volte face. The printout was taken down (it would have been interesting to see how long it stayed up had the public not complained), and the constabulary bigwigs have come out to condemn the action. Chief among them was Kent police and crime commissioner, Matthew Scott, who naturally took to Twitter to express his indignation: 

Meanwhile, head of protecting vulnerable people at Kent Police, Chief Superintendent Emma Banks, was keen to staunch the bleeding: 

We urge anyone to call us on 999 if there is a crime in progress or if someone is in immediate danger. Doing so can make the difference between arresting a suspect at the scene and in some cases saving a life. Kent Police takes the investigation of domestic abuse, rape, and sexual assault extremely seriously and we support victims to come forward and speak to us. … All reports of rape or sexual assault, made through whatever channel are reviewed by a detective sergeant, and are ultimately overseen by a senior officer as part of a thorough review process aimed at ensuring justice and support for all victims. 

Criminalising concern

This lapse in judgment from Kent Police arises at a bad time for UK policing as a whole. It comes in the wake of this month’s landmark Casey Review, investigating the Metropolitan Police’s culture and standards, in light of the public concern caused by serving Constable Wayne Couzen’s kidnap, rape, and strangulation of Sarah Everard. Not only did Baroness Casey conclude the force was “institutionally racist, misogynist, and homophobic,” but there was damning evidence from one MET officer, who declared the detection rate for rape is now so low in London that “you might as well say it is legal.” While it has been clear for decades that the British police have given up investigating rape when it comes to Muslim grooming gangs, what was not clear until this week is that police forces appear to have an appetite for declassifying rape across the board. 

Preferring soft targets is one thing, but increasingly Britain’s police not only seem reluctant to deal with crime personally, they are also hell bent on obstructing the public whenever they assume the thankless task themselves. Throughout 2022, the police not only ignored Just Stop Oil’s illegal blockade of London’s thoroughfares, but vehemently instructed the public not to intervene. Officers do next to nothing when illegal migrants abscond into the Kent countryside, but will certainly arrest you if you commit the ‘crime’ of filming them while they do it. Most egregious of all, however, are the police who ignore the horrors of grooming gangs, but will arrest a victim’s father for a ‘breach of the peace’ when he tracks the culprits down. 

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that large swathes of the constabulary are now more interested in political activism than old-fashioned policing. If they cannot be relied upon to investigate the heinous crime of rape, and spend increasing amounts of their time criminalising the public response to crime rather than crime itself, then it really does raise the question—are we better off without them?