PC Smith – Sexual Offences Case – 20th March

I was partnered up with PC Smith for 5 hours. He was working on a sexual offences case with minors and an 18 year old. The case was very complex and was proving hard to catch him for anything because there was only allegations against him and no evidence. We were writing out a police notice against him which meant he couldn’t have any contact with a certain individual. With the intel we had about this person we were able to track his location to hand him over the notice for him to sign in agreement that he would stay away from her. Upon arrival we were greeted by a school girl who we knew very well in the police department. She was another victim of the 18 year old which he wasn’t allowed contact with either. There was also another minor in the flat with him who was drinking. We arrested him there and then for breaking his previous notice, giving minors alcohol and carrying a weapon with intent. (He had a pen knife in his pocket)

Overall I learnt a lot within this team. It opened my eyes out to how much paper work and investigation goes into 1 person. The whole 5 hours I was there we worked on the one case and when I left PC Smith had another 3 hours left on shift which he said he would use on this case. At the start of the shift I felt very excited to be working on a sexual offences case, as this is something I want to work in when I’m older. I felt relief that we had caught this young man but I was also very angry with him for what he had done. The 2 minors had no idea what they were n for and I was grateful to the police officers for going at the time we did, who knows what would have happened if we went a few hours later or even the next day. I had  a quick look at the Sexual Offences statistics in Plymouth and to my surprise the stats each month over the past 2 years has decreased. The number of offences is still high, March being 1,315 in that month only (Devon & Cornwall police statistics, 2019)

Randy Thornhill believes that sexual offenders offender due biological factors. He believes people are born wanting to rape and sexually offend. According to this theory, men who are predisposed to rape may have more reproductive success. Over long periods of time, this reproductive advantage results in a widespread predisposition to rape among males. Other theorists argue that predisposition to rape is not an adaptation itself, but the side-effect of reproductive adaptations, such as the pursuit of a number of partners (Randy Thornhill, 2004). For me, biological explanations for rape naturalize the reality of what has happened and somewhat excuses the perpetrator’s behaviour. Leading to the conclusion that it is acceptable and potentially unchangeable. These theories also diminish the victim’s pain and suffering which I don’t think is right.

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