Investment needed to continue CEOP success

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) celebrated a successful second year amidst concern that investment is needed to provide a quality service to the police and child protection agencies.

CEOP announced its results for 2007/8 including a trebling of suspected offenders arrested compared to the previous year and 131 children safeguarded by police forces as a result of work done within the centre. Online abuse reporting rose by 76 per cent and 25 high-risk offenders were located through CEOP’s wanted website.

Speaking to Police Professional, CEOP’s Chief Executive Jim Gamble said: “CEOP began as a concept. That concept is now proven.

“This is where we need that truly strategic thinking that recognises the scale and range of the problem where predators are able to move freely and engage children much more easily. If we don’t invest now and make some sensible and reasonable investment, I believe we will rue the day.”

Mr Gamble said there were huge opportunities to provide quality referrals to forces and assisting the police to manage and coordinate online covert activity.

Acknowledging the pressure on forces to deal with a high volume of referrals from reports and intelligence, Mr Gamble said: “That volume work is an area where we have to make investment at the centre to deliver a quality approach. We need to strip out the data that is not relevant and identify what that is, prioritise the information that is critical, and get it out to forces in a way that makes their job easier, not more difficult.”

He said greater investment is needed to improve the quality of its Single Point of Contact process to avoid a diversion of resources.

“The difficulty that forces have in dealing with so many referrals means that CEOP needs to have greater focus on providing names and addresses from referrals and translating data into evidence. This requires significant resources at the centre so we don’t multiply that resource 52 different ways geographically.

“It is now time to build in capacity. If the government and if we, collectively across the police service, fail to make that investment, we will not save in the future.”

Malcom King, APA chair of the Children and Young People committee and CEOP Advisory Board member, believes that CEOP has shown it can produce results. He urged the government to consider substantial investment in the centre.

“CEOP needs to expand to around three times its size over the next few years to do all the things it needs to do.”

CEOP currently operates with a budget of nearly £9 million, with more than £3 million provided by partners and generated income.

Mr King added: “There are around 100 people working for CEOP but it probably needs to have around 300. If that requires three times the budget, taking it from £9 million to £27 million, that would not be a high price for the world’s most effective central resource for combating paedophiles.”

Vernon Coaker, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Crime Reduction, said: “The Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) receives an annual budget from the Home Office and significant levels of support from industry and the third sector.

“In 2007-08 CEOP received an annual budget (from the Home Office) of £5.657 million and £5.110 million in 2006-07.

“We are very pleased with the work that CEOP has done and all it has achieved. We look forward to continuing our work with them in the future to maintain this good progress.”