Lincs: Lincolnshire Police are the second highest in the country for charge to conviction rates

The police are also ranked number one in the country in terms of the service they commit to victim support and they have a detection rate of 23 per cent.

Lincs Police also has one of the highest rates of offences initially recorded as a rape but later declassified at 33 per cent and 19 per cent of reported child rapes were declassified compared to the national average of five per cent.

Det Supt, Rick Hatton, said: “In Lincolnshire we are committed to investigating reports of rape and other sexual offences in a thorough meticulous manner.”

“We have a specialist unit known as our ‘Emerald Team’ made up of highly trained and motivated officers and staff.”

“The figures released by the HMIC in respect of reported adult rapes refer to the period 1st April 2012 to 31st March 2013.”

“In that period 110 adult rapes were recorded, of which, after thorough investigations , it was subsequently decided 36 had not taken place.”

“They were then filed under the ‘No Crime’ category. This ‘no crime’ rate reflects our ethical recording of crime. It shows that we investigate all allegations of rape.”

“Lincolnshire Police record reported offences as early as we can.”

“This demonstrates transparency in our investigations. It also helps us to obtain statistical information such as crime trends and series of offences.”

“It also enables us to capture and assess criminal intelligence.”

“We record crime and ‘no crime’ offences in an ethical, accurate manner in line with National Crime Recording Standards (NCRS).”

“When a rape is reported the initial responding officer is responsible for victim care, scene identification and protection etc.”

“The investigation is then dealt with by our aforementioned force dedicated sexual offences investigation ‘Emerald’ team.”

“Our force Crime Registrar, a former Detective Inspector, also personally examines and audits every case where an adult rape has been classified as ‘No Crime.’”

“We cannot entirely explain why the percentage of rape ‘no crimes’ in Lincolnshire is higher than in other areas but we are affected by the relatively low level of such crimes in Lincolnshire. This means that small variations in numbers can make large differences in percentage terms.”