West Midlands Police has been ordered to review the way it records some of its crimes after investigators discovered that sex offence and harassment cases were wrongly listed as ‘no crimes.’

A report by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabularies (HMIC) made five recommendations to the force following an inspection earlier this year.

The areas that were singled out included ‘no crime’ decisions from the forces Public Protection Departments (PPUs) which investigate rape cases, sex assaults, child abuse and domestic abuse.

A sample of 92 of the forces no-crime incidents revealed that just 70 of them were correct because they were either incorrectly classified or because the officer did not believe the victim.

The report said: “We found two recurring reasons. The first related to harassment offences which had been classified as no-crime on the basis that it was a first offence when it was apparent from the taped call that it was a continuation of a course of conduct.

“The second relates to the interpretation of, or the sufficiency of, additional verifiable information; not believing the victim cannot justify, of itself, a decision to no-crime.

“There was an acknowledgement from staff and management in the PPUs that they should have recorded numerous incidents as crimes much sooner and identified cases were rectified during our inspection.

“While there was no evidence that the PPU staff were not conducting appropriate investigations, the absence of any management overview, or evidence of checks to see if the crime had been recorded when it should have been, is a concern.”

The inspectors also raised concerns about officers seeking advice from colleagues about how crimes should be recorded.

It said: “There is evidence that officers are seeking advice from detectives regarding the classification of crime. This should not be happening so as to ensure consistency in the advice and guidance received.”

In relation to shoplifting the report added: “There was evidence to indicate that shops or stores were not reporting all crimes to the police for a variety of reasons. This includes a business decision by the store to deal with the matter through civil recovery, and a belief that the police are too busy to deal with such offences.”

Three of the five recommendations have been listed as “immediate” and include that the reports to all force systems should be recorded as crimes. Advice on classification should also only come from the crime service team and all ‘no crime decisions’ should be audited and quality assured.

There was also a recommendation to review shoplifting cases within three months and to analyse the training needs of officers within six months.

Deputy Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: “Although the HMIC highlighted the force’s use of non-crime within the force’s Public Protection Unit, it is important to point out that all allegations – regardless of whether they are crimed or non-crimed – are fully and professionally investigated by specialist officers and safeguarding partners.

“We acknowledge their recommendation and we are in the process of reviewing this element of recording.”