Home › For Police
🛡 For Police Officers

For Police — Safeguarding Resources for Officers Working with Schools and Young People

Whether you're a school liaison PCSO preparing a knife crime assembly, a DWO-CYP (Dedicated Ward Officer — Children and Young People) attending a MASH referral meeting, or a detective supporting a CCE investigation — The Safeguard Hub gives you the resources, language, and context to work more effectively alongside schools.

Six content pillars. Written for officers, not educators. Grounded in current UK statute and statutory guidance throughout.

🖶 Printable Field Guides 📞 Key Contacts
📋 All resources are free. Always follow your force's safeguarding protocols and local MASH guidance.
⚖️ Aligned with the College of Policing APP

Every resource in this section is written to reflect the College of Policing's Authorised Professional Practice (APP) — the official source of professional practice for policing in England and Wales. Apply this guidance using the National Decision Model (NDM), with the Code of Ethics (2024) at its centre.

The relevant APP module is linked on each page. APP is national guidance — your force's local policies and protocols take precedence where they differ.

🏫

Working with schools?

The Professional Portal is built for DSLs, teachers, and social workers — their reporting pathway is different from yours. Understanding it helps you work together more effectively.

Disclosure protocols, concern log templates, KCSIE 2025 duties, and what a school can legally share with you.

Professional Portal →
New to this section?

Suggested reading order for school liaison officers

The six pillars build on each other. Start here if you're new.

1st How Schools Work 2nd School Visit Resources 3rd Child Criminal Exploitation 4th Operation Encompass 5th Prevent & Channel 6th Missing from Education

⚖️ Interactive Tools

Decision Support Tools

Seven tools built for operational use — work through threshold questions, weigh which legal powers to consider for a scenario, record a National Decision Model rationale, search the powers glossary, preserve digital evidence, build a session plan, or generate a printable decision record.

⚖️
Threshold Tool

Referral Threshold Decision Tool

Step through s.46 Police Protection, s.47, s.17, and Early Help threshold questions with statutory guidance at each step. Outputs a printable decision record.

Open tool →
📅
Session Planner

School Visit Planner

Select a topic (knife crime, county lines, online safety, DA, Prevent, drugs), age group, and session length — get a complete structured plan with timings, key messages, and disclosure guidance.

Build a plan →
🔒
Info Sharing

Information Sharing Decision Tool

"Can I share this with the school?" Step through the Working Together 2026 seven golden rules — lawful basis check, necessity and proportionality, consent consideration. Generates a printable decision record.

Open tool →
⚖️
Legal Simulator

Threshold Legal Simulator

Tick the risk factors in a scenario — immediate violence, cumulative neglect, cross-border exploitation — and see which statutory powers to consider (s.46, s.47, NRM, CAWN, s.17, Early Help) with the basis for each.

Run a scenario →
📝
Decision Recorder

NDM Decision Recorder (CIAPOAR)

Work through the College of Policing National Decision Model — Information, Assessment, Powers & policy, Options, Action & review — with the Code of Ethics at the centre, and print a court-ready record of your decision rationale.

Record a decision →
📚
Quick Reference

Powers & Thresholds Glossary

A searchable cheat-sheet of every safeguarding power — s.17, s.46, s.47, EPO, Child Recovery Order, CAWN, NRM, DVPO, s.136 MHA and more — with the statutory test, duration and what to do for each.

Search powers →
📱
Evidence & Intel

Evidentiary Toolkit

Digital First Aid for seizing a device with suspected exploitation material (don't power off, isolate from networks, Faraday bag) plus a searchable, regularly-updated glossary of county lines and online grooming slang.

Open toolkit →

Six Content Pillars

All six pillars are now live. Start with Pillar 1 if you're new to the section — it provides the foundation for everything that follows.

🏫
Pillar 1

Understanding How Schools Work

The officer's guide to school safeguarding — who has authority, what the DSL can and cannot do, how concerns become MASH referrals, and what information schools can share with you.

5 articles →
🎭
Pillar 2

School Visit Resources

Ready-to-use guides for knife crime assemblies, county lines inputs, PREVENT awareness, online safety sessions, and parent evenings — plus a printable briefing card for each.

