“The team is split into two: the Intelligence Development Officers (IDOs) who work to identify the person behind the online profile, and Case Officers who build the evidential packages.
“Our team works very closely with colleagues in the Regional Undercover Unit (RUU) and the CSAE team to review material generated from Undercover Operatives (UCOs) to determine what online CSAE offences have been committed and create the evidential packages.
“As an IDO I also review the material generated by the UCOs in an attempt to identify the offender behind the profile. This requires the utilisation of all the police, third party and open-source tools available to our team. I submit a large amount of SPOC requests and I’m required to understand and deal with the communications data that is returned. Being able to understand SPOC data is desirable, but not essential as we can fully train anyone who joins us. Once I’ve identified a suspect I ‘lifestyle’ them, which means I build a complete intelligence profile about them.
Challenges
The team proactively and reactively targets the threat of child sexual abuse and exploitation happening online and working in the field is not without its challenges.
“Some offenders are very clever and they go to the nth degree to hide themselves online but we are a tenacious team and will do everything we can to identify them. It creates an amazing amount of job satisfaction when you finally get your offender.”
“Some offenders are very clever and they go to the nth degree to hide themselves online but we are a tenacious team and will do everything we can to identify them.”
Misconceptions
There are misconceptions about what staff and officers will be exposed to when working on the team.
“People think we are exposed to indecent images all the time, but that’s not how it is in reality. Of course, when an offender sends us images those images have to be categorised and put together evidentially to send to force, but that’s done by people in the team willing to take it on. I think it’s a really important message to get across that whilst we work in this world, there’s no expectation of you to look at any indecent images of children.
“We do have to read the online communications which can be challenging but we all look out for and support each other. If you’re a Case Officer or on the Intel Team, reading the chat every day can be overwhelming, so between the team, we swap the work around. The welfare of the team is paramount, and we all have mandatory counselling every six months.”
Team work
The team has to pull together when an offender actively attempts to meet in-person with the intention to abuse.
“On the day of a meet, we will support forces if they don’t have capacity. As IDOs, we write the surveillance authorities and accompanying operational briefings, ensure all SPOC applications are in place and work with Operations and Surveillance teams to ensure we have eyes on the travelling offender.
“I had no experience of writing directed surveillance authorities prior to starting with the ROCU so this shouldn’t put anyone off applying as we will ensure anyone who joins us receives training and support.”
There’s no doubt it takes a certain type of person to work with this type of offending.
“You absolutely need an investigative mindset for the role. You need a natural inquisitiveness, and you need to be tenacious. If you can’t find someone on PND you don’t stop there, you ask yourself ‘where else can I look?’ You need to be the kind of person who thinks laterally or from a new perspective.
“You absolutely need an investigative mindset for the role. You need a natural inquisitiveness, and you need to be tenacious.”
“Sometimes you have to work on your own initiative, head-down working on your own subjects. Equally there are times when I sit down with the team and we put our heads together to look at where we are with a case, what we’ve got, and work out where we need to go next. Those occasions are brilliant because we get some really good results by pulling together.
“I also link in with colleagues in the other ROCUs to share information about online users, identified suspects and best practice. This joined up approach and collaboration ensure we get the best results.”
Hybrid working
Mel would encourage anyone with the right skillset to think about joining the team.
“After nine years in CID, joining the SWROCU was like a breath of fresh air.
“A big selling point of the job for me is the work-life balance I have and the flexibility to work shifts to suit whatever I have going on outside of work. I spend some days in the office and the rest of the time I’m on Microsoft Teams. This is great because it means there are no geographical barriers for anyone wanting to join us. It’s very flexible in terms of location; I’m based in South Devon but we have several members of the team from Wiltshire, some from Somerset and Cornwall.
“Looking back, I thought the ROCU was unattainable; that it was for people that had decades of experience, but that’s not the case. I feel very privileged to be here doing a job I love.”
*Name changed