'Northants is ahead of the curve' as some police forces still haven't implemented specialist policy on investigating sexual offences
Northamptonshire Police have said they are committed to eradicating violence against women and girls and confirmed they were not one of the forces still missing basic policies on sexual offences, following the latest report after the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.
The Angiolini Inquiry, which was set up to look into sexually motivated crimes against women and policing, published its Part 2 report on December 2.
The report found that, as of September 2025, a quarter of police forces had still not yet implemented a specialist policy on investigating sexual offences, including ‘non-contact’ offences such as indecent exposure. The recommendation from the first report stated that all forces should have a policy in place the year prior, by September 2024.
According to the report, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said the majority of those forces without a policy were still reviewing existing policies to determine if they are sufficient or consulting on new ones.
At a police fire and crime panel on Thursday December 4, Northamptonshire Police Fire Crime Commissioner (PFCC) Danielle Stone was quizzed on whether the county had implemented its own policy on investigating sexual offences.
She replied: “When that headline came out, I checked with the chief what we were doing.
“We invited Angiolini into Northamptonshire, actually, and we’ve been working a lot. We’re not one of those forces that was mentioned, we’re not in that quarter and I’m really pleased to say we’ve made quite a big contribution to that report.”
Chief Executive of the PFCC Office, Jonny Bugg, added: “We weren’t on that list of services that were felt to be failing to meet the mark. I think Northants is ahead of the curve – we’ve had the Angiolini team in and out of Darby House many times.”
Northamptonshire Police was identified as one of the ‘fieldwork forces’ in the report, along with seven others across the country, to form a representative sample of police forces for the Inquiry to collect evidence from.
Overall, the total number of violent and sexual offences in the county has declined slightly over the past year, however certain offence types such as rape and other sexual offences have shown increases, even as the overall volume falls.
On December 1, the Office of the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner (OFPCC) launched a Women’s Safety Charter, calling on businesses and organisations to act on violence against women and girls. Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service, Northampton Town Football Club, Northampton Town Football Club Community Trust, London Northwestern Railway, Greatwell Homes, Brackmills BID and Northampton BID were the first signatories at the launch.
A number of other ongoing initiatives by police have also been highlighted, including Safer Streets interventions, Safer Nights Out Vans, and the piloting of facial recognition technology, which the force says is the first time it has been used in a town centre setting specifically to target predatory behaviours and violence against women and girls.
The ‘It Does Matter’ campaign was launched by Northants Police this November to help encourage victims to report non-contact sexual offences so that police can take action against the perpetrators before the offending escalates.
The Commissioner will also be hosting a conference focused on tackling violence against women and girls on Wednesday December 10, to discuss how they can collaborate to reduce violence against women and girls by at least 50 percent – a commitment outlined by the Government in 2024.