Agenda item

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Police on Child Protection and how the service is organised to undertake such investigations

The Sub-Committee was informed that the role of the safeguarding officer was to attend the call and take control of the investigation.  The purpose of the safeguarding officer attending was to ensure that a high quality investigation was effected straight away whilst ensuring the victim was safeguarded from the outset.  It was stated that members of the Child Abuse team must prioritise getting control of and looking after the victim, whilst colleagues at the scene (under safeguarding direction) undertake other investigative duties.

The Sub-Committee was informed that the service operated two Child Abuse teams per shift, to be available to respond to a crime which fitted one of the following criteria:

Criteria 1 – Both Vulnerable Victim AND Serious Crime

Vulnerable Victim

Defined as:

·         The victim being a subject of Domestic Abuse

·         Vulnerable due to significant mental/physical impairment

·         Racially/Religiously Motivated or Homophobic or Transphobic

Serious Crime

Defined as:

·         Serious Injury

·         Lethal Barrelled Weapons

·         Knife Enabled

·         Substantial Loss to Victim

·         Blackmail

·         Rape or Serious Sexual Assault

·         Child Abuse (Intra-Familial, Professional, Carer, Historic)

·         Perverting Justice Offences

·         Professional Judgement

Domestic Abuse

The cross-government definition of domestic violence and abuse was: any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. The abuse could encompass, but was not limited to:

·         psychological

·         physical

·         sexual

·         financial

·         emotional

Criteria 2- Complex Incident

Defined as:

·         Sudden and unexpected deaths of children (U18)

·         Parental Child Abduction

·         Child Sexual Exploitation

·         Professional Judgement

The Sub-Committee noted that Police Constables in Safeguarding have been protected from abstraction to Emergency Response & Patrol Teams under the current arrangements. This would allow for the officers to concentrate on their core duties around safeguarding the borough’s most vulnerable.

The Acting Detective Chief Inspector informed the Sub-Committee that domestic abuse was a power and control issue, and in the absence of being able to prosecute the offender, a Domestic Violence Prevention Notice (DVPN) was a core tactic in providing safety to the victim. The DVPN provided a power vacuum for Domestic Abuse professionals to operate within, with the victim.

The Sub-Committee noted that three Community Safety Unit Detective Constables (DC’s) were seconded into the new, larger MASH (Multi Agency safeguarding Hub) teams. Their role was to support decision making in relation to Domestic Abuse specifically and to engage in strategy discussions as maybe required.

The Detective Chief Inspectors were dedicated to the teams following a recommendation resulting from a recent HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies) case examination.. The Detective Chief Inspector were due to start in September, 2017 and would operate from within one of the MASH departments in the boroughs. It was also stated that the Detective Chief Inspector would be rotated every three months.

The Sub-Committee was informed that the Police had recently recruited Sexual Offences Investigation Technique (SOIT) Officers and filled some CAIT (Child Abuse Investigation Team) vacancies. It was envisaged that the new recruits would help ease the pressure on existing team members and leave others more accessible to the community.

The Sub-Committee thanked the Police representative for attending and also noted the briefing.