As anyone tried this? Is it possible for the police to investigate themselves in a fair and balanced way?
I have a friend on the sex offender register who is housebound and hardly sees anyone. His previous public protection officer was almost human but his current one is a nightmare. Earlier this year she asked, repeatedly, how often he masturbates. Now she has told him that he must inform some of his friends of his conviction because they have a son who was with them when they visited his house for an hour last New Year. He had not seen the son for over 5 years, and it will likely be another five years before he sees him again, by which time the boy/man will be 18, hardly regular contact. He has told the friends about his conviction, which was 25 years ago, and they have not cut him out of their lives, but now he lives in fear and uncertainty.
I think I'm right that the police officer has overstepped her authority. Or can the police really go this for?

There might be someone on this forum who has knowledge or experience in these matters.

Apparently, it will cost an arm and a leg to get an answer from a solicitor.

I'm not sure what the problem is. If he's told his friends, he has done as he was asked. Personally I would never let anyone under 18 visit my house - even workmen are checked before they step over the threshold. But that's just my personal paranoia regarding the broken system. It's why I have CCTV too so I can prove that nobody under 18 has ever entered my home.

I suppose it's about reasonable behaviour, or reasonable response. Alas, from what I see and hear, the general behaviour and attitude of the police is often far from reasonable.
They do have the responsibility to keep children safe, but I think a bit of common sense is worth more than stack of rules and regulations.
A person can politely say Hi to local children who daily pass him on the way to and from school with no come-back from the police, but one child who visits from afar, maybe unannounced, in the safe company of his parent, can send police officers in a frenzy.
As the robot in 'Lost in Space' would say, it does not compute.

I think the police also have a duty of care to people on such registers, to treat them reasonably, to reduce the risk of them committing further offences. Some police officers seem to think they exist to dole out punishment beatings and ridicule, which can lead to greater problems.

I have a great regard for good police officers, but no respect for bad ones.

I think you're right Paul; common sense has been removed from our police; usually by order of bosses who, understandably, fear the media. If one in a hundred false allegations, correctly dismissed as loonies, turns out to be a serial killer, it's the only thing that matters to the media - a great story; and the Chief Constable gets it in the neck, or, to be honest, on the front pages. So junior officers are instructed to ignore common sense and believe the false accusers. Simples. Whose fault is it? Ours. We buy the papers.

PaulB wrote:
Earlier this year she asked, repeatedly, how often he masturbates. Now she has told him that he must inform some of his friends of his conviction

JK and PaulB, you're both wrong: reasonable behaviour and common sense are irrelevant. What matters is what the law says.

Notification requirements can be found in s.83(5) onwards of the SOA2003, if I remember correctly. There are also a statutory instrument with extra rules. It's called The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Notification Requirements) (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 S.I. 1876. The statutory instrument is VERY badly drafted and a complete bugger's muddle. A quick google search and a read through and your own hard copy easily to hand is an obvious and simple first step that it should not be necessary to point out. However, cops working in this area are often largely ignorant of what the regulations actually say.

Providing a masturbation schedule is not one of the notification requirements. Telling people about previous convictions is not one of the notification requirements. The notification requirements only cover basic personal data (name, birthday, NI number, passport number, address, bank account and card numbers) and a few regulations about giving advance notice of travel abroad.

Male police officers are sometimes prosecuted and often sacked for sexual behaviour on duty. This policewoman is posing sexual questions to a (buzzword alert) vulnerable man and putting him (buzzword alert) at risk of becoming a victim by trying to make him do a criminal record disclosure outside of an official environment. There is no statutory authority for her to do this. At worst, she is committing the crime of misconduct in public office.

I recommend a little patience. Record all visits secretly, preferably video recording. On anything that is NOT a notification requirement, stall. After collecting enough incriminating stuff on camera, it's time for the complaint, with video footage, with a copy of the relevant S.I.s and sections of SOA2003. I think the complaint should also include the observation that confidence in police propriety is of public interest and might effectively be examined in the news media if the police are unable to deal with the issue.

Thereafter, or indeed from now on, ANY question concerning ANYTHING outside of the notification requirements (which your friend should make it his business to know backwards) receives a simple answer: 'That's not one of the notification requirements.'

