Torbay Police visit hotels to tackle child exploitation through increased awareness

Recently officers from the Torquay Neighbourhood Team with support from Police Cadets conducted an evening of action around child exploitation, known as Op Makesafe.

Op Makesafe is a national initiative designed to empower businesses and organisations to tackle child exploitation through increased awareness and training and recognition of early warning signs.

To support this initiative, a plain clothed officer and cadet attended hotels and asked to book a room for 1 night, asking specifically for a double bed, to pay in cash and without providing ID. Bit weird, right? The intention was to assess the hotel staff’s understanding of what child exploitation may look like, recognising potential red flags or warning signs and also what to do next.

Unfortunately, out of the 8 hotels visited only 1 hotel challenged the relationship between the officer and the cadet and subsequently asked for ID, with the other 7 hotels progressing through the booking process. However, some staff explained that they did feel a bit uncomfortable and felt that something wasn’t quite right.

Following this, discussions were had with staff about spotting and recognising warning signs and red flags and given advice on what they can do to help keep people safe, this included providing a document to be incorporated into staff training.

This doesn’t just apply to hotels, it is relevant to many other types of businesses, if you feel that something isn’t quite right report your concerns to us.

There is more information on Op Makesafe and the warning signs to look out for here: https://orlo.uk/tsxiP