A whistleblower has alleged that investigators probing the police failures during the Rotherham “grooming gangs” scandal were told not to investigate senior officers.
According to The Times, the inquiry by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) “barely scratched the surface,” focusing instead on lower-ranking officers. This revelation comes despite evidence of systemic failings that allowed the sexual exploitation of at least 1,400 young girls between 1997 and 2013 by groups of predominantly Pakistani men.
Operation Linden, the investigation carried out by the IOPC, found that South Yorkshire police neglected to record crimes when rapes and sexual assaults were reported. Officers also did not question older men found in compromising situations with young, intoxicated girls. However, no officer lost their job, and accountability remained limited to junior officers.
According to the Times, the inquiry lacked depth and there was “no desire” to uncover the reasons behind these systemic failures.
“We were actively told not to pursue senior officers,” the whistleblower claimed. “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. […]
— Read More: humanevents.com
