Police chief to step down after force’s handling of child abuse cases criticised

The chief of South Yorkshire Police is to step down following criticism that handling of child sexual exploitation cases by his force was “inadequate”.

Chief Constable David Crompton is to retire in November after 31 years in policing, the force said.

It comes after a report, commissioned in the wake of the Rotherham grooming scandal and led by Professor John Drew, found the force’s response to the abuse was “inadequate” and missed opportunities.

In a statement posted on Twitter, South Yorkshire Police said: “The Chief Constable’s contract runs until November. He will retire after 31 years in policing.”

Prof Drew’s report, published on Wednesday, was just the latest high profile inquiry into how South Yorkshire Police failed hundreds of teenagers who were subjected to sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

It followed the Jay Report, which sparked a national outrage in 2014 when it outlined how 1,400 children were raped, trafficked and abused in the town while police officers who knew what was happening to many of them did nothing.

Last month, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced it was now looking at more than 194 allegations about the conduct of police relating to child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.

But the Rotherham scandal is just one of a number of high profile problems Mr Crompton has had to face in his four year tenure as chief constable – many have their origins years before he took office.

These have included the renewed controversy over the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster following the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report in 2012, which led to new inquests, and a fresh campaign for an inquiry into police actions at the “Battle of Orgreave” during the 1984 Miner’s Strike.

As well as these historical matters, Mr Crompton also found himself in the headlines when Sir Cliff Richard’s home was searched in connection with an inquiry into alleged child abuse.

The controversy surrounded a deal his force struck with the BBC which led to live TV coverage of the raid, a situation an independent report found had “interfered with his privacy and may well have caused unnecessary distress”.

Mr Crompton, 52, took over as chief constable from Meredydd Hughes in 2012, joining from the neighbouring West Yorkshire force.

During his time at West Yorkshire, where he was both assistant chief constable and then deputy, he was involved in the force’s response to the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

He was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2010.

The South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Alan Billings, told the Yorkshire Post: “It’s a very pressurised job, probably one of the most pressurised of jobs in the country so I don’t blame him for going.

“The unique thing about South Yorkshire Police is that we’ve had all the challenges other forces are coping with in relation to austerity and balancing the books but we’ve also had not one but a number of high profile, very emotive issues that have had to be dealt with.

“Many would have buckled under the strain of just one of these but to carry on with the strain of all these things has been quite a challenge.

“All credit to the chief constable that he has remained strong throughout that time when a lot of people would have simply given up and walked away.”

The Drew Report, which was commissioned by Dr Billings, repeated many of the criticisms levelled at South Yorkshire Police in the 2014 report by Professor Alexis Jay.

But Prof Drew said the force had made “determined progress” since 2013 and that the police response to safeguarding children and young people from CSE was now adequate and, in some cases, of high quality.

The Drew Review follows the Jay Report and then the Casey Report, which looked at Rotherham Council’s response and was highly critical of the local authority.

Following the Casey Report, Dr Billings said he thought a similar inquiry needed to be directed at South Yorkshire Police to cover the whole force area.

Prof Drew, a former director of social services and former chief executive of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, said child sexual exploitation in Rotherham in the 2000s was seen by police officers as “a burden”, while there were always officers in Sheffield who wanted to combat the crime.

“There is a world of difference between these two mindsets,” he said.

He found that, by today’s standards, the scale of response to child sexual exploitation 15 years ago was inadequate across the whole of South Yorkshire, with mistakes and missed opportunities until 2011 due to the low priority given to the crime.

He made 11 recommendations for the force to carry out but said that the current leadership deserved credit for changing the priority afforded to combating CSE.

He said: “I believe that the police response to safeguarding children and young people from child sexual exploitation is now adequate. Indeed, some recent work undertaken by South Yorkshire Police appears to me to be of high quality.”

Prof Drew highlighted the limitations he faced as a result of ongoing investigations by the IPCC, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and South Yorkshire Police.

He said he had “no powers” to investigate speculation about whether police corruption played any part in failings to respond to CSE.

He also revealed that the IPCC and NCA investigations would not be completed until 2017 at the earliest, and criticised the slow pace, adding: “I cannot emphasise too strongly the harmful impact that this is having on victims and survivors, on police officers and staff, and on public confidence in policing.”

Responding to the report earlier on Wednesday, Mr Crompton said: “We welcome Professor Drew’s report today and I am pleased it recognises that a huge amount of effort has gone into ensuring that we deal with the mistakes of the past and learn the lessons.

“I want to stress that tackling child sexual exploitation is an absolute priority for South Yorkshire Police, a finding that Professor Drew makes clear in his report.”

Mr Crompton pointed to recent successes in fighting child sexual exploitation, including the recent convictions of a Rotherham gang who together received jail sentences totalling more than 100 years.

Mr Crompton added: “We note the report’s recommendations and accept that there is more to be done.”

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