Artificial intelligence tools which have saved thousands of hours in investigations will be rolled out to all police forces to tackle grooming gangs.
Officers across all 43 forces in England and Wales will gain access to the investigative technology as part of a £426,000 funding boost for the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) programme.
The intelligence and technical experts support forces investigating complex cases such as organised exploitation of modern slavery, county lines and child sex abuse.
Some 13 forces currently have access to their apps, which are said to have been used 12,500 times – saving more than £20 million and 16,000 hours for investigators.
Baroness Casey (James Manning/PA)
The expansion, announced by the Home Office, comes after Baroness Casey recommended a national police operation to review cold cases, in her rapid audit on grooming gangs published in June.
Operation Beaconport has since been established, led by the National Crime Agency, and will be reviewing more than 1,200 closed cases of child sexual exploitation.
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said: “The sexual exploitation of children by grooming gangs is one of the most horrific crimes and we must punish perpetrators, provide justice for victims and survivors, and protect today’s children from harm.
“Baroness Casey flagged the need to upgrade police information systems to improve investigations and safeguard children at risk. Today we are investing in these critical tools.”
The technology being rolled out can translate large amounts of text in foreign languages from mobile phones seized by police, and analyse a mass of digital data to find patterns and relationships between suspects.
NCA director general Graeme Biggar said providing reassurance to victims and their families has been a main focus of the national policing operation since June.
He added: “We must and will ensure their voices are heard and collectively, we will restore confidence that the law enforcement response to child sexual exploitation is without fear or favour, is evidence based and not undermined by fears of inflaming community tensions.”
The Home Secretary has also written to police forces to make sure they are collecting ethnicity data as recommended by Baroness Casey.
The crossbench peer’s report found the lack of data showing the ethnicity and nationality of sex offenders in grooming gangs is “a major failing over the last decade or more”.
The audit found that officials had dodged the issue of ethnicity among the groups of sex offenders for fear of being called racist, but there were enough convictions of Asian men “to have warranted closer examination”.
The Government has launched a national inquiry into the abuse and further details are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.