Costly report into U.K. Rotherham police failings ‘lets down’ grooming survivors

[onthedarkside]

 

Police and crime commissioner ‘disappointed’ as child sexual abuse inquiry ‘fails to identify individual accountability’

 

A long £6m investigation into multiple police failings during the Rotherham grooming scandal “lets down victims and survivors” by failing to identify any individual accountability, a police and crime commissioner has said.

 

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on Wednesday published what it described as its overarching report from Operation Linden, the name given to a series of investigations it carried out into how South Yorkshire police responded to allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation between 1997 and 2013.

 

It is estimated that more than 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham across the 16-year time span.... Not one officer lost their job as a result of the process and the most severe sanction was a written warning.

 

(more)

 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/22/costly-report-into-rotherham-police-failings-lets-down-grooming-survivors

 

 

 

[Loiner]

It’s been going on for a long time and is still happening. Lefty liberals cover it up, police are still reluctant to do anything about it, and MSM only gives the briefest of coverage. 
So what do the aplologists have to say?

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, Loiner said:

It’s been going on for a long time and is still happening. Lefty liberals cover it up, police are still reluctant to do anything about it, and MSM only gives the briefest of coverage. 
So what do the aplologists have to say?

I say your post is little more than conspiracy hogwash.

 

Baseless accusations coated with bias.

 

[Bkk Brian]

4 hours ago, Loiner said:

It’s been going on for a long time and is still happening. Lefty liberals cover it up, police are still reluctant to do anything about it, and MSM only gives the briefest of coverage. 
So what do the aplologists have to say?

Plenty of inexcusable failings by all concerned, social services and police but this was not a political lefty thing whatsoever. Making it political distracts from addressing the actual failings to ensure it never happens again

[SunnyinBangrak]

13 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I say your post is little more than conspiracy hogwash.

 

Baseless accusations coated with bias.

 

I remember this story. The "far right" and their conspiracy theory that gangs of men from one ideology were systematically abusing young white girls and police were doing nothing. That was a renowned conspiracy theory, yet now - as per the OP - it has been confirmed as factual.

 

 No hope getting justice for these abused children, and no hope getting accountability from police and left wing media that ran constant misinformation articles denying the abuse, covered this up and falsely called concerned citizens and parents of these kids "conspiracy theorists". How sad.

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

9 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

I remember this story. The "far right" and their conspiracy theory that gangs of men from one ideology were systematically abusing young white girls and police were doing nothing. That was a renowned conspiracy theory, yet now - as per the OP - it has been confirmed as factual.

 

 No hope getting justice for these abused children, and no hope getting accountability from police and left wing media that ran constant misinformation articles denying the abuse, covered this up and falsely called concerned citizens and parents of these kids "conspiracy theorists". How sad.

 

 

Or you could read the actual report and see what it says and recommends

[Chomper Higgot]

10 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

I remember this story. The "far right" and their conspiracy theory that gangs of men from one ideology were systematically abusing young white girls and police were doing nothing. That was a renowned conspiracy theory, yet now - as per the OP - it has been confirmed as factual. Seriously, I can't think of a single so called "conspiracy theory" by the left that has now not been confirmed as fact. This has now led to a meme gag

 

Q. what's the difference between conspiracy theory and fact?

A. about 6 months.

 

 No hope getting justice for these abused children, and no hope getting accountability from police and left wing media that ran constant misinformation articles denying the abuse, covered this up and falsely called concerned citizens and parents of these kids "conspiracy theorists". How sad.

 

 

You remember the Far Right, and the Extreme Far Right, trying to capitalize on this news after the fact.

 

The actual timeline is as follows:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28955170.amp

 

Feel free to provide documented and contemporaneously dated evidence of the ‘Right Wing’ being ahead of the timeline on this matter.

 

As has been demonstrated by multiple investigations there were complete systematic failings on the part of the police, child services and Rotherham council.

 

Your accusations of political interference are nonsense, ask ‘lefty’ Jack Straw.

 

[SunnyinBangrak]

53 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

You remember the Far Right, and the Extreme Far Right, trying to capitalize on this news after the fact.

 

The actual timeline is as follows:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28955170.amp

 

Feel free to provide documented and contemporaneously dated evidence of the ‘Right Wing’ being ahead of the timeline on this matter.

