Dedicated team for solving sex offender crime helping to bring more suspects to justice and protect more victims
The Greater Manchester Police's dedicated Sex Offender Crime Investigation Team, formed in May 2022, has achieved an 87% solved outcome rate for crimes involving registered sex offenders, the highest in the force. The team, which became permanent in August 2024, has investigated 473 crimes in the past year, solving 408, with most offenders charged or cautioned. The team collaborates with various agencies, including Interpol, to track offenders internationally and employs techniques like polygraphy for intelligence. Their efforts focus on ensuring compliance with court orders and protecting vulnerable individuals, particularly children.
Greater Manchester’s pioneering Sex Offender Crime Investigation Team has achieved an 87% solved outcome rate for crimes since its formation two-and-a-half years ago—the highest clearance rate in the force.
The specialized unit, created in May 2022 as the only team of its kind nationally dedicated solely to investigating suspected offences by registered sex offenders, became a permanent fixture in August 2024 after demonstrating major success. Working within the wider Sex Offender Management Unit, the team of 10 investigators has tackled 473 crimes in the 12 months to August, solving 408 of them through 386 charges and cautions or summons for the remainder.
Detective Inspector Marc Barker, who leads the team, emphasized their critical role in community safety. “We understand that one of our communities’ biggest concerns is what registered sex offenders are doing post release from prison. It’s our responsibility to make sure that they are complying with their court orders, release conditions and register, and to act swiftly if they aren’t,” Barker stated.
The team’s aggressive approach includes removing nine suspects from planes this year and maintaining international connections through agencies including DWP, Immigration, Foreign Liaison Office, and Interpol. They regularly issue ‘diffusion notices’ to alert foreign countries when sex offenders travel abroad, ensuring global safeguarding measures remain in place.
By assuming responsibility for crimes committed by registered sex offenders, the unit has enabled Offender Managers to focus on compliance, conducting over 9,000 regular visits and checks in the past year. The team now supports transport officers in identifying sex offenders who previously committed crimes on public transport, with plain-clothes officers proactively removing these individuals from the network.
“In a typical week, we are charging eight to ten people with offences linked to breaching release conditions,” Barker noted. “Most of these breaches are for issues like failing to sign on, register a new address or device. It’s important that we treat these breaches seriously, to send a message that we won’t tolerate the behaviour.”
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