The Editor's Blog

3 - Stolen Freedom - The Report of HMICFRS into the Investigation of Modern Slavery

The Stolen Freedom report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has been widely reported by the media, and so I thought I would take a more in depth look at what has been recommended.  Their inspection was conducted between January and April 2017

Awareness

The report found that in non-specialist officers and staff displayed only a limited understanding of the new powers and provisions set out in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and in particular:

• low awareness among investigators of the section 45 defence;
• limited use of the new preventative powers; and
• very low numbers of notifications to the Home Office about potential victims.

This suggests, the report concludes, that many victims are not being identified, or given the full safeguards and protection that they should receive..

Leadership

Issues included:

• there was some confusion about roles and responsibilities in this regard at national, regional and local levels and the HMICFRS concerned to find that 10 investigations have been substantially delayed due to poor co-ordination and sharing of information across policing;
• when offenders were convicted, breaches of Restraining Orders weren’t identified and treated as further offences of Harassment or Stalking meaning that escalating behaviour remains unidentified and risk management strategies are not updated;
• some Forces had made countering modern slavery and human trafficking a strategic priority, but most had not translated this into coherent and consistent operational practice;
• most Forces did not have robust systems or performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of practice in this area;
• a few senior officers openly expressed a reluctance to ‘turn over the stone’ and proactively look for modern slavery and human trafficking offences, citing concerns about the potential level of demand.

The HMICFRS concluded that:

• the national intelligence picture was widely acknowledged to be underdeveloped but that the NCA (in January 2017) was now taking a more active role across policing to help address this;
• the flow of intelligence across policing needs was found to require improvement;
• the NCA must ensure it is clear, consistent and quick in communicating to all parts of the police service the changes and improvements it has made, and assure itself that those changes are achieving their intended outcomes;
• greater efforts must also be made by the NCA to capture and disseminate actionable intelligence stored in the NRM and through the case decision-making process undertaken in identifying victims so that policing is better informed about offending patterns and locations of interest and can better protect other potential victims.

Local Activity

Some Forces had patchy partnership arrangements, but some had none.

HMICFRS found that:

• the police generally engaged in co-ordinated activity with partner agencies as part of national campaigns targeting industries frequently associated with modern slavery and human trafficking, such as car washes, nail bars and brothels,
• but didn't appear to have a thorough understanding of the high-risk locations or industries in their local areas.

They concluded that:

• lack of partnership arrangements limits the ability of Forces to understand local risks and deal with them effectively.

Victim Identification and Safeguarding

HMICFRS found that:

• there were significant failings in the ability of the police to:
  • identify victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, or
  • take appropriate steps in relation to those who were, or should have been, identified as victims,
• many operational officers were not:
  • confident about identifying indicators of modern slavery and human trafficking, or
  • aware of their responsibilities to explain the national support that is available to potential victims through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM),
• delays in speaking to victims and in inadequate communication, both of which were likely to undermine trust and confidence.

The feeling amongst many neighbourhood officers was that they did not feel comfortable about raising the issues of modern slavery and human trafficking with local communities because they did not believe the public were either interested in or sympathetic to victims, potentially considerably limiting the amount of intelligence that can be gleaned from local engagement,

Some operational officers maintained that modern slavery and human trafficking was not an issue in their areas.

HMICFRS concluded that:

• they cannot be confident that when the police encounter victims of modern slavery and human trafficking they recognise them as such and inform them of the rights to which they are entitled.

Crime Recording

HMICFRS found that:

• the National Crime recording Standards (NCRS) was not always being complied with.

Investigations

HMICFRS found that:

• larger investigations were generally managed well,
• those Forces which respond through their serious organised crime structures and partnership arrangements often conducted a better investigation, using a wide range of investigative tools and techniques (e.g. covert surveillance) to disrupt or dismantle the criminal network, as well as ensuring victims were safeguarded,
• when Forces responded through their structures set up to protect vulnerable people, care for victims could be excellent, but there was not always the same focus on preventing the creation of future victims by dismantling the networks and holding offenders to account,
• some Forces have made these offences a priority, e.g. by establishing dedicated units and specialist teams or by offering training and guidance to officers and staff to help them understand the new legislation, but these were the exception,
• when investigations were handled locally that they were particularly ineffective, issues being:
  • a clear tendency to close cases prematurely, sometimes without speaking to victims or witnesses and when lines of enquiry remained outstanding,
  • extensive delays (sometimes in months) in initiating investigations,
  • a lack of effective supervision,
  • a lack of focus on safeguarding all potential victims; and
  • lack of co-ordination across the police service, leading to delays in investigations and to difficulties in maintaining contact with victims relocated through the NRM,
• there was a tendency to refer both suspects and victims without legal status in the UK to immigration authorities rather than to investigate modern slavery and human trafficking offences, and enable potential victims to understand and access the services available to them.

Conclusion

The Police Transformation Programme seeks to address many of these failings, but HMICFRS are concerned that this program is only financed until March 2019.

They concluded that:

• the police service needs to seize these opportunities and put sustainable plans into action, in order to improve their response to these abhorrent and pernicious crimes.