Police response to online child sexual exploitation leaving children at risk
The police response to online child sexual abuse and exploitation is too often leaving vulnerable children at risk – and allowing offenders to escape justice, a new report has found.
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His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that while officers are generally good at dealing with very high-risk cases, forces are often not properly responding to allegations or concerns about suspects, leading to unacceptable delays and missed opportunities. And many forces often wait too long before sharing information with partners, which means they can miss opportunities to refer children and families for support.
Inspectors found examples of police taking up to 18 months to make an arrest after becoming aware children were at risk of abuse.
HMICFRS said that while offences were increasing at a rapid rate, forces were unable to keep up and chief constables are not doing enough to properly understand the scale of the problem.
The inspectorate concluded that much more needs to be done to ensure a consistent national approach – including tighter controls on the internet.
It has made 17 recommendations to chief constables, policing bodies and the Government, including:
- introducing regional collaboration and oversight structures;
- introducing proper guidance for officers and staff;
- chief constables ensuring officers and staff are fully trained for their roles;
- ensuring forces can obtain search warrants quickly when children are at risk; and
- online safety legislation should require the relevant companies to develop and use tools and technologies to identify child sexual abuse material and stop it getting on the internet.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams said:
“Online child sexual abuse and exploitation are heinous and insidious crimes that can destroy the lives of victims and their families, and policing cannot afford to wait any longer to improve its response.
“We are in no doubt of the commitment and dedication of the overwhelming majority of frontline investigators. But they are being let down by the lack of a consistent and effective national approach to tackling this issue.
“There is a lack of minimum investigative standards or training, and this means some forces aren’t responding quickly or sufficiently to allegations of abuse. Forces do not fully understand the scale of the problem, so there aren’t enough resources dedicated to these investigations.
“The Online Safety Bill represents a critical opportunity to tackle the growing amount of child sexual abuse material available online. However, chief constables cannot wait for this to be in place. They need to do more now to understand the demand on their forces and the risks posed by offenders.
“We have made 17 recommendations for chief constables, policing bodies and the Government to tackle online child sexual abuse and exploitation and would urge them to implement these without delay.”
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Notes
- For further information, the HMICFRS Press Office can be contacted at 0300 071 6781 or HMICPressOffice@hmicfrs.gov.uk.