“Unless you’ve got a conviction, there’s not much you can do”: Rethinking long-term disruption and exit strategy in RASSO investigations
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate how five Operation Soteria Bluestone (OSB) participating forces integrated principles of procedural justice and proactive disruption of offending into their investigations, specifically during the closing stages of a case when considering exit strategy and longer-term prevention.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods approach was taken, including 32 semi-structured interviews with officers and 59 case reviews of recent rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO). Data analysis methods included qualitative thematic analysis of interviews, while data from reviewed case logs was extracted and analysed using a bespoke case review tool.
Findings
Increased workloads, preparation of evidence and relational/communication difficulties with the crown prosecution service (CPS) were identified as barriers to implementing long-term disruption options. Dedicated resourcing, training and support are needed to promote suspect-focused investigative strategy and wider uptake of long-term disruption methods. Early investigative approach was also found to have “snowball” effects on suspect exit strategy, with initial lack of suspect focus and preoccupation with victim credibility, impeding consideration of long-term disruption and safeguarding options. Findings also point to a disparity between promising practice in relation to procedural justice for victims and (a relative lack of) proactive policing of repeat suspects.
Originality/value
The study represents a novel contribution to research on policing RASSO, illustrating the scale and nature of the obstacles to changing how these offences are investigated, even when under intense scrutiny from policy makers. It also highlights how increased organisational investment and support is linked to positive changes in practice in some forces.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Rosa Heimer for material developments, Anna Gekoski, Margaret Hardiman, Louise Trott, Thistle Dalton and Sophie Barrett for materials development, data collection and coding, as well as Elena Reid, Kristina Massey, Hazel Sayer, Joana Ferreira and Anca Iliuta for data collection and coding.
The research took place as part of Operation Soteria Bluestone, a UK Home Office-funded programme designed to improve the investigation of rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO) in England and Wales. Designed by Katrin Hohl and Betsy Stanko, work package (pillar) leads were Kari Davies, Miranda Horvath, Kelly Johnson, Jo Lovett, Tiggey May, Olivia Smith and Emma Williams.
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Allen, K., Khan, A., Horvath, M.A.H. and Davies, K. (2024), “Operation Soteria Bluestone: Rethinking RASSO investigations”, Journal of Criminal Psychology, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-05-2024-0041, incorrectly changed the title of this article to “Operation Soteria Bluestone: Rethinking RASSO investigations”. This error took place during the production process and has been corrected in the online version of the article. The publisher sincerely apologises for the error and for any inconvenience caused.
Citation
Allen, K., Khan, A., Horvath, M.A.H. and Davies, K. (2024), "“Unless you’ve got a conviction, there’s not much you can do”: Rethinking long-term disruption and exit strategy in RASSO investigations", Journal of Criminal Psychology, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-05-2024-0041
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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