Use of social media to share indecent images is a challenge for police, watchdog finds

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Metropolitan police has been “overwhelmed” by a surge in the number of online child sexual abuse and exploitation cases and, in some areas of London officers are managing more than 100 registered sex offenders each, a policing watchdog has warned.

Social media platforms are increasingly used to distribute, share and view indecent images on a “global scale”, the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said.

While the issue was flagged up in a report on the Metropolitan police, it was described as a national problem.

It said: “This … [requires] a coordinated response at a national level, including internet companies, to understand and exploit opportunities to reduce the access to, and availability of, such images.”

HMICFRS said the Met’s arrangements for investigating online cases involving indecent images of children and sexual exploitation were not working.

More than 1,000 claims of child sexual abuse in custody, inquiry reveals Read more

In a review of 34 online cases, 29 were assessed as either inadequate or requiring improvement, with 15 sent back to the force because the inspectorate considered they contained evidence of a serious problem.

The inspector of the constabulary, Matt Parr, said limited capacity in specialist teams, backlogs and resourcing pressures “have all led to the force being overwhelmed by cases and not able to provide the service victims need and deserve”.

Increasing use of social media platforms and channels to distribute, share and view child sexual abuse images poses a complex challenge for policing, according to the report.

In the assessment, an audit of 303 cases found that child protection practice was good in 93, required improvement in 127 and was inadequate in 83.

While fewer cases were judged inadequate than in previous inspections, HMICFRS said the results indicated that consistency of effective practice remained “weak”.

Opportunities to act quickly and decisively to protect children and prevent offending are still being missed, according to the report.

It added: “We found that lack of supervision, along with the high workload of investigators, is contributing to drift and delays in investigations.”

Why the UK is taking on social networks over child safety Read more

The inspectorate said it was told by the Met that it anticipated work to ensure children receive consistently improved responses would take a further two years.

“Senior leaders must assure themselves that this timescale is justifiable, given the extreme vulnerability of many of the children who come into contact with the force,” the report said.

HMICFRS noted that the Met had made improvements since the 2016 inspection, resulting in “better and more effective oversight of child protection practices across the force”.

The Met said the scale of child abuse and sexual exploitation offending online has grown in recent years. “This increased demand on police, coupled with the need to keep up with advancement of technology and adapt our methods to detect and identify offenders, means it is a challenging area for the Met and police forces nationally.

“However, we are committed to addressing these challenges to improve our response in this area.”

Commander Richard Smith, the Met’s head of safeguarding, said: “We are pleased to see measurable improvement in our investigations since the last HMICFRS report was published.

“However, we know that we still have a lot more work to do before our child protection arrangements are consistently as effective as they should be.”