West Yorkshire Liaison and Diversion Service have developed a specific pathway for those individuals arrested for downloading indecent images of children.
This pathway was developed by Liaison and Diversion alongside West Yorkshire Police and their Online Child Abuse Investigation Teams following Operation Notarise in 2014. The findings of this investigation showed that these individuals are a highly vulnerable group at high risk of suicide. This emphasised the importance of needing a consistent and standardised approach to be able to manage the risk of these individuals in terms of suicide, allowing for potential further suicides to be managed.
The OCAIT pathway provides support to the police in managing the self-harm/suicide risk; providing community support and if charged, court support. Our service will refer and signpost into services relevant to support needs, taking into account individual vulnerabilities. It involves liaising with health care professionals and providing emotional practical support. As part of this, we have also established referral pathways with organisations that support in reducing/managing harmful and unhealthy sexual behaviours, whilst reducing the impact of male crisis. Our service will also monitor the trigger points throughout the investigation to ensure support is offered at the most crucial times.
The pathway has also been successful at The Howard League Awards in which it won under the category of policing and adults.
“Initially when I was offered support I wasn’t sure how it would support me. Liaison and Diversion has been fantastic and helped me engage in other services. When I was in contact with the police the support was invaluable and I cant thank you enough for the guidance you have given me.”
“Thank you so much, it is nice to know there is people like yourself out there.”