Safeguarding Children: Early Trends of a Police School-Based Intervention Programme

Abstract

Abstract As communities and law enforcement officers across the globe grapple with the ever-increasing spread of cyber-crime combined with child sexual exploitation a myriad of strategies are emerging to combat the escalating crimes. This paper presents the development, implementation, and results of an educational intervention strategy applied by Lancashire Police. The strategy underpinned by comprehensive research of existing factors in the Lancashire community and determining an intervention to target the potential victim demographic culminated in a school-based education programme. The results of the pilot programme revealed positive early trends in self-assessed increased knowledge of potential risks, potential positive improvements in reducing the vulnerability of children, increase in avoidance mechanisms, and increasing personal safety. For the wider policing and general community, the intervention model is replicable and offers an additional tool to build the immunity of the most vulnerable victims, children in the global fight against arguably one of the most inhumane criminal activities.