5 articles + 5 briefing cards →
🔗
Pillar 3

Child Criminal Exploitation

What schools are seeing, the Modern Slavery framework, an interactive referral pathway tool, cuckooing intelligence, and the Crime and Policing Act 2026 offence (check commencement status with your force).

5 articles + interactive tool →
📩
Pillar 4

Operation Encompass

Making the DA notification work — the call protocol, what schools do with it, the statutory framework for children as DA victims, and the gaps in the scheme.

5 articles →
🛡
Pillar 5

PREVENT, Channel & Radicalisation

The police–school interface on extremism — Channel referral process, warning signs, when Prevent becomes a child protection concern, and what police can contribute to FBV education.

5 articles →
🖉
Pillar 6

Missing from Education

The CME legal framework, why unexplained absence is an early county lines warning, police powers and the NRM trigger, LA information sharing, and what the DSL does when a child disappears from roll.

5 articles →

Latest Guidance

Articles for Police Officers & MASH Staff

View all 76+ articles →
County Lines • Intelligence County Lines 2024: What the NCA Data Shows & How Schools Must Respond 14 min read CCE • Exploitation Child Criminal Exploitation: What It Is, How to Spot It, and What to Do 11 min read Thresholds • Multi-Agency Section 17 & Section 47 Thresholds: A Practical Guide for Professionals 10 min read FGM • Mandatory Report FGM Mandatory Reporting: What Teachers & DSLs Must Report to Police 13 min read Prevent • Radicalisation Types of Radicalisation in the UK: Far-Right, Islamist & Mixed Ideology 12 min read CSE • Data & Intelligence Child Sexual Exploitation in the UK: What the 2024 Data Shows 13 min read
All police-relevant articles Missing from Education Domestic Abuse & Children
🖶
Resource Pack

10 Printable Field Guides & Checklists

County lines field guide, knife crime warning signs, MASH flowchart, cuckooing checklists, assembly frameworks, and more — all print-ready for patrol kit, custody suites, and briefing rooms.

View All →

Existing Operational Briefings

Operational Briefings

These operational briefings remain fully available and complement the six-pillar series above. Core content from each has been incorporated and expanded within the relevant pillars.

Showing all briefings

🔗 County LinesOperational Briefing

County Lines: An Operational Briefing for Officers

The county lines business model, vulnerability profiles, key terminology, and what officers must do — and must not do — when encountering a young person who may be a runner.

By The Safeguard Hub Team·9 min read
What this briefing covers: The NCA definition of county lines, how lines operate, who is targeted, what officers are legally obliged to do, and the tension between criminal investigation and safeguarding responsibility.

The NCA Definition

County lines is a term used by the National Crime Agency to describe criminal networks — typically based in large cities — exploiting children, young people, and vulnerable adults to transport and sell drugs into smaller towns, coastal areas, and rural communities — often, but not always, across county borders. The "line" is the dedicated mobile phone number used to receive drug orders.

The NPCC's 2024–25 County Lines Strategic Threat Assessment identifies over 6,500 active lines across England, Scotland and Wales — including internal lines operating within a single area (NPCC 2024–25; includes internal lines). The NCA's separate narrower count, focusing on lines crossing force boundaries, is approximately 2,000 (NCA 2023–24). Children as young as 11 have been identified as runners.

How Lines Operate

A criminal network in a hub city establishes a mobile number in a target market town. Orders are fulfilled by runners — frequently children — who travel from the hub to deliver drugs and return money. Runners often stay in a cuckooed address — the home of a vulnerable person taken over through threats or exploitation of addiction — for days or weeks at a time.

Who Is Targeted

  • Children in or recently leaving care (Centre for Social Justice, 2024: in 61% of LAs, two thirds of NRM referrals for CCE involved a looked-after or child-in-need)
  • Young people excluded from school or at a Pupil Referral Unit
  • Those with family members already involved in drug supply or gang activity
  • Children from households affected by domestic abuse, substance misuse, or mental ill-health

The Critical Safeguarding Point

⚠ Children involved in county lines are victims of exploitation, not willing criminals.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 s.45 provides a statutory defence for children compelled to commit offences as a result of exploitation. Arrest and prosecution without first considering victim status is contrary to CPS guidance and may constitute a breach of Article 4 ECHR rights.

