Top Portsmouth detective insists the city’s record spike in reports of sex offences 'is not a negative thing'

Hampshire Constabulary hit back after it was revealed the number of sexual offences reported in Portsmouth has reached a record high.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 972 sexual offences were recorded in the city the year to March – up from 828 last year and the highest number since records began in 2003.

Now, one of the city’s most senior officers claimed the spike of reported sexual offences was in response to the force’s ‘proactive approach to encouraging victims to come forward’.

Speaking to The News, Portsmouth’s Detective Chief Inspector Dal Andrews said: ‘An increase in recorded crime as shown by the ONS statistics is not necessarily a negative thing.

‘We have seen an increase in the recording of sexual offences, but this has been in part as a result of our proactive approach to encouraging victims to come forward.

‘We ensure that all offences disclosed to us by victims are correctly captured and recorded in their initial report, which does contribute to some of the increase in the number of crimes recorded rather than an actual increase in crime committed in the last year.

‘Increases can show that the public have greater confidence in coming forward to speak to us and we welcome that.’

She added: ‘These offences can be incredibly traumatic for victims and no-one should feel reluctant to report this kind of crime. Victims will be listened to, supported and encouraged by police and other support agencies.

‘We want members of the public to know when we receive these sorts of allegations, we will take them seriously and do everything in our power to bring those responsible to justice.’

However, DCI Andrews admitted there was ‘still much to do’ to tackling sexual offences – and boost conviction rates for crimes such as rape, which can be ‘extremely challenging’ to prosecute.

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The detective’s comments came after the force’s rape conviction rate was recently branded among the country’s worst, with 2.7 per cent of the 1,806 rape incidents reported between April 2021 and December leading to a charge.

DCI Andrews said tackling rape and other serious sexual offences was a ‘priority’ and that the force was ‘committed’ to finding and targeting sexual predators.

But she added: ‘Rape is one of the most complex crimes police can investigate which make it extremely challenging to secure criminal justice outcomes.’

DCI Andrews admitted the force knows it can do more to improve the ‘quality and timeliness’ of probes and insisted ‘increasing our charge rate is always our focus’.

But she said where a ‘criminal justice outcome is not reached’, that the force looks for other chances to target perpetrators, through the use of sexual risk orders.

‘We appreciate there is still much to do, and work is well underway to improve our service in tandem with the Crown Prosecution Service,’ DCI Andrews said, adding: ‘We are seizing opportunities to bring about real and sustainable change to the handling of these traumatic offences, to transform the victim experience and bring more perpetrators to justice, and that is our continued collective ambition.’

:: Support for rape victims can be found on Hampshire police’s website.