Child protection officers have biggest caseloads
OFFICERS involved in vital child protection work are among the most overworked in South Yorkshire, a report from the Police and Crime Commissioner has warned.
Specialists in child sexual exploitation have a bigger caseload than any one else in the force, the report said.
The report, published by Dr Alan Billings, warned that half of the child sex cases recorded relate to offending occurring more than a year prior to the incident, with many “committed considerably earlier”.
Almost 900 reports of CSE have been made in the last year alone, according to the report.
Dr Billings said: “The historic nature of many of the recorded child sexual exploitation crimes makes them extremely difficult to investigate.”
He added that 894 reports of child sexual exploitation were made between April 2015 and March 2016 – an average of 75 per month.
The force is currently investigating 183 child sex abuse cases, which averages out at more than nine per officer.
The report added: “Many of these offences relate to large-scale investigations. This has led to a considerable operational demand on CSE investigators.
“Public protection officers currently have the highest caseload of any part of the force.”
The area recording the most offences was Rotherham, which also had the highest proportion of historical offences.
The findings come less than three months after the Drew Report concluded the force had been “seriously under-resourced” in its early attempts to tackle CSE and its response to safeguarding those at risk had been “inadequate” — particularly in Rotherham.
Dr Billings added: “In the past 12 months, South Yorkshire has received considerable scrutiny in the area of child sexual exploitation and has feedback from several sources.”
He said the recent inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary covering CSE noted that South Yorkshire Police had a “very good understanding” of CSE.
“The Drew review recognises that the force has made progress in relation to many areas including raising awareness, safeguarding, investigating, training and online investigations,” he added.