 

But you are right, the difference between conspiracy theory and fact is about 6 months.

 

As has been demonstrated by multiple investigations there were complete systematic failings on the part of the police, child services and Rotherham council.

 

Your accusations of political interference are nonsense, ask ‘lefty’ Jack Straw.

 

Why does this BBC timeline you direct me to not include the incredibly profound and significant liking and sharing of a Tweet by left wing Labour MP Naz Shah ?

 

‘Those abused girls in Rotherham and elsewhere just need to shut their mouths. For the good of diversity.’

 

supporting evidence for the introduction of facts running counter to the mainstream narrative-(and yes I do realize after howling backlash from the right Shah unliked and deleted her retweet of the vile post, yet it is entirely commensurate with her other racist and anti-semitic rants)

https://metro.co.uk/2017/08/23/mp-shares-tweet-saying-abuse-victims-should-shut-their-mouths-for-good-of-diversity-6872181/

A Labour MP has been criticised for sharing a Twitter post telling Rotherham sex abuse victims to ‘shut their mouths for the good of diversity’. 

Naz Shah, who represents Bradford West, shared and liked a post tweeted out from a parody account of newspaper columnist Owen Jones.

It said: ‘Those abused girls in Rotherham and elsewhere just need to shut their mouths. For the good of diversity.’

 

[Chomper Higgot]

3 minutes ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Why does this BBC timeline you direct me to not include the incredibly profound and significant liking and sharing of a Tweet by left wing Labour MP Naz Shah ?

 

‘Those abused girls in Rotherham and elsewhere just need to shut their mouths. For the good of diversity.’

 

supporting evidence for the introduction of facts running counter to the mainstream narrative-(and yes I do realize after howling backlash from the right Shah unliked and deleted her retweet of the vile post, yet it is entirely commensurate with her other racist and anti-semitic rants)

https://metro.co.uk/2017/08/23/mp-shares-tweet-saying-abuse-victims-should-shut-their-mouths-for-good-of-diversity-6872181/

A Labour MP has been criticised for sharing a Twitter post telling Rotherham sex abuse victims to ‘shut their mouths for the good of diversity’. 

Naz Shah, who represents Bradford West, shared and liked a post tweeted out from a parody account of newspaper columnist Owen Jones.

It said: ‘Those abused girls in Rotherham and elsewhere just need to shut their mouths. For the good of diversity.’

 

Naz Shah was very rightly criticized from across the political spectrum.

 

The tweet she ‘liked’ and ‘shared’ was parody, which she clearly did not understand.

 

How it supports your earlier claims is a mystery, she made idiotic response in 2017, it clearly had zero impact on the appalling systematic failures in policing, child services or Rotherham council.

 

Now, let’s have your evidence that the ‘Rightwing’ were ahead of the timeline on this matter?

 

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

Why does this BBC timeline you direct me to not include the incredibly profound and significant liking and sharing of a Tweet by left wing Labour MP Naz Shah ?

Probably the same reason as the timeline not containing Rotherham abuse survivor Sammy Woodhouse condemning Tories over MP Imran Ahmad Khan, a convicted sex offender as an adviser on child exploitation panel more recently.

 

Because this is not about producing outliner examples of individual conservative or labour MP's, its about ensuring this never happens again. The report is about the systematic failures of the police who had all the information yet did little to help the victims due to various failures in training, funding and cultural issues. The same failures that occurred in the Social Services departments. 

 

I was involved is dozens of Child Protection Investigations in the UK, thankfully not in Rotherham but London, Birmingham, Wales, Oxford and others, I can clearly state that left/right politics never entered into any of them. What did was lack of resources, lack of training and systems that followed up each case thoroughly.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Bkk Brian

[Loiner]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

 

Your accusations of political interference are nonsense, ask ‘lefty’ Jack Straw.

Why not ask Kier Starmer? As DPP he presided over the Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013. They help to ensure the community responsible for these endemic crimes were not brought to justice. Gross negligence or political expediency? I think both. 

[Bkk Brian]

 Please also explain how a 999 call to a police emergency center will help a victim that has already been identified, interviewed and investigated?

 

From the report:

 

I was told repeatedly by the police that I was responsible for my own actions for allowing myself to be a victim.’ – a survivor

 

During one investigation, a former Detective Sergeant told us they would treat survivors as victims but that ‘some of them were worldly-wise and not meek and mild victims’.

