Police handling of case before further offence committed – Greater Manchester Police Service, August 2019

A man was arrested on suspicion of stalking and given bail conditions not to contact the woman or enter the area where she lived.

In the months that followed, there were further reports of exposure and stalking offences which were linked to the man. The exposure offences were closed with no further action andthe man went on to sexually assault a 17-year-old child.

During the investigation, investigators interviewed the police officers involved in investigating the offences, obtained statements from several witnesses, reviewed phone calls to the police and reviewed relevant policies and procedures.

We concluded no person serving with the police may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner justifying the bringing of disciplinary proceedings. We identified that the actions of the police fell below the expected standard and concluded that the most appropriate proceeding would be the reflective practice process (RPRP).

An officer reflecting on their actions is a formal process reflected in legislation. The reflective practice review process consists of a fact-finding stage and a discussion stage, followed by the production of a reflective review development report. The discussion must include:

• a discussion of the practice requiring improvement and related circumstances that have been identified, and
• the identification of key lessons to be learnt by the participating officer, line management or police force concerned, to address the matter and prevent a reoccurrence of the matter.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. 

In this case we identified areas for improvement which have been shared with GMP.