The Scottish Police Officer by Daniel Donnelly

Author:Daniel Donnelly [Donnelly, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Criminology
ISBN: 9781136184994
Google: FtCWAwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 14871955
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-10-14T00:00:00+00:00

The National Human Trafficking Unit

There are many new challenges facing Police Scotland and one that has been receiving much media attention is that of human trafficking. In its first annual report the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Human Trafficking (IDMG) revealed there were 946 potential victims of human trafficking in the UK in 2011, 712 adults and 234 children, an increase on the 2010 figures of 33 per cent (HM Government 2012: 8). Of that figure, 93 were in Scotland. Many of the individuals are forced into a life of crime, particularly children, and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) estimates there are approximately 300 child trafficking victims in the UK per year. Organised criminals from countries such as Romania, Slovakia, Vietnam, Nigeria and China pose the greatest threat, with victims being used for sex, labour and domestic slavery.

It is exceptionally difficult to secure a court conviction for these crimes due to the uncertainty of the witnesses’ immigration status and the fact that they could face deportation back to their homeland. In common with most sex crimes, there is a fear and dishonour in coming forward due to the taboo of sex trafficking and this all adds to the difficulties faced by the police in any investigation. An inquiry into human trafficking in 2011 conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (Scotland) raised a number of questions into the policing of this type of crime. The questions posed by the Commission were along the lines of have the police sufficient resources to cope with the problem? Are the police adequately aware of the nature of human trafficking? Are the police properly trained to combat this type of crime? Do they understand the issues involved? Do they look on it as an immigration issue rather than a crime?

The Scottish police would be the first to admit that this is a challenging area of police work, especially when it is difficult to quantify the scale of the problem. With the expansion of the European Union and the removal of borders, there are significant numbers of people coming to Scotland from abroad and this exacerbates the problem. But the police have not ignored the issue and did launch an operation during 2006, 2007 and 2008, targeting street sexual exploitation which resulted in 81 premises being visited and 27 persons arrested and the recovery of 45 female adult victims. At least 17 persons were convicted of immigration and prostitute offences as a result of the operation. Just like terrorism, human trafficking is another new dimension to law enforcement in Scotland and one the police will have to train and prepare for in the future. In response to the challenge, Police Scotland has set up a dedicated National Human Trafficking Unit (NHTU) to coordinate the police response to human trafficking and prostitution. The NHTU is the product of the merger of the Scottish Intelligence Coordination Unit and the Strathclyde Vice and Trafficking Unit. The new Unit will provide more focus and cohesion to

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