CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY

The Constabulary is divided into three geographical areas (called Basic Command Units or BCUs) – there is a Northern BCU centred around Peterborough, a Southern BCU centred around Cambridge and a Central BCU which takes in the Huntingdonshire and Fenland areas.

Each BCU has specially trained staff who work in the Child and Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit (CDAIU). This team comprises Police Officers and Police Staff who have a responsibility for dealing with all matters that relate to the safeguarding of children as well as dealing with the victims of domestic violence. The majority of staff are involved in investigating allegations of abuse against children and to this end they work very closely with partner agencies such as Childrens Social Care, the NSPCC, Health and cEducation.

There is a small team working at Police Headquarters that maange the Central Referral Desk. This team handle all of the phone calls from the public or partner agencies who wish to raise concerns about matters of abuse or neglect relating to children – the law in this contect defines a child as being a person under 18 years of age. When something is reported then members of this team decide how the matter should be investigated, in discussion with colleagues from other agencies. So this is not a ‘call centre’ in the usual sense having a controlling influence in the way investigations are resourced and directed..

There is a further team at Police HQ who specialise in dealing with abusive images of children on the internet. Much of their work is concerned with identifying and tackling those people who use the medium of the internet to share abusve images of children.

As you would expect there is a CDAIU management team, led by a Detective Superintendent. The management team take an active role in the more serios and p[rotracted investigations as well as ensuring that local practice meets the needs and expectations of partner agencies and Central Governemnt. CDAIU is part of the Force Investigations Directorate, a reflection of the fact that the Police role in safeguarding children is largely delivered by investigating (both proactively and reactively) persons who would otherwise harm children.