 

https://policeconduct.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/Investigations/Operation_Linden_Executive_Summary.pdf

[Chomper Higgot]

8 minutes ago, Loiner said:

Why not ask Kier Starmer? As DPP he presided over the Crown Prosecution Service from 2008 to 2013. They help to ensure the community responsible for these endemic crimes were not brought to justice. Gross negligence or political expediency? I think both. 

But people were arrested, convictions were secured during Starmer’s tenure at DPP. (Refer time line link I already provided).

 

There were problems securing convictions after activities by rightwing extremists forced retrials of abusers, and in doing so caused further distress to victims who had to give evidence in court twice.

 

 

[JonnyF]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

But people were arrested, convictions were secured during Starmer’s tenure at DPP. (Refer time line link I already provided).

 

There were problems securing convictions after activities by rightwing extremists forced retrials of abusers, and in doing so caused further distress to victims who had to give evidence in court twice.

 

 

Yeah, it's all the fault of right wing extremists. ???? They're the ones to blame, not the rapists.

 

The fact is, the police were slow to react due to the demographic of the Paedophiles. They feared being labeled as racists, Islamophobes etc. if they took any action. And they were probably right, as the Lefty apologists would have jumped all over it.

[Chomper Higgot]

3 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Yeah, it's all the fault of right wing extremists. ???? They're the ones to blame, not the rapists.

 

The fact is, the police were slow to react due to the demographic of the Paedophiles. They feared being labeled as racists, Islamophobes etc. if they took any action. And they were probably right, as the Lefty apologists would have jumped all over it.

Again, claims lacking corroboration.

 

Activities by rightwing extremists forced a retrial of abusers convicted of rape and in doing so caused the victims to have to give evidence in court twice - FACT!

[Bkk Brian]

3 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Yeah, it's all the fault of right wing extremists. ???? They're the ones to blame, not the rapists.

 

The fact is, the police were slow to react due to the demographic of the Paedophiles. They feared being labeled as racists, Islamophobes etc. if they took any action. And they were probably right, as the Lefty apologists would have jumped all over it.

Are you sure the Police feared being labelled as racists? If that's the case why was that not mentioned in this latest report as a recommendation that needs to be addressed? Pretty important one no? 

 

The race and cultural identity of the abusers and professionals does play a part however I know and that was discussed extensively in the media and previous reports at the time but that is not the cause here, the case as clearly outlined is the police failings in latest report which was commissioned  by the police themselves, which is what this OP is about.

 

The findings are all here:

https://policeconduct.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/recommendations/Op_Linden_Learning_Report.pdf

https://policeconduct.gov.uk/operation-linden

 

[Rimmer]

A post with an altered quote also replies has been removed

[placeholder]

10 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

I remember this story. The "far right" and their conspiracy theory that gangs of men from one ideology were systematically abusing young white girls and police were doing nothing. That was a renowned conspiracy theory, yet now - as per the OP - it has been confirmed as factual.

 

 No hope getting justice for these abused children, and no hope getting accountability from police and left wing media that ran constant misinformation articles denying the abuse, covered this up and falsely called concerned citizens and parents of these kids "conspiracy theorists". How sad.

 

 

Did you actually bother to read the report? Here's a link to the executive summary:

https://policeconduct.gov.uk/operation-linden-report-executive-summary

Nowhere in this report was there any mention of police sensitivity based on the ethnicity of the groomers. What stood out was their indifference to the abuse of the victims because the police refused to see them as victims but rather willing cooperators with their abusers. There simply was no coordination of programs to recognize the victims for what they were and to prosecute the perpetrators. According to the report, this contrasted sharply with how the rape and sexual abuse of minors was treated in Sheffield.

[simple1]

It is highlighted that many of the the victims of abuse were heavily into street drugs and alcohol (covered in the Rotherham Report) with significant level of failure of parental control. Clearly local society was in a number of instances rotten from the inside and criminally exploited by those who were also thoughly amoral.

 

Does anyone ask themselves why local police / social services in many cases held such negative POVs regards the victims? One acknowledges the local social enviornment must have also corrupted police / social services attitudes which was totally unprofessional contributing to the collapse of social order in some areas.

