Senior police failings left a town at the mercy of a crimewave after a group of travellers descended, a force has admitted in an official review.
Cromer, in Norfolk, was forced into lockdown for around 36 hours when the 100-strong rabble turned up.
But despite more than 40 offences being committed, including alleged rape, an assault and thefts, chiefs dismissed the rampage as ‘low-level disorder’.
A gang of 100 travellers were allowed to run amok in Cromer in August virtually unopposed by police after a series of blunders by senior officers
An official review of the incident said commanders ‘misread the significance of events’ after writing the crime-wave off as ‘low-level disorder’
As shops shut and families cowered in their homes, the group ran riot, largely unchecked.
Police failed to make a single arrest over the two days.
Now Norfolk Police’s internal review of the events over the August 18-20 weekend has found senior staff ‘misread the significance of events’.
It follows last month’s humiliating apology by Chief Constable Simon Bailey. The report said the force was told by Suffolk Police the group were on their way from Lowestoft after causing disruption.
But this was ‘not recorded on official systems’, resulting in a failure to ‘recognise the impact the travellers’ presence and behaviour was having’.
The force did not deploy sufficient resources, and treated the group as ‘normal business across a busy weekend’, handing responsibility to the council.
‘These decisions meant the travellers were not moved on quickly enough and the constabulary did not have resources available to deal appropriately with the events that occurred … placing officers on the ground in an impossible position,’ the report added.
Media inquiries at the time were met with the response that there was ‘low-level disorder’. The review made recommendations on areas including the sharing of intelligence, leadership decisions, and how unauthorised camps are dealt with.
Chief Constable Simon Bailey has already been forced to issue a grovelling apology after it emerged his force was told the group were on their way from Suffolk after causing disruption
The mayhem following the Irish travellers’ arrival cost firms tens of thousands of pounds in lost business on what should have been one of the busiest weekends of the year.
On the Sunday, a superintendent dismissed what had happened as ‘high-season demand’ involving a ‘slight increase of low-level anti-social behaviour and crime’.
The force was accused of politically correct policing after Deputy Chief Constable Nick Dean said it would be ‘totally disproportionate’ to blame all the offences on the travellers.
Police denied the rape was connected to the travellers’ arrival. But three weeks later, Mr Bailey admitted ‘we are now absolutely connecting’ them.
Businesses last night welcomed the report’s findings.
One shop owner said: ‘They never took it seriously and we were virtually left to fend for ourselves. I hope they take this report very, very seriously.’
Mr Bailey said: ‘We got this wrong … it is important we take any learning opportunities … and make sure this doesn’t happen again.’
Three men have been arrested over the sex attack, with two bailed until November 23 and a third released under investigation. An independent review into decisions made by individual commanders is being carried out by Cumbria Constabulary.