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All police forces in England and Wales will soon have access to advanced investigative technology to help protect children, young people and vulnerable adults from grooming gangs and other organised exploitation.
The government is providing £426,000 in new funding to expand the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) Programme’s Capabilities Environment – a suite of investigative apps and tools – to every force. Currently used by 13 forces, the technology will now be available nationwide, building on its success in saving more than £20m and 16,000 investigator hours to date.
The move supports the first phase of Operation Beaconport, the new national policing operation launched in response to Baroness Casey’s National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Led by the National Crime Agency with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the CSE Taskforce and TOEX, the operation will review more than 1,200 previously closed cases, with the potential to reopen investigations and refer cases back to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips said: “The sexual exploitation of children by grooming gangs is one of the most horrific crimes. We must punish perpetrators, provide justice for victims and protect today’s children from harm.”
The TOEX Programme already supports investigations into crimes such as modern slavery, county lines and child sexual abuse. Its Capabilities Environment includes AI-powered tools like the Data Analysis and Review Tool, which sifts large volumes of digital evidence to find links between suspects, and TOEX Translate, which bulk-translates foreign language text from seized devices.
The technology is already available in all nine regional organised crime units. With this latest investment, it will soon be in the hands of every police investigator in England and Wales, enabling faster, smarter and more consistent investigations into some of the most serious and complex crimes.
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