[Chomper Higgot]

31 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Did you actually bother to read the report? Here's a link to the executive summary:

https://policeconduct.gov.uk/operation-linden-report-executive-summary

Nowhere in this report was there any mention of police sensitivity based on the ethnicity of the groomers. What stood out was their indifference to the abuse of the victims because the police refused to see them as victims but rather willing cooperators with their abusers. There simply was no coordination of programs to recognize the victims for what they were and to prosecute the perpetrators. According to the report, this contrasted sharply with how the rape and sexual abuse of minors was treated in Sheffield.

The view that victims of sexual abuse are in part to blame for their abuse is one frequently expressed here on this forum.

 

Not I would add by ‘lefty liberals’.

[placeholder]

4 hours ago, Loiner said:

 

if you had read the report, or even the executive summary, you would have learned that a phone call would probably have done no good. The police simply didn't care and weren't trained to deal with the problem.

[BonnieandClyde]

16 hours ago, Loiner said:

It’s been going on for a long time and is still happening. Lefty liberals cover it up, police are still reluctant to do anything about it, and MSM only gives the briefest of coverage. 
So what do the aplologists have to say?

"Diversity is strength,"

[GroveHillWanderer]

3 hours ago, JonnyF said:

The fact is, the police were slow to react due to the demographic of the Paedophiles. They feared being labeled as racists, Islamophobes etc. if they took any action. And they were probably right, as the Lefty apologists would have jumped all over it.

Again, if you'd bothered to read the report (or even just the Executive Summary) there's just no evidence of this being a factor.

 

If you have any such evidence, please present it.

 

And if it was, why did the police in Sheffield (who were part of the same South Yorkshire Police organisation) act completely differently and protect the victims of CSA in their area, unlike the Rotherham police?

 

The main reason for the failure to react properly as far as I can tell, is that in Rotherham, according to the report:

 

Quote

... across the force, there was no concept of children being groomed and manipulated into abuse.

 

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, simple1 said:

 

It is highlighted that many of the the victims of abuse were heavily into street drugs and alcohol (covered in the Rotherham Report) with significant level of failure of parental control. Clearly local society was in a number of instances rotten from the inside and criminally exploited by those who were also thoughly amoral. Does anyone ask themselves why local police / social services in many cases held such negative POVs regards the victims? One acknowledges the local social enviornment must have also corrupted police / social services attitudes which was totally unprofessional contributing to the collapse of social order in some areas.

Many of the victims were already in care, in childrens homes. Childrens homes in inner cities are not an ideal place for children/young people who have been abused before or taken away from their families for other reasons. They are obviously not secure and the residents are free to go out as if they were living in a normal home. Many authorities use children's homes that are in countryside settings to avoid the issues of the dangers of the cities but its not always possible.

 

When living in that kind of group environment its easy to mix with the wrong crowd and get exploited when you go out. The police are regularly called to these establishments to deal with missing kids and other issues. However as is clear the police here did not recognise and failed the children completely.

 

Ideally children in care would be placed with foster carers but there are never enough of them and many do not want adolescents anyway.

 

I do have to say, its not my experience of the police when I dealt with them in the UK, the special Child Protection teams were well trained and sensitive to what was going on. It seems to have been a complete breakdown in Rotherham? I was an independent professional in other areas of the UK, there for the children only so saw both sides of the input from both the social workers and police. All lacked adequate funding, staffing and resources but did their best within that.

 

When going to a meeting in another county the last thing on my mind was to find out if it was a Tory or Labour stronghold. This deflection by other posters blaming it on lefties is utter nonsense.

[GroveHillWanderer]

There was apparently also a shocking lack of knowledge of things like basic legal concepts by some police officers.

 

As mentioned in the Executive Summary, for example:

 

Quote

a Detective Constable, who had investigated offences against a 12-year-old survivor, commented the survivor had provided consent in different sexual encounters, despite legislation being very clear that it is not possible for a child of this age to give consent.

Again, nothing to do with the ethnic background of the groomers, just a basic lack of understanding by the police.

Edited June 23, 2022 by GroveHillWanderer

[simple1]

2 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Many of the victims were already in care, in childrens homes. Childrens homes in inner cities are not an ideal place for children/young people who have been abused before or taken away from their families for other reasons. They are obviously not secure and the residents are free to go out as if they were living in a normal home. Many authorities use children's homes that are in countryside settings to avoid the issues of the dangers of the cities but its not always possible.

