Dorset Police: Failing Survivors

Dorset Police has a problem with women. Actually Dorset Police has many problems but one of them is institutional misogyny and that is why this force – which has a “shocking” number of perpetrators in its own ranks – is repeatedly failing to investigate abuse and to support survivors like Gaia, who they failed so badly and so repeatedly that she ultimately lost her life.

Don’t take our word for it. The former Police & Crime Commissioner for Dorset, Martin Underhill, said so himself in Episode 3 of the BBC’s Gaia: a Death on Dancing Ledge and the evidence is mounting. Here’s what we know.

At the time that Gaia needed them, Dorset Police had the worst rape conviction rate in the country and it still has one of the worst. Over the past 10 years, the number of sex offenses reported to them has doubled – but the number of charges they bring has halved.

According to data we obtained via a Freedom of Information request, out of 2058 sexual offences recorded by the Dorset Police 2019-2020, only 46 resulted in criminal charges. In 2020 they charged just 28 of the 782 rape reports they received. Sex offenses are now the most commonly reported form of criminal offense in Dorset but the force still has no specialist rape unit – which is why we’re running a petition to demand one.

We also keep a log of the stories that make it into local media and together they paint a troubling picture of a toxic and sexist culture in Dorset Police. You can scroll through here and click the link to access the full story in its original form.

We have not included stories about police failings in Gaia’s case, though they are many, from those early days when officers failed to investigate her rape case properly – through the two years of repeated crises in which they failed every time to grant her a restraining order, any form of protection or make a safeguarding referral – to the officers who were secretly altering search records weeks after her death two years later. You can find a few media highlights on Gaia’s story at the bottom of this page.

Dorset Police: Failing Survivors of Abuse

Content warning: contains extremely distressing references to abuse of power including rape, murder and child abuse by police.

In August 2023 it emerged that despite all the moaning we heard during the inquest into Gaia’s death about the impact of police funding cuts, it turns out Dorset residents are paying more for the police now than ever before! That’s £83.4 million from local pockets for a force that is grossly ineffective at tackling our communities’ two biggest problems: sexual violence and the mental health crisis.
In August 2023 it also emerged that Dorset Police officers had wasted more than £3,000 of public money by putting the wrong type of fuel in their police cars.
In July 2023 it was reported that a “shocking” number of Dorset Police officers have been suspended due to substantial allegations of domestic and sexual violence and misconduct towards women and girls. Between May 2022-2023, 14 misconduct cases which had a factor of ‘violence against women and girls’ were recorded against officers and staff at the force.
In May 2023, one Dorset Police officer testified almost being driven to suicide by the bullying & toxic culture within the force. Five officers stand accused of breaching professional standards and circulating sexist, pornographic, misogynistic, homophobic and racist messages. They also pinned a poster of skinheads displaying Swastikas and giving the Nazi salute on the wall of their police station.
In January 2023, Dorset Police Constable Ravi Canhye was charged with eight counts of sexual assault including two counts of rape. Canhye won the National Policing Award in 2009 “for his work identifying people with mental health issues”.
In January 2023, a Dorset Police sergeant – who journalists were banned from naming – was found guilty of gross misconduct for repeat offenses of sexual harassment against female student officers.
In June 2022, a Dorset policeman was found guilty of gross misconduct after “abusing his position of trust” to form “relationship” with domestic abuse victim he met through his duty as a police officer.
In April 2022, Dorset Police were found to have no case to answer having been warned about a dangerous predator just hours before he raped a woman in a public street in Poole and no officers attended despite a concern for welfare report having been submitted.
In April 2022, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed that of 36 Dorset Police officers reported for domestic abuse between January 2018 and September 2021, only three were convicted and of those three only two just 2 were even disciplined
In March 2022 Dorset Police refused to reveal the cost of its new headquarters, claiming the data was classified because it was “commercially sensitive.”
In January 2022, another Dorset police officer was found guilty of gross misconduct for sexually harassing female colleagues and “would have been dismissed by the force had he not already resigned.”
In November 2021, a former civil servant working for the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner was jailed for grooming underage girls online.
In November 2021, a Dorset superintendent was found guilty of gross misconduct after claiming thousands of pounds of false expenses. Not a gender-based violence issue but still it doesn’t inspire much confidence, does it?
In October 2021 a Dorset police officer was set to face gross misconduct charges related to the Sarah Everard investigation.
In October 2020 a Dorset police officer strangled a local nurse, Claire Parry, to death and was convicted for manslaughter.
In October 2020 a Dorset police inspector was found guilty of gross misconduct for abusing his position to engage in sexual activity with members of the public and Dorset Police.
In February 2020 Katrina O’Hara was beaten to death by her ex after Dorset police took her phone and, according to her family, swept her fears for her life “under the carpet.”
And a police detective was sacked for sexually assaulting a female colleague.
In January 2020 two more Dorset police officers were found guilty of gross misconduct after they falsified reports to cover up their failure to properly safeguard a victim of domestic abuse.
In February 2019 another Dorset police officer groomed a domestic abuse victim and coerced her into a sexual relationship.
In June 2019 Sharon Perett was killed by her abusive partner shortly after Dorset Police stopped checking in with her ‘because her phone was off’.
2015-2019 there were 13 arrests of Dorset Police staff for crimes including assault and rape but most of these cases were dropped with no disciplinary action.
In July 2015, a Dorset Police officer was found guilty of harassment for sending violent and threatening messages to a woman over a period of several months.
December 2014 – HMIC raised concerns that “potentially vulnerable victims were either waiting an unacceptable time for services or missed altogether” by Dorset Police because of concern that the force’s definition of vulnerability was too narrow.

Click here to access an interactive map of sexual and violent crime in the Dorset area. These are the most frequently reported crimes in many Dorset towns.

Some Coverage of Dorset Police Failures in Gaia’s Case

These are just some of the failings we uncovered during the investigation. After hearing 8 weeks of evidence about these failings at the inquest into Gaia’s death, Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin prohibited the jury from even considering whether any of them may have contributed to Gaia’s death:

📰 Gaia Pope’s family accuse state of ‘gaslighting’ them since her death

📰 The police failed my cousin, Gaia Pope. Five years on they are still failing survivors

📰 Gaia Pope’s family draw up list of 50 missed chances to save teen found dead

📰 Gaia Pope’s family call for change after inquest highlights missed chances

📰 IOPC Recommend Changes to Dorset Police Missing Persons Policy following inquest

📰 Sisters of Gaia Pope: “We felt helpless. She felt she wasn’t listened to.”

📰 Gaia Pope inquest: police officer admits altering search logs

📰 Gaia Pope feared she would never be believed over alleged rape, inquest told

📰 Police warned Gaia Pope about trauma of pursuing rape claim, inquest hears

📰 Police officer disciplined for misconduct admits failings in Gaia Pope inquiry

📰 Police delays could have affected chance of finding missing Gaia, inquest hears

📰 Officer tells court of regret at grading Gaia Pope-Sutherland medium risk