Suffolk Police 'need to improve online child abuse investigations'

Suffolk Police has been told it must make more improvements to the way it protects children from online abuse.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary inspected the force in 2022 and found a number of areas that required "significant changes".

The watchdog then undertook a post-inspection review in July 2023.

The latest inspection found improvements in many areas, but the force needed to gather evidence more quickly in online abuse cases.

The child protection inspection post-inspection review said management "need to improve all personnel's understanding of the importance of timely investigations to gather digital evidence and use it to effectively disrupt perpetrators of online child abuse".

The HM inspectors also said the force needed to make sure there was "effective supervision in place for missing persons investigations".

As part of the 2023 post-inspection review, the watchdog examined policies, interviewed police leaders and audited 30 child protection cases.

It rated the handling of 17 cases as good, seven as required improvement and six as inadequate.

A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman said: "Overall, the review reflects positively on many facets of the work Suffolk Constabulary undertakes to keep all children safe.

"Our commitment is to do the very best we can to protect children who are particularly vulnerable, or at risk of exploitation.

"We acknowledge the review's recommendations illustrate there is still more to be done in some areas and we are determined to address that."

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