Policy and procedures related to false allegations

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.034849

I note you seek access to the following information:

Please kindly provide under FOIA2000 any materials that set out the procedures which are to be followed, either in case of encountering demonstrably false allegations from a complainant, or in case new allegations are received from a complainant who has previously been determined to be the source of later-proven false allegations.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Before I explain the reasons for the decisions I have made in relation to your request, I thought that it would be helpful if I outline the parameters set out by the Act within which a request for information can be answered. The Act creates a statutory right of access to information held by public authorities. A public authority in receipt of a request must, if permitted, confirm if the requested information is held by that public authority and, if so, then communicate that information to the applicant.

The right of access to information is not without exception and is subject to a number of exemptions which are designed to enable public authorities to withhold information that is not suitable for release. Importantly, the Act is designed to place information into the public domain, that is, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered public information and must be communicated to any individual should a request be received.

I have answered your questions based the MPS General Investigation Policy and have in no way referred to any specific ongoing or historic investigations.

General investigation policy regarding False Reports of crime

***Last Updated 24 November 2023***

18.1.1 The MPS definition of belief is as follows: ‘We will believe a victim such that we record the crime allegation. From that point we will investigate impartially, and with an open mind to establish the facts.’ However, false reports of crime are made from time to time and should not be regarded as a remote possibility. There are many reasons as to why they are made. They may be malicious, mistaken, designed to support others, financially motivated or inexplicable. When considering non-recent allegations, especially against prominent people, investigators should give full consideration to all background information.

18.1.2 When it comes to recording crime, this must be done in accordance with the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) – please see Crime Recording & Crime Outcomes policy for further instruction as to how and when we record crime.

18.1.3 The process in which a crime is assessed and passed for further investigation is contained within the Crime Assessment Principles guidance. Once this assessment is made, the role of the investigator is to gather all relevant evidence which either proves or disproves a person’s involvement in the alleged offence.

18.1.4 If the case alleged is proved to be false, i.e. additional verifiable information that determines that no victim based notifiable crime has been committed, the report will be cancelled under the Home Office Counting Rules (HOCR).

18.1.5 Where the person, who was originally shown as the victim of the cancelled notifiable crime, as mentioned at 18.1.4, is believed to have committed a notifiable state-based crime, i.e. fraud, causing a wasteful employment of the police or, in more serious cases, perverting the course of justice, then an additional crime report must be recorded in relation to that offence.

18.1.6 A person who was originally shown as the suspect of the cancelled notifiable crime, (as mentioned above) shall be recorded as a witness in the additional crime report as mentioned in 18.1.5 but will be treated as a victim of crime in these circumstances. This is due to the fact that they were falsely reported as a suspect in a case. As such, they and their family will now be afforded the same service as victims of crime and should be offered support and liaison compatible with the gravity of the allegations made against them. The support to the victim and their families must be recorded in the additional crime report CRIS, even though it is regarded as a ‘victimless’ or state based crime. The same requirement for informing victims within certain timescales, as per the VCOP policy, must be complied with should the victim request this service.

18.1.7 Below are some examples of false reports and subsequent action against that could be taken against the complainant. In all cases where the complainant has shown to have falsely reported crime, you must seek the advice of a dedicated decision maker and/or the CPS before taking further action.
(i) A person reports that he has been blackmailed. The crime is recorded and investigated, but the complaint is shown to be false. The complainant is prosecuted for wasting police time.
(ii) A burglary is reported and recorded, but the subsequent investigation reveals that the report was false and a fraudulent insurance claim has been made. The complainant is investigated by Action Fraud and/or wasting police time and prosecuted.
(iii) A major investigation into a serious sexual assault is made, but is subsequently found to have be a false allegation. However, the falsely accused person were charged and remanded into custody or tried, convicted and/or sentenced and, furthermore, they suffered major damage to their reputation. The complainant is prosecuted for perverting the course of justice.

