British police have lost track of 485 sex offenders across the country, including rapists and child molesters – an increase of 20 per cent in just three years.
Some of the convicted sex offenders reported lost by 41 forces have been off authorities’ radar for more than a decade, according to figures obtained by Sky News.
The broadcaster submitted Freedom of Information requests to the United Kingdom’s 45 forces but four did not reply, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) which serves the whole of the Irish province, meaning that figures could be much higher.
Greater London’s Metropolitan Police had the highest number of lost sex offenders at 227, including 38 who had been missing for eight years.
London is experiencing a sharp rise in violent and knife crime, as well as seeing a 20 per cent rise in rape and a 30 per cent rise in child sex crimes.
Last month, the Met announced that it is reviewing and clearing outstanding warrants across all its departments, including its child sex abuse unit, examining cases more than three years old as it is struggling with the backlog in unserved warrants.
Yet in April 2016, London Mayor Sadiq Khan directed nearly two million pounds in taxpayers’ money to a new police “online hate crime hub”, and continues to focus on so-called hate crimes and online trolls, telling a crowd at a leftist arts festival in Texas last week that social media firms should do more to censor speech.
The Police Federation blamed government cuts for forces’ inabilities to deal with rising crime; but forces appear to have resources to focus on hate crimes and ‘inclusive’ posturing, with British police forces arresting at least 3,395 people – nine people every day – for “offensive” online comments in 2016.
Gloucester Police, which according to Sky News’s breakdown had lost four registered sex offenders, last year urged the public to report “non-crime hate incidents” and “everyday” hostility.
Lancashire Police, along with the forces of Greater Manchester, Cheshire, and North Wales, found the resources to launch a new regional Hate Crime Awareness Week in February.
Greater Manchester Police does not know the whereabouts of 19 registered sex offenders; Cheshire Police has lost two registered sex offenders who had been convicted of sexual assault; and North Wales has lost two sex offenders.
Lancashire Police, which vinyl-wrapped a police vehicle in the LGBT rainbow to “fight hate crime” in 2017, did not respond to Sky News’s FOI request.