The Metropolitan Police Service’s response to the criminal and
sexual exploitation of children is not currently effective, with
the force not doing enough when children are suffering from, or
at risk of, exploitation, a new report has found.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) said that the Met’s lack of understanding
of the nature and scale of child exploitation is a significant
barrier to the force being able to tackle the problem
effectively.
The inspectorate said it had found evidence of good work to
protect children, including the Met’s online child sexual abuse
and exploitation teams.
However, the inspectorate described other serious concerns
including:
- the presence of victim-blaming language among officers and
staff;
- officers failing to identify exploitation or to understand
the links between missing children and exploitation;
- when children go missing regularly, the force’s response is
frequently poor, with officers and staff simply waiting for them
to turn up;
- the force often using officers and staff to investigate child
exploitation who don’t have the skills or knowledge to do this
effectively, with supervisors also lacking the right knowledge
and experience; and
- delays in starting and progressing investigations, and many
missed opportunities to identify suspects and disrupt their
activity, leaving children exposed to risk.
HMICFRS has made 11 recommendations, including that the Met
should:
- provide effective training to all officers and staff who
interact with children;
- encourage officers and staff of all ranks to challenge
victim-blaming language;
- make sure it works effectively with safeguarding partners to
prevent children from going missing and find missing children
more quickly; and
- follow all reasonable lines of enquiry to identify suspects
in child exploitation investigations.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman
said:
“Children who are at risk of exploitation, or who go missing from
home, are some of the most vulnerable in society. The police
and other public services have a shared responsibility to look
for the warning signs, be alert to the risks and act quickly to
protect children.
“It is particularly concerning that the Metropolitan Police
Service isn’t doing enough when children are suffering from, or
at risk of, exploitation. The force should make sure that it
fully understands the risks to children, and that officers and
staff are equipped to identify and tackle those risks
effectively, so no child is left unprotected.
“The Met has already committed to increasing the number of
officers in some teams dealing with child exploitation. For the
benefit of London’s children, the force should implement our
recommendations in full and without delay.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- The inspectorate was commissioned by the Mayor's Office for
Policing and Crime in London to inspect the Metropolitan Police
Service’s handling of child sexual and criminal exploitation.
- During this inspection, HMICFRS identified serious concerns
with the Met’s approach to child protection. Because they were so
serious, the inspectorate reported them in October 2023 prior
to the inspection being completed. These are known as
accelerated causes of concern*. In today’s report, the
inspectorate has issued a further cause of concern and made
nine additional recommendations to help ensure children are
better protected in future.
-
*Accelerated cause of concern: If our
inspection identifies a serious or critical shortcoming within
a police force, we will report it as a “cause of concern”
in the subsequent inspection report. When we discover risks to
public safety – as is the case with the Metropolitan Police’s
approach to child protection – we report our concerns earlier,
before the full inspection report is published. This is called
an “accelerated cause of concern”.
- The Met has been in our enhanced monitoring process known as
Engage since June
2022.
