Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews has shared new performance figures that show the Force is outperforming many areas in rape investigation.
Members of the Commissioner's Police and Crime Panel were given sight of figures presented at a recent Corporate Governance Board meeting showing how Leicestershire Police is performing against key crimes.
Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) is a priority in Mr Matthews' Police and Crime Plan and the Panel heard how the Force is working hard to increase confidence across the counties to encourage greater reporting of rape and sexual assault allegations, especially within diverse communities.
According to the figures, the Force currently has a five per cent successful outcome rate of rape investigation. While still low due to a range of reasons, it is one of the highest in the country.
The meeting heard the continuing challenges facing officers dealing with rape investigations with 60 per cent of victims not wanting their case to go through the criminal justice system for fear of intrusion and social stigma and many only coming to the attention of police through third party reports.
To improve this, the Force has created a new role to enable a Detective Superintendent to lead exclusively on the VAWG strategy and is working hard to increase the positive outcome rate so that the Force remains in the top quartile of performance nationally.
Elsewhere, it was revealed burglary performance rates are at an all-time high in terms of the recovery of stolen property and the arrests of suspects.
It also emerged performance is higher than pre-Pandemic levels thanks to the Force's work to strengthen its offender management arrangements to prevent reoffending. The Force said its operational teams were being continually briefed on known criminals, hotspots and intelligence on movement to crackdown on offending.
Commenting after the meeting, Mr Matthews said: "It is clear Leicestershire Police is already taking a robust approach to VAWG with the addition of new, dedicated resources. I'm pleased the Force is at the forefront of rape investigation nationally however, there is more to do and I am fully behind the Force's approach to measuring progress by focusing on confidence-building among victims.
"Supporting Victims of Crime is a key priority in my Police and Crime Plan and I have challenged the Force to not only reduce incidents of gender-based violence but to improve feelings of safety overall in our public spaces, particularly in the night-time economy. There are unique challenges facing every police force investigating rape and sexual violence offences and I'm reassured the Force is confronting these difficulties with positive action.
"The outstanding progress in burglary performance is a result of the Force's relentless focus on this crime. Burglary has a huge impact on confidence and feelings of safety within our communities and I appreciate the efforts of officers in stepping up the response to make Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland a much harder place to commit these crimes."
In further progress, the Panel heard how the Force continues to perform well above average in 999 call performance - despite the contact centre facing a 20 per cent hike in demand.
The department endured a high absence rate as a result of the Pandemic which led the Force to accelerate a recruitment programme to boost resilience.