What Officers Must Do

  • Approach every contact through a safeguarding lens first
  • Check the child against the missing persons index (PND) immediately
  • Make a MASH referral where county lines exploitation is suspected — do not wait for certainty
  • Apply the Modern Slavery Act 2015 s.45 analysis before any charging decision
  • Complete a Return to Home Interview (RTH) if the child was missing

Key contacts

  • 📞 NCA Intelligence: Contact your force's ROCU
  • 📞 NSPCC (safeguarding advice): 0808 800 5000
  • 📞 Modern Slavery Helpline (NRM guidance): 08000 121 700
🔫 Knife CrimeOperational Briefing

Knife Crime and Young People: An Officer's Briefing

The legal framework, vulnerability factors, school-based prevention, and how to respond when a young person is found carrying a blade — including the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 and Serious Violence Duty.

By The Safeguard Hub Team·8 min read
What this briefing covers: Current law on offensive weapons, vulnerability factors for young knife carriers, school-based intervention, the Serious Violence Duty, and post-incident protocols.

The Legal Framework

The primary legislation is the Prevention of Crime Act 1953 (carrying an offensive weapon in a public place) and the Criminal Justice Act 1988 s.139 (carrying a bladed article in a public place). The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 significantly expanded restrictions: it created new private possession offences for weapons already scheduled under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (including zombie knives, death stars, and knuckledusters), strengthened online sale restrictions, and introduced Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs). The subsequent Zombie Knives and Machetes Order 2024 extended the ban to bladed articles with a blade exceeding 8 inches, including certain machetes; private possession became an offence from 24 September 2024. In practice, KCPOs have seen very limited use since introduction — fewer than 50 were granted nationally by 2025. The threshold and process requirements have proven operationally burdensome; officers should be aware that KCPOs are available as a tool but are not a standard or routine option in most force areas.

Under the Zombie Knives and Machetes Order 2024 (in force September 2024), zombie knives and zombie-style machetes are banned outright — it is an offence to manufacture, sell, import, or possess one.

Vulnerability Factors

  • Prior involvement in county lines or gang activity
  • School exclusion — ONS data consistently shows excluded pupils are substantially overrepresented in knife crime statistics
  • Victimisation: most young knife carriers report carrying for perceived protection
  • Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), particularly domestic violence and parental substance misuse

The Serious Violence Duty

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 (Serious Violence Duty, in force January 2023) requires specified authorities — including police, schools, health, and local government — to collaborate on a local serious violence strategy. Schools are now formal partners in this framework. Officers liaising with schools should understand that the duty gives schools a statutory basis (and expectation) to share intelligence about serious violence concerns.

When a Young Person Is Found Carrying

  • Consider victim status first — is this person carrying because they are being threatened or coerced?
  • KCPO application (ss.14–21, Offensive Weapons Act 2019) — consider a Knife Crime Prevention Order application where the threshold is met; be aware that KCPOs have had very limited uptake nationally and the application process is resource-intensive — consult your force's lead before proceeding
  • Notify school — if the young person attends a school, notify the DSL. The school has a duty to review their safeguarding response
  • MASH referral — if there are indicators of exploitation or significant harm, refer to MASH
  • Hospital violence reduction referral — if the young person has been injured, many NHS trusts have Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) programmes; ensure referral pathway is activated
💻 Online ExploitationOperational Briefing

Online Grooming and Child Sexual Exploitation: What Officers Need to Know

How online grooming operates, CEOP's role, the legal framework (Sexual Offences Act 2003, Online Safety Act 2023), what schools can and cannot do, and how police should work with DSLs when CSE is suspected.

By The Safeguard Hub Team·7 min read
What this briefing covers: The grooming cycle, legal offences, CEOP referrals, what schools must do, how police and DSLs should co-ordinate, and the Online Safety Act 2023 duties.

