Top officer attacks sex unit plans

In a leaked internal report, Det Supt Christine Kelk, the forces' lead officer on tackling sex crimes, says they were not consulted and when they queried the move were told it was "too late to stop."

The force is aiming to replace 300 police officers with civilians by 2012/13 under the controversial 8m Business and Workforce Modernisation programme (BWFM).

Despite concerns, civilian investigators, known as IO5s, are currently being trained to replace five of the 10 police officers working in Hull's public protection unit. The unit takes statements from victims of rape, children who have been sexually abused and youngsters who are witnesses in serious cases.

Det Supt Kelk raised her concerns in a report. She said: "We have had to make best of a challenging and dangerous situation. There seems to be a rush to move BWFM into perhaps the most sensitive and politically charged areas of policing.

"Child protection and the investigation of serious sexual offences are areas of business the force should not accept compromise in quality of service.

"The risks created by employing staff in this area cannot be effectively managed in the timescale available."

Humberside Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, has previously raised concerns over the impact on the quality of policing. Chairman Steve Garmston said the change was a "step too far".

He said: "It starts as one thing, as a support function and gradually by a process of mission creep and stealth, it becomes completely different."

But Deputy Chief Constable David Griffin said they had to challenge the notion that if someone was not a police officer they could not be trained up to do the job. He insisted that concerns raised had been taken into account.

He said over the past three years investigating officers' roles had developed into supporting police investigating more serious offences. Investigating officers progressed up the scale – officers advanced from level three to four after 18 months on the job, including classroom-based training. Those becoming witness officers would be trained for a further eight months.

He added: "Within the Business and Work Force Modernisation of Public Protection Units there are plans to phase in the introduction of the Investigating Officers who will work alongside those police officers they are to replace. It is not until they are deemed competent that their overseeing police officers will be redeployed to other frontline duties that actually require warranted powers.

"Public safety and confidence remains our highest concern, therefore, the implementation of Investigating Officers into Public Protection Units will be formally monitored and evaluated both at an operational and strategic level in consultation with key managers, staff association, partners and practitioners. We will continue to respond to any issue of concern that is raised to ensure that we continually investigate all kinds of sexual crime to a high standard."

Although the changes are expected to save 2m over the next four years, the cost of implementing BWFM could top 8m, according to a report last year. The new staff are on lower wages than regular police officers.

The starting salary for constables is 22,104, rising to 34,707 after 10 years. A sergeant begins on 34,707, which can rise to 39,006.

Investigative officers, starting on the lowest grade, scale three, begin on 16,095, rising to 17,190. This can be supplemented through overtime and a weekend shift allowance.