18.1.8 The MPS generally does not inform suspects of non-pursued allegations. However, if a charge is bought, a suspect may wish to argue they have been “set up” or that false complaints are so prevalent that none could be relied upon. Consideration should be given on a case by case basis to the question of whether suspects should be informed of every allegation. When a decision is made to take no further action for one allegation, but the investigation continues regarding others, the suspect must be informed of the decision at the earliest opportunity and prior at any media release. However, there may be exceptional circumstances when this is not possible.

Every time a victim of a crime decides not to report an allegation to police, a potential criminal avoids justice and is free to offend again. Sexual offences in particular are often hidden, going unreported, or only disclosed much later in life.
According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales ending March 2020, an estimated 1.8% of adults aged 16 to 74 years (773,000) experienced sexual assault (including attempts) in the previous year. Such huge numbers show that it’s imperative that we continue to encourage people to contact us, tell us their account of what happened, and that we listen sympathetically to gain their confidence.

However, we also know that in a small proportion of cases, false reports are made - sometimes these are malicious reports, sometimes they are mistaken or on occasion, they are made for personal gain. It is important therefore, that within any initial investigation we consider if there are grounds that might indicate that this is the case.

The Met’s position on Belief makes this clear:
‘We will believe a victim such that we record the crime allegation. From that point we will investigate impartially, and with an open mind to establish the facts.’

The Commissioner explained:
“We have made it extremely clear to all our staff what we expect from them when they take a report from an individual victim of such a crime. You may know that this is agreed nationally. It is very similar to the phrases that I used when I became Commissioner. We will believe a victim such that we record the crime allegation. From that point on, we will investigate impartially and with an open mind to establish the facts.”

Operation Larimar, which was set up to embed organisational improvement and change across the Met, in the wake of recommendations by Sir Richard Henriques and the IOPC. This followed independent reviews into the Met’s handling of cases of historic child sexual abuse involving people of public prominence, including Operation Midland.

MPS, says:
“As police investigators, we have to be clear that an instruction to believe a victim for the purposes of recording a crime does not mean an ‘unchanging and persistent’ belief. Our role is always to investigate and establish the facts and to take victims’ allegations seriously, support them, and where offences have been committed – to do our best to bring offenders to justice.”

Head of Profession for Public Protection explains further:
“Time and again research has shown that a fear of disbelief is a barrier to people coming forward and reporting crimes, especially for sexual offences.
“Policing has made huge improvements in recent years in the way we deal with victims of serious crime. Whilst we know there is still much work to be done, it’s to our credit that victim confidence has increased, with more victims coming forward to report sexual crimes. There’s little doubt that an important contributing factor is that victims feel that they will be supported and listened to. This is why we invest a significant amount of time in training our staff to fully understand the impact of trauma and how this impacts victims. As investigators, it’s vital that we listen, record the crime allegation, and then complete both a thorough and impartial investigation to fully establish the facts.”

Belief
As a result of a number of reviews, including Sir Richard Henriques (2016), Operation Kentia (IOPC) and consultation with national partners, the MPS has implemented a number of changes.

‘We will believe a victim such that we record the crime allegation. From that point we will investigate impartially and with an open mind to establish the facts.’
The standard directs a victim focused approach to crime recording. This seeks to ensure that those reporting crimes will be treated with empathy and their allegations will be taken seriously. Any investigation which follows is then taken forward with an open mind to establish the facts.

In future, the public should be told that if you make a complaint we’ll investigate it objectively, impartially and with an open mind. Our role is to investigate and establish the facts. We will take victims allegations seriously, support them and where offences have been committed, do our best to bring offenders to justice.

By implementing these changes, the MPS are able to maintain and even improve the confidence the public has in the police service relating to the position on belief. The position will make it clear to victims that their allegation will be recorded and taken seriously. The guidance will also hopefully reassure, both the victim and those being investigated, that from the point of recording we will investigate impartially and with an open mind.

Making a false report could lead to a fine, a conviction for wasting police time or even a prison sentence for the more serious offence of perverting the course of justice. The offence carries a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment.