Police exploitation team tackling everyday crime under our noses

“People will think of modern slavery as someone in shackles and being kept under the stairs, but, not to scare people, there is a spectrum of exploitation,” an officer told us.

The protecting vulnerable people exploitation team within Cheshire Police came into inception in April last year, and it has been growing since then.

Its focus is on the broad remit that is exploitation – right through from child-based indecent imagery offending, where children may be asked to provide an image, and through to modern slavery and organised immigration crime.

Officers making up the unit are the localised tactical response point if there is an incident, such as an immigration lorry drop, right through to labour exploitation and forced labour.

This sees people working in all sorts of industries, usually cash-in-hand, where people should not be working, or they are paying off a debt to an organised crime group because they have been brought into the country.

When asked why the team was formed, DI Upile Mtitimila said: “I think the increase in prevalence is probably to do with the organised nature of some of that criminality being huge.

“If you want to get into it and dismantle it and understand it, you have to invest resources in it.

“The other side is around children, so your county lines exploitation and child sexual exploitation.

“Social media and online is massive, and that is a hook quite often with some of the younger people that we are trying to support.

“The shocking aspect for me is the normalness of it – it's right there, it's under all of our noses.

“Everyone who goes about their daily business will see people who are being exploited and will have no idea.”

There are many signs to look out for as we go about our daily business, and no matter how small, this could help to take down a criminal operation.

Intelligence from the community recently saw the team raid two massage parlours in Bewsey and Widnes suspected of being used as brothels.

Cheshire Police recently raided a suspected brothel in Bewsey

“People will think of modern slavery as someone in shackles and being kept under the stairs, but, not to scare people, there is a spectrum of exploitation,” DI Mtitimila continued.

“Behind all of that, some really, really bad stuff happens in terms of organised crime groups bringing people into the UK.

“When you get that deal that seems too good to be true at that business, it's having those thoughts around how can they afford to charge so much less than any other competitor.

“Also, if there are different people. If you go to the same business all the time and it's never the same people working there, or they seem to change every month. They are red flags to be aware of.

“Be aware of who is working there and the conditions and if people look like they've got food.

Think conditions of how people look. Is there someone in charge of that place that everyone's very deferential to, almost fearful?

“That's the bit that shocks me. I don't think we're necessarily diving into something that's really well hidden. I just think we are so all focused on our lives that everything else blurs to one side.

“The biggest danger we have is dismissing the small stuff. The things that don't seem quite right.

“Sometimes, if you see something and you pass that on, it is almost like a piece of the jigsaw, and the more we get, the more we can start to understand.”

While intelligence from residents is vital, victims coming forward is also crucial in ensuring those further up the criminal chain are brought to justice.

“The conditions from which some people that we support were in are horrible – properties with no heating or food and potentially people eating food for animals,” said DI Mtitimila.

“Similarly, it's the ability of people to think against that the people they are working for and think are helping them, when actually there is nothing humane about it.

“For those people that are trapped in situations like that, there is an awful lot of support that we want to make available.

There is a dedicated Cheshire Police exploitation team based at Warrington Police Station

“But that can only be made available if people come forward. Those individuals are vulnerable and they are victims, and we want to support them and help them.

“Even if they may have been forcibly involved in some criminality, we are more interested in the people who are making them do that and have exploited them.

“The message is that if you are in that situation and you are a victim, we absolutely want to help you and support you.

“We can get you out of that situation and safeguarded, and then we will focus on the perpetrator – the big fish.”

Also coming under the team’s remit is children who go missing, as they are prime targets for exploitation by cunning and ruthless criminals.

“We are involved with high-risk missing young people, looking at opportunities to support them and look into concerns around sexual or criminal exploitation,” DI Mtitimila added.

“That is a huge area of our work. Exploitation for kids starts very innocuously and can be almost invisible at first.

“It starts with maybe them hanging out with someone who is a bit older or communicating with someone online.

“The real signs of when the behaviour change happens is if they go missing or start having access to new clothing.

“When you start to build the picture, it starts to add up, and we would much rather try and intervene early, because once certain people's hooks are in, it changes from them appearing like your best friend to having a debt to them.

“They will say ‘you owe us £300’ and may still be nice, but they will also threaten violence and harm to your family. For those kids it can feel like they are trapped as well.”

If you see signs of possible exploitation, you can report them by calling Cheshire Police on 101, or always 999 in an emergency, or by visiting cheshire.police.uk

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit Crimestoppers.org.uk