 

When living in that kind of group environment its easy to mix with the wrong crowd and get exploited when you go out. The police are regularly called to these establishments to deal with missing kids and other issues. However as is clear the police here did not recognise and failed the children completely.

 

Ideally children in care would be placed with foster carers but there are never enough of them and many do not want adolescents anyway.

 

I do have to say, its not my experience of the police when I dealt with them in the UK, the special Child Protection teams were well trained and sensitive to what was going on. It seems to have been a complete breakdown in Rotherham? I was an independent professional in other areas of the UK, there for the children only so saw both sides of the input from both the social workers and police. All lacked adequate funding, staffing and resources but did their best within that.

 

When going to a meeting in another county the last thing on my mind was to find out if it was a Tory or Labour stronghold. This deflection by other posters blaming it on lefties is utter nonsense.

Thanks for the feedback. If I recall correctly from the Rotterham Report taxis were picking up juveniles from Social Sevices residencies, nothing was done, so yes a complete breakdown.

[Loiner]

15 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

 

As has been demonstrated by multiple investigations there were complete systematic failings on the part of the police, child services and Rotherham council.

 

Resident apologist blames police and social services. 

 

14 hours ago, SunnyinBangrak said:

 

Naz Shah, who represents Bradford West, shared and liked a post tweeted out from a parody account of newspaper columnist Owen Jones.

It said: ‘Those abused girls in Rotherham and elsewhere just need to shut their mouths. For the good of diversity.’

 

Labour MP and lefty liberal journalist blames the victims. 
 

12 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

 

I was told repeatedly by the police that I was responsible for my own actions for allowing myself to be a victim.’ – a survivor

 

During one investigation, a former Detective Sergeant told us they would treat survivors as victims but that ‘some of them were worldly-wise and not meek and mild victims’.

 

Social worker blames the police. 
 

11 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

the case as clearly outlined is the police failings in latest report which was commissioned  by the police themselves, 

 

Social worker again blames the police. 
 

10 hours ago, placeholder said:

 the police refused to see them as victims but rather willing cooperators with their abusers. There simply was no coordination of programs to recognize the victims for what they were

Another apologist blames both police and ‘programs’
 

10 hours ago, simple1 said:

It is highlighted that many of the the victims of abuse were heavily into street drugs and alcohol (covered in the Rotherham Report) with significant level of failure of parental control. Clearly local society was in a number of instances rotten from the inside 

 

And another apologist blames the victims families and local society. 
 

This is classic obfuscation, everyone pointing in a different direction but not the reason why. None of them admit that the blame rests with all the authorities who would not take effective action against Pakistani Paedo Racist Rapists because of who they were. They were all afraid of the truth, that nothing is allowed that might upset that particular community, and that is still the case.  
“Let’s have a committee and a report.” That’s the best way to cover up the real cause of it all. There’s your conspiracy in action. 

[Loiner]

9 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

 

Again, nothing to do with the ethnic background of the groomers, just a basic lack of understanding by the police.

The same crimes widespread around the county over an extended period, by the same demographic against the same demographic. 
But it’s nothing to do with the criminals ethnic background, it’s because all the different police forces for years had the same basic lack of understanding?????

 

Another apologist in denial. 

[Chomper Higgot]

18 minutes ago, Loiner said:

Resident apologist blames police and social services. 

 

Labour MP and lefty liberal journalist blames the victims. 
 

Social worker blames the police. 
 

Social worker again blames the police. 
 

Another apologist blames both police and ‘programs’
 

And another apologist blames the victims families and local society. 
 

This is classic obfuscation, everyone pointing in a different direction but not the reason why. None of them admit that the blame rests with all the authorities who would not take effective action against Pakistani Paedo Racist Rapists because of who they were. They were all afraid of the truth, that nothing is allowed that might upset that particular community, and that is still the case.  
“Let’s have a committee and a report.” That’s the best way to cover up the real cause of it all. There’s your conspiracy in action. 

Please do go back and read the OO, you might then have an idea of what is the topic of discussion.

[Chomper Higgot]

14 minutes ago, Loiner said:

The same crimes widespread around the county over an extended period, by the same demographic against the same demographic. 
But it’s nothing to do with the criminals ethnic background, it’s because all the different police forces for years had the same basic lack of understanding?????

 

Another apologist in denial. 

Again, read the OP and inwardly digest.