Say it with me... 'That's not one of the notification requirements.'

Randall wrote:
PaulB wrote:
Earlier this year she asked, repeatedly, how often he masturbates. Now she has told him that he must inform some of his friends of his conviction

Record all visits secretly, preferably video recording. On anything that is NOT a notification requirement, stall. After collecting enough incriminating stuff on camera, it's time for the complaint, with video footage, with a copy of the relevant S.I.s and sections of SOA2003. I think the complaint should also include the observation that confidence in police propriety is of public interest and might effectively be examined in the news media if the police are unable to deal with the issue.


She doesn't usually announce when she is going to visit, and he doesn't have cameras or mics fitted within his house. He probably couldn't afford such a system.

But thank you Randall, for your input.

I agree with Randal.. be a stickler for the rules and the person should gather their own evidence against any errant copper.
# asking about the wanking borders on sexual harassment

I had a pal in Sydney who was a copper before he resigned and looked after one of these registers (which he said privately was a bloody waste of time) but he said officers were specifically chosen for their diplomatic skills and strict privacy was the order and not even fellow cops at the same station would know what was going on.

This was for purely practical reasons as they wanted to discourage anyone from going underground and he said it worked really well apart from the basic waste of time and it not being what he signed up for.

## he told me of one incident where someone was removed from the register after the mandated time but was stopped by a police car a year later as they checked his number plate and it came up as being owned by a "registered person".
Apparently there was hell to play after the chap had his solicitor complain- someone was hauled over the coals for not removing the car details (such nonsense as anyone can buy new number plates or a new car) and the police paid the legal; costs.

PaulB wrote:
Randall wrote:
PaulB wrote:
Earlier this year she asked, repeatedly, how often he masturbates. Now she has told him that he must inform some of his friends of his conviction

Record all visits secretly, preferably video recording. On anything that is NOT a notification requirement, stall. After collecting enough incriminating stuff on camera, it's time for the complaint, with video footage, with a copy of the relevant S.I.s and sections of SOA2003. I think the complaint should also include the observation that confidence in police propriety is of public interest and might effectively be examined in the news media if the police are unable to deal with the issue.


She doesn't usually announce when she is going to visit, and he doesn't have cameras or mics fitted within his house. He probably couldn't afford such a system.

But thank you Randall, for your input.

A cheap dictaphone will do. Most modern mobile phones will do the job. Cheap secondhand camcorder/GoPro/Zoom hidden on the bookshelf?

Come on, use your imagination...

Has he printed out the statutory instrument yet? If not, why not? The woman could turn up this afternoon, to sexually harrass him again. Manui dat cognito vires...

Randall wrote:
PaulB wrote:
Randall wrote:
PaulB wrote:
Earlier this year she asked, repeatedly, how often he masturbates. Now she has told him that he must inform some of his friends of his conviction

Record all visits secretly, preferably video recording. On anything that is NOT a notification requirement, stall. After collecting enough incriminating stuff on camera, it's time for the complaint, with video footage, with a copy of the relevant S.I.s and sections of SOA2003. I think the complaint should also include the observation that confidence in police propriety is of public interest and might effectively be examined in the news media if the police are unable to deal with the issue.


She doesn't usually announce when she is going to visit, and he doesn't have cameras or mics fitted within his house. He probably couldn't afford such a system.

But thank you Randall, for your input.

A cheap dictaphone will do. Most modern mobile phones will do the job. Cheap secondhand camcorder/GoPro/Zoom hidden on the bookshelf?

Come on, use your imagination...

Has he printed out the statutory instrument yet? If not, why not? The woman could turn up this afternoon, to sexually harrass him again. Manui dat cognito vires...


I have not seen him for a couple of days, but I'll share your idea with him.

I'm really confused with all this talk - how can those on the sex offender register live like that? If I was placed on the sex offender register I'm pretty sure I'd have to end it all and take a load of the fuckers with me, with my primary target being MPs, feminists or cops, if possible.

But I mean seriously, how come there are so many people on the sex offender register and none of them fight back with an equivalent level of violence?