Child abusers who view indecent images of young children online could be avoiding justice because some Met Police units only have the space to examine two of their electronic devices for evidence.
A lack of resources means detectives who arrest people suspected of downloading illegal images can only choose two devices of their electronic devices such as laptops or mobile phones for full forensic examination. This means a large amount of illegal content could be missed during investigations allowing suspects to avoid prosecution for material they have been viewing.
A report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services said the current system was “ineffective”. It recommended that the Met Police introduced more specialist officers who were equipped with the technology needed to fully examine electronic devices. The report found large inconsistencies in the success rate of investigations that were carried out by specialist child sex abuse officers and those who were conducted by regular detectives.
When frontline officers carry out the investigation only 11% of cases resulted in the suspect being charged. On the other hand, when specialist teams were involved the figure increased to 59% because they have the resources to full examine all the electronic devices the suspects use.
The report stated: “We found that the current arrangements for investigating online cases involving indecent images of children and sexual exploitation are not working.
“We also have significant concerns that cases that are dealt with by non-specialists result in notably poorer outcomes than those that are dealt with by specialist teams.
“In addition, we found that the processes the MPS has in place for examining devices that are suspected of containing IIOC [indecent images of children] are ineffective. For example, because of the limited capacity of the digital examination team, only two devices can be sent for full examination.”
In 2016, the Met Police were criticised by the official watchdog for its failure to protect vulnerable children and for the delays in investigating adults who were thought to have exploiting the young. The report found that out of the 384 cases that were examined by the inspectorate, three quarters were found to be below the required standard.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said: “Since our 2016 inspection, the Met has taken some significant steps to improve its safeguarding practice for vulnerable children.
“This has resulted in better and more effective oversight of child protection practices across the force, but oversight isn’t everything.”
The report went on to say: “We remain concerned about the current service the Met provides, given the extreme vulnerability of many of the children who come into contact with the force.
“We also have significant concerns about the Met’s approach to tackling online child abuse and exploitation.
“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.
“Although we recognise that the increase in online exploitation of children is a national problem, we have made a further recommendation for the Met to address in this area.”
