The Metropolitan Police Service’s handling of the sexual and criminal exploitation of children: Causes of concern – revisit
In June 2023, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London commissioned us to inspect how well the Metropolitan Police Service handled the sexual and criminal exploitation of children.
We carried out the inspection in September 2023.
We issued three causes of concern and made 11 recommendations. The causes of concern were as follows:
- The force needs to improve how it identifies and assesses risks, and how it responds, when children are reported missing.
- The force should improve its investigations when children are at risk of, or harmed by, criminal or sexual exploitation.
- The force needs to make sure its officers and staff, at all ranks and grades, understand what victim blaming is and how it affects the service they provide.
We revisited the force between 30 September and 18 October 2024 to review its progress.
This report sets out our findings.