Investigating child abuse and safeguarding children
Major investigation and public protection — Authorised Professional Practice
Summary
This section outlines the police's responsibilities regarding child abuse investigations and safeguarding. It emphasizes the duty of officers to act decisively in response to concerns for children, as mandated by the Children Act 2004, section 11. Police must ensure meticulous records of their actions and decision-making throughout investigations, focusing on evidence-gathering rather than relying solely on accounts from victims or suspects. Each police force is expected to designate a lead chief officer for safeguarding issues. Furthermore, this guidance aligns with various governmental documents aimed at safeguarding children and enhancing multi-agency cooperation.
Key principles
- 1Officers must act on child abuse reports promptly and thoroughly.
- 2Investigations should focus on evidence, not solely victim or suspect statements.
- 3Detailed recording of decision-making is essential for transparency.
- 4Each police force should have a dedicated lead chief officer for safeguarding.
- 5Multi-agency collaboration is critical for effective safeguarding.
Defined terms
- Children Act 2004, section 11
- A statutory obligation on the police service to safeguard children.
Full guidance
Responding to public protection and major investigation issues, for example, child abuse, knife crime and sexual offences
This page is from APP, the official source of professional practice for policing.
The requirement for action in child abuse cases creates obligations at every stage of the police response. These obligations apply when taking reports of concern for children and throughout the process of investigation. They also include the multi-agency response for safeguarding, and in particular, under the Children Act 2004, section 11(opens an external website in the same tab) a statutory obligation on the police service to safeguard children. A thorough investigation should be completed in all cases where concern for a child is reported.
Officers should also ensure that their actions and decision making (including cases where actions are considered unnecessary or disproportionate) are recorded in detail. An investigation into child abuse is a search for the truth and, from the outset, officers should focus efforts on gathering evidence that proves or disproves the allegation and does not rely solely on the victim’s or suspect’s account.
Each force should appoint a lead chief officer for issues relating to safeguarding children.
This guidance should be read in conjunction with HM Government (2018) Working Together to Safeguard Children(opens an external website in the same tab) , Welsh Government (2022) Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014(opens an external website in the same tab) , CPS (2013) Guidelines on Prosecuting Cases of Child Sexual Abuse(opens an external website in the same tab) , forthcoming APP on working with vulnerable people and forthcoming APP on working with partners.
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Read the full APP guidanceSource: College of Policing — Authorised Professional Practice · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-27.