Child abuse investigations: Met Police warned it could be putting children in danger

The force does not identify at-risk children quickly enough in its investigations, a report finds

The Met Police has been warned it could put children in danger because of the way it investigates online abuse.

The police watchdog found probes into the viewing and sharing of indecent images did not focus quickly enough on identifying at-risk children.

Inspectors said in some cases there was a delay to alerting children's social care as officers did not want to jeopardise investigations.

The force said it had implemented new teams to help spot vulnerable children.

It added it now had Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OCSAE) teams within each of the 12 Basic Command Units (BCUs) as well as a Central Specialist Crime OCSAE Unit, which focuses on identifying and pursuing suspected online offenders.

'Children at risk'

The report, by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), said there were cases where "officers delayed alerting children's social care, because the child was living in a house with someone who was potentially uploading images of child abuse, and they did not want safeguarding to jeopardise their investigation".

This, according to the report, "potentially leaves children at risk".

It also found:

• Investigations of the viewing and sharing of indecent images of children did not focus enough on quickly identifying and protecting any children at risk from the offender

• There were "concerning delays" in uploading images to a national child abuse database which "potentially means victims are not identified and safeguarded as quickly as they should be"

• "Significant delays" in the forensic examination of electronic devices which could lead to "missed opportunities to identify abuse"

• Some officers and staff did not have the right experience or training for such investigations.

Inspector of constabulary Matt Parr said the force had made some progress and improvements on its work to keep children safe but the pace of change had at times been "slow".

There was some praise for increasing the number of staff managing registered sex offenders and there was better recognition of the needs of vulnerable children coming into police custody.

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"There is still much more work to do to provide better outcomes for vulnerable children in London - from more quickly identifying and protecting any children at risk from offenders, to undertaking a skills audit to identify what specialist training officers need," Mr Parr said.

"We are assured that the Metropolitan Police has plans in place to continue making improvements and we will closely monitor their performance.

"If we think it is needed, we will increase our scrutiny of the force's child protection services."

In response, the Met said it had increased the number of staff managing registered sex offenders and increased training for staff working in custody suites so they could recognise the needs of vulnerable children.

It had also initiated a multi-agency review of how it shares information with partners to improve the response to children who had been identified as at risk.

In said it was "investing heavily" in upgrading its Child Abuse Image Database (CAID), which would reduce delays in uploading images to ensure victims were identified "at the earliest possible stage."