Tuesday 30 October 2007
Better protection through better understanding
UK’s Centre for tackling child sex abuse launches new unit to increase knowledge on child sex offenders
Tuesday 30 October - Home Secretary, the Rt. Hon Jacqueline Smith MP will today accelerate the fight against the sexual abuse of children by opening a new dedicated unit focused on improving and sharing understanding of how sex offenders operate and think.
She will visit the UK’s dedicated organisation for tackling child sex abuse – the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – and see first hand how the Centre intends to link behavioural analysis of how offenders operate with a unique academic national qualification programme for child protection professionals who specialise in this area of criminality.
The move – a first for the UK – will mean that anyone working in child protection can register with the CEOP Academy and those who follow all courses will receive academic qualifications accredited by the University of Central Lancashire and focused on behavioural analysis specific to child sexual exploitation.
And the programme will be backed up by the CEOP Centre’s new Behavioural Analysis Unit focused on understanding child sex offenders. This is designed to further boost the organisation’s fight against some of the UK’s highest risk child sex offenders and will help build on figures which to date have seen CEOP involved in, or directly influence the arrest of, 173 suspect offenders since its launch in April last year.
The new unit will also be a resource of understanding to officers up and down the country who are investigating serious sexual crimes against children.
The unit’s initial build and development has been sponsored by SERCO Justice and will be staffed by specialists with a background in child sex offence investigation and behavioural analysis. Its principal focus will be to ensure that the many services CEOP provides to the child protection community remain relevant, focused and effective.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:
I am serious about protecting children from sexual predators– online and in the real world. We are working hard to close the net around them to make it harder for them to prey on vulnerable children.
The UK has some of the strictest regulations to manage sex offenders in the world. CEOP’s new unit is another example of how we are leading the way in tackling child abuse. By studying the behaviour, mannerisms and language of both the abused and the abusers, we will learn more about these crimes than ever before to help us investigate, deter and catch offenders – ultimately to prevent these horrific crimes.
Jim Gamble is Chief Executive of the CEOP Centre:
What makes a child sex offender think the way they do? What makes someone want to rip away at the most formative years of a person’s life in order to satisfy their own sexual desires? For many the answers to these questions are just too unimaginable but for us those answers could provide that key clue, that vital final behavioural indicator that enables intervention before a young life is destroyed.
So what we are doing today is building a resource that will be focused on honing that understanding. That will look to build factual, contemporary knowledge of how offenders operate and justify their behaviour and we are underpinning that with an academic programme that will be open to police officers and other child protection professionals throughout the UK. This will become our foundation towards better protection through better understanding.
What is more we are committed to developing and sharing that knowledge across all jurisdictions and look forward to working with colleagues both here and abroad.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
CEOP Academic Programme (CEOP Academy)
Aimed at law enforcement and child protection specialists, academically recognised training courses, run in association with the University of Central Lancashire, are built on a platform of knowledge and analysis gained through first hand, recorded sex offender interviews.
Training courses will be open to those who work in sex offender management, child abuse investigation and child protection. Delegates attend a series of courses - accredited by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) - which will lead to a recognised qualification – a post graduate certificate in forensic behavioural analysis. Courses will cover building rapport with offenders, interview techniques, understanding behavioural trends and thought patterns – all based on material sourced from some of the UK’s worst child sex offenders.
Understanding Behaviour: CEOP Behavioural Analysis Unit
Using extensive debrief interviews with child sex offenders and the careful study of detailed accounts of their sexual behaviour towards children, BAU specialists will be able to build criminal profiles that will identify a certain behavioural type or behaviours of an offender.
This knowledge can be used to provide unique insights and new directions within police enquiries – including guidance on investigation and interview strategies.
The use of forensic behavioural analysis – and the additional new perspectives it can bring – will build on the existing body of specialist advice available and being applied throughout the CEOP Centre.
Further details of the CEOP Academy and Behavioural Analysis Unit can be found at www.ceop.gov.uk where you can also find online information about all courses and services of the CEOP Centre.
For further information please contact Clive Michel, Miriam Rich or Vicky Gillings at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre on 0870 000 3434.