Hoteliers across Greater Manchester have been trained to spot the signs of child exploitation as part of a new police initiative.
Plain clothes officers and volunteers, posing as suspects and underage victims respectively, attempted to book hotel rooms to test the success of the Operation Makesafe initiative following safeguarding training provided by GMP.
Most hoteliers showed good understanding of the signs of child exploitation and took measures to protect potential victims. They challenged and refused sale to the test purchasers and called the police to report the situation.
Chief Superintendent David Meeney, District Commander for Manchester, said: “It is vital that we raise awareness amongst key local businesses to protect young people from harm.”
In one instance of the test purchase, however, employees of a hotel failed to challenge the suspect or report the suspicious activity to the police.
The police have since stepped in to conduct a full debrief and has required further training of the employees to help them in identifying signs of child exploitation as well as understanding the potential impact of allowing hotel bookings under suspicious circumstances like these.
Whilst in this case no child was at risk of being harmed, it is important for local businesses and members of the public to keep an eye out.
David Meeney added: “Sometimes there may be a perfectly innocent explanation for a situation, but if we can protect even one vulnerable young person from harm, this initiative will have been worthwhile.
“By reporting it to us, this allows us to investigate and make sure no one is at risk.”
Hoteliers and employees should be able to spot the signs of a potential exploitation and report it to the police so that appropriate action may be taken.