Police failings allow human trafficking and slavery to continue, says watchdog

Slave drivers and human traffickers have been allowed to carry on offending unchecked because of police failings, a watchdog report has warned.

Cases are being shelved prematurely, investigations delayed by several months and clear signals of crimes missed, inspectors found.

As a result of the shortcomings, those suffering at the hands of perpetrators were not always recognised as victims.

Instead they remained in the hands of those exploiting them or were arrested as offenders or illegal immigrants, according to the assessment from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The findings are underscored by figures obtained by Sky News, which found that the conviction rate for modern slavery offences in England and Wales over the last two years stood at 1.9%.

There were 25 successful prosecutions out of 1,265 slavery offences reported by 17 police forces between April 2015 and March 2017, according to the broadcaster’s freedom of information request.

Overall, a rise of almost 200% in crimes under the Modern Slavery Act was recorded by 38 police forces over the same period, it said.

The HMICFRS report also found there was “variable commitment” among police leaders to tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, which are thought to affect tens of thousands of people in the UK.

Some senior officers openly expressed a reluctance to “turn over the stone” and proactively look for offences in the categories, citing concerns about the “potential level of demand”, the report said.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams, who led the probe, said police have a “crucial role” to play in protecting thousands of men, women and children who are being “degraded and dehumanised” every day.

She said: “Whilst modern slavery cases can be complex and require significant manpower, many of the shortcomings in investigating these cases reflect deficiencies in basic policing practice.

“We found inconsistent, even ineffective, identification of victims and investigations closed prematurely.

“As a result, victims were being left unprotected, leaving perpetrators free to continue to exploit people as commodities.”

Modern slavery and human trafficking can cover wide range of offending, including forced labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude.

An official estimate previously suggested there are up to 13,000 potential modern slavery victims in the UK, but last week the anti-slavery commissioner described this figure as “far too modest”.

Premises targeted as part of police activity include nail bars, brothels and car washes.

The HMICFRS report said victims are being let down “at every stage”.

Failings included: a clear tendency to close cases prematurely, sometimes without speaking to victims or witnesses; extensive delays of up to eight months in starting investigations; and a lack of focus on safeguarding all potential victims.

In one case a woman was forced to work as a prostitute but no rape offences were recorded despite her reporting her experience to police.

In another immigration authorities contacted a force about a victim of domestic servitude trafficked into the country by private jet – but no investigation was started to identify suspects or locations of interest.

The report also raised concerns that potential victims were identified and treated from the outset primarily as immigration offenders.

One woman found at a suspected brothel was arrested on suspicion of immigration offences. After inquiries revealed she was in the UK legally, she was left outside the premises where she was originally detained.

Officers later expressed concern that she may be a victim, but when the address was revisited it was empty, and the woman remains missing.

Neighbourhood officers in several forces told inspectors they did not feel comfortable 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”.

Some frontline personnel did not consider modern slavery to be an issue in their force area, the report added.

The inspectorate noted that there were “pockets” of good practice, acknowledging that forces have begun to act to improve their service since the inspection was carried out at the start of this year.

Shaun Sawyer, the national policing lead for modern slavery, said: “We fully accept the recommendations included in this report.

“The police service is now actively seeking out and uncovering modern slavery.

“Across England and Wales there are currently over 400 active investigations, an increase of 218% from November 2016 – 85% of which are led by the police.

“The policing challenge ahead is considerable but we are committed to building on our achievements and improving our approach so we consistently safeguard victims and crack down on those who make profit from people.”

A Home Office spokesman said the Government is investing £8.5 million to help the police tackle modern slavery, describing it as a “barbaric” crime.

He added: “The report recognises that since the inspection concluded in April, significant progress has been made in improving the law enforcement response.”

‘I was afraid to go out on the street’: Victim of modern slavery speaks out

A victim of modern slavery has told of how he was “afraid to go out on the street” when his family was being exploited.

Rafal, his wife Agnieczka (pictured) and their two young children were rescued from an upstairs flat in the Midlands where they were visited daily by their oppressors.

The Polish family were “controlled psychologically” and victims of “forced criminality”, the charity Hope for Justice told Sky News, which accompanied it on a series of rescues.

They had been surviving on £10 a week each for months, reliant on soup kitchens while their exploiter pocketed their wages and child benefit.

Rafal told the broadcaster: “Our first priority was our kids.

“We were worried for their safety, I was always looking through the window and looking at the phone. When I don’t answer he would call us 15 times a day.

“I wouldn’t call that a life. I was afraid to go out on the street.”

He added: “I was afraid of him and I didn’t know what to say to the police and I didn’t know what he would do if he found out.”

The family are said to have become trapped after they agreed to let a stranger use their address temporarily to help them get a doctor’s appointment.

Dozens of letters followed, and the couple were introduced to a man who made increasing demands, stole their identity cards and forced Agnieczka to open fake bank accounts.

After meeting a member of Hope for Justice at a food bank, the family were rescued, and have since been moved to a safe house hundreds of miles away.

The charity describes the situation in the UK as “a human conveyor belt of slavery”.

Retired detective Gary Booth, who leads the Hope for Justice team, told Sky News: “From a trafficker’s perspective they look at a family as a commodity and each member of that family is a means of earning money, illegitimate money.

“He has dehumanised the parents and clearly that has a knock-on effect with the children.

“One of their parting comments to my colleagues today was that their life hasn’t been worth living for the past six months.”

_{Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2017, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) Sky News / PA Wire.}