Investigators who examined police failings in the Rotherham grooming gangs scandal were told not to investigate senior officers and no one lost their jobs, a whistleblower has said. The Times has the story.
No officers lost their jobs and only those in lower ranks were investigated for misconduct despite findings that police had failed to investigate the sexual exploitation of at least 1,400 young girls by gangs of men of predominantly Pakistani heritage.
The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out Operation Linden, which found that police did not make crime records even when rapes and sexual assaults were reported, did not question older men found in the presence of young drunk girls and viewed vulnerable children as troublesome problems instead of victims.
The watchdog, which has rigorously defended its investigation, concluded in 2022 that there were systemic failings at South Yorkshire police, which enabled industrial-scale child sexual abuse between 1997 and 2013.
A whistleblower has told the Times that Operation Linden did not delve deep enough, standards of investigation were poor and there was “no desire” by the IOPC to properly uncover the reasons behind the failings.
“We were actively told not to pursue senior officers,” the whistleblower said. “It was just largely incompetent. There was just no passion or desire within the IOPC to understand what went wrong in Rotherham and find out why those girls were let down.
“We were told to focus on junior officers who handled the complaints from individual victims. But this was happening across the country, where lower-ranked officers were ignoring CSE [child sexual exploitation].
“I thought it was important to know why that was. Whether this culture was sanctioned at higher up levels. But I was told ‘you cannot pursue senior officers, suggesting they should have known what was going on’.”
The IOPC carried out 91 investigations into police failings, covering 265 separate allegations made by 51 complainants. It examined 47 officers and found that eight had a case to answer for misconduct and six for gross misconduct.
None lost their jobs, the most severe sanction was a written warning and some other officers received “management advice”.
Worth reading in full.
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‘and debate the current threats to our liberty’
If we ever had ‘our liberty’ it disappeared in March 2020 never to be seen again
It’s been disappearing bit by bit for decades.
Liberty lives with the likes of Bob (what a magnificent cartoon) and people like you, Cecil B.
Perhaps it’s a mistake to think of “liberty” as a sort of legally authorised possession. If we think of it as something we can have in that sense, then we can lose it.
What we actually have is a range of permitted legal and quasi-legal possibilities for our actions. They matter enormously. Any constriction in those possibilities is our loss and somebody else’s gain.
In March 2020, after a series of restrictions over decades, that range was dramatically reduced for citizens in many countries; to our detriment and to the gain of governments, officialdom and the officious.
But I think more freely and boldly now than I did in March 2020. I question more. I think that’s true for others here, as it is for the rebels I know personally.
Liberty is rebellion; laughter (Umberto Eco knew a thing or two, along with Orwell); and hope.
In March 2020, a great awakening began. It was small at first, but it grew.
That’s an encouraging post. More of that is what we need.
have you seen Bob’s latest – Fauci Monkey Pox?
Fab!
? What is that cartoon supposed to be saying? And what’s with Fauci’s right nipple?
or his “lower” nipple if you look closely……
I’m not inclined to. But thanks anyway.
and would you look at this…..
TY, Noah – possible post link? This sheet just does not happen randomly.
https://lionessofjudah.substack.com/p/event-201-monkey-style-2021-tabletop?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web&s=r
Corny, but very good!
Only 18-30 year olds?
Ageists…
We old geezers aren’t worth listening to.
Mind you, our elder politicians would seem to suggest that’s right. Other than our younger politicians like the ‘dashing’ Blair and Cameron would suggest otherwise.
Sounds excellent
Sounds good. Great cartoon too. But oh no, not Frank Furedi!
“In the 1970s, Furedi co-founded the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). The RCP was distinguished by its commitment to theoretical elaboration and hostility to state intervention in social life.”
Now seriously confused. Communism and state intervention is opposed – by communism?
WTF is it about socialists that they can, at will, shape shift?
“. . . This opportunity is only available to people aged 18 to 30. . .”
‘kin hell, Toby’s not aging well is he!!!!
There is literally zero chance anybody under 31 uses or reads this forum
Dead cert that at least one wrinkly over 61 reads this forum.
You never met Poppy, evidently.
Nope! But I am 100% convinced that 99.9% of people under 30 are woke tosspots
This is great. Just shared it with my Icelandic audience. Hope some will apply.
£50 for two nights accomodation with a curry & wine thrown in?
Does it count if I say I identify as a 25yo (I’ll shave my grey beard off)
Grey beardish. It can identify as it wishes, surely?
Keep us crusties out! We’ve had our day.
18-30’s only?
Could it be that the wee snowflakes are worried we geriatric bullies confront them with things like, life experience, common sense, arithmetic, the scientific method, the English language, the concept of debate, critical analysis, spelling, cursive handwriting, Scottish Country Dancing (yes, it was a PE subject where I went to school), the Bible, irony, humour, respect, humility, dignity and tolerance?
We do of course all note that our acceptance of e.g LGBTQ+ values are encompassed under our values of respect, humility, dignity and tolerance and, as crusties we don’t need minority positions shoved (pardon the expression) down our throats.
We geriatrics have learned that people are different. We might not like it but, one of the most valuable life lessons we have learned is that we have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth, and we should use them proportionately.
Somewhat ironic that the age qualification for the Living Freedom Summer School is 18 to 30, whilst the image for the event is George Orwell, who was 46 years old when his book 1984 was published.
I would feel deflated, but it seems we wrinklies just continue to win.
I like the cartoon of Orwell illustrating this article, but I have to laugh bleakly at the blanking out of the expletive (oh gosh, I wonder what it could be?). Oh the irony! Censoring even a pretend uttering by someone who detested interference by TPTB is ridiculous, sad and pathetic. Shame on you DS. Please treat us as the adults we are.