Paedophile Unit
The Paedophile Unit is a branch of the Metropolitan Police Service's Child Abuse Investigation Command, based at Scotland Yard in London, England. It operates against the manufacture and distribution of child pornography, online child grooming, and "predatory paedophiles online", and organised crime associated with these.[1][2]
The unit was the subject of a series of BBC television programmes concerning the Hunt for Britain's Paedophiles, which were the subject of a record 23,000 calls to the BBC Audience Line.[3] It was responsible for the final break-up of the advocacy group called the Paedophile Information Exchange.[4]
The Paedophile Unit works in conjunction with the Hi-Tech Crime Unit to examine computers used by suspected offenders, including computers used in public areas or via remote connections. This use of technology to identify and arrest suspects is referred to as "proactive policing".[5]
History
The Paedophile Unit began life in the early 1960s as the Obscene Publications and Public Morals Branch, although the name was shortened in 1990 to the Obscene Publications Branch (OPB or TO13).[6] Its common name, however, was always the Obscene Publications Squad (OPS), and it was often colloquially known as the "porn squad" or the "dirty squad". Set up following the passing of the Obscene Publications Act 1959, it originally operated against all pornography, but after restrictions on adult hardcore pornography were effectively rendered unenforceable from the late 1990s by the advent of the internet, the unit was restructured to focus solely on paedophile offences. Originally part of the Criminal Investigation Department, it was transferred to the uniformed branch in 1972 following claims that its officers were taking bribes from the pornography industry (although its officers always operated in plain clothes). In 1993, it returned to CID control, allowing its officers to once again use the "detective" prefix in front of their ranks.
Controversy
In 1995, newsreader Julia Somerville and her partner were arrested by the unit for nude pictures of their daughter in the bath. They were later released without charge as no crime had been committed.[7]
References
- ^ "Paedophile Unit". Metropolitan Police Service. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
- ^ 'Park sting' paedophile is jailed, BBC News, 1 September 2006
- ^ Inside the Mind of a Paedophile
- ^ Paedophile campaigner is jailed
- ^ *Paedophile unit raids cyber cafe BBC News, 7 September 2005
- ^ "Clean Sweep", Time Out, 9–16 October 1991, p.10
- ^ Attwood, Feona; Campbell, Vincent; Hunter, I. Q.; et al., eds. (2013). Controversial Images: Media Representations on the Edge (illustrated ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 117. ISBN 9780230284050. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
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