The Legal Framework

Key offences: Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.15 (meeting a child following sexual grooming); s.14 (arranging or facilitating child sexual offence); Protection of Children Act 1978 (indecent images); Sexual Offences Act 2003 s.67A (voyeurism). The Online Safety Act 2023 places new duties on platforms and creates new offences including sending intimate images without consent.

Reporting to CEOP

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection command (CEOP) — part of the NCA — operates the CEOP Safety Centre (ceop.police.uk) for reporting online grooming and CSE. DSLs are trained to use the CEOP reporting button. Officers should be aware that CEOP referrals generate a NCA intelligence record and can trigger cross-force investigations. Local CSE referrals go to MASH; CEOP handles cases with a significant online or cross-border dimension.

Working with Schools

When police receive intelligence suggesting a pupil is being groomed online, the school's DSL should be notified. The DSL can monitor welfare, ensure the pupil is not alone with devices during school hours, and contribute observations to a multi-agency risk assessment. Be clear about what you can and cannot share (see the information-sharing briefing). The school cannot run a parallel investigation — this must be coordinated through the MASH.

⛓ Modern SlaveryOperational Briefing

Modern Slavery and Child Trafficking: Recognition, NRM Referrals, and School Involvement

How modern slavery manifests in young people's lives, the National Referral Mechanism, the s.45 statutory defence, and how schools fit into the identification and response process.

By The Safeguard Hub Team·8 min read
What this briefing covers: Modern slavery definitions, child trafficking indicators, the NRM for under-18s, the s.45 statutory defence, and how school attendance data can be a key indicator.

The Legal Framework

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 created two principal offences: slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour (s.1); and human trafficking (s.2). Child trafficking — transporting a child for the purpose of exploitation, including county lines drug supply — falls under s.2. There is no requirement for movement across borders; exploitation within a single town can constitute trafficking if a child has been moved or controlled for that purpose.

The National Referral Mechanism (NRM)

The NRM is the UK framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery. For children, a referral can be made by a First Responder (including police officers, social workers, and some NGOs) to the Single Competent Authority (HOPO) or to a local authority. All children referred to the NRM are presumed to be victims until a Conclusive Grounds decision is made. Local authority social care becomes involved for all child referrals.

The s.45 Statutory Defence

Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 provides a statutory defence for adults and children who commit certain offences as a direct consequence of being trafficked or exploited. For children under 18, the defence is broader: it applies to any offence (except those listed in Schedule 4) where the child was compelled to commit it as a direct consequence of slavery or exploitation. Officers should apply this analysis before any charge decision involving a young person suspected of involvement in county lines.

Schools as Identifiers

Unexplained school absences, a child arriving at school in different clothing or with unexplained injuries, or sudden withdrawal from peers are all indicators that a school may observe before police have any knowledge of exploitation. DSLs are trained to identify these signs and refer to MASH. Officers receiving a county lines-related referral from a school should always ask what attendance data the DSL holds — it can significantly assist in establishing the timeline of exploitation.

🏫 SchoolsInformation Sharing

What Schools Can and Cannot Share With You — A Legal Summary for Officers

When a school can share pupil information without parental consent, when it must, what the Data Protection Act 2018 safeguarding exemption actually permits, and how to frame the request.

By The Safeguard Hub Team·6 min read
What this briefing covers: The legal basis for school information sharing with police, when parental consent is not required, and how the DPA 2018 safeguarding exemption operates in practice.

The Legal Basis

Schools are data controllers under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. Processing pupil data for safeguarding purposes is lawful under the DPA 2018 Schedule 2, Part 1, paragraph 2 — the "safeguarding of children and individuals at risk" exemption. This provision permits a controller to process personal data (including special category data) without consent where processing is necessary for the protection of an individual from neglect or physical, mental, or emotional harm.

What Schools Can Share — Without Parental Consent

  • Attendance records and patterns (including dates and reasons for absence)
  • Details of any concerns recorded about the child's welfare or behaviour
  • Contact information for the child's parents or carers
  • Any previous safeguarding referrals and their outcomes
  • Information about the child's known associates and friendship groups (where relevant to safeguarding)
  • Details of any disclosures made by the child to school staff

The test: the sharing must be necessary and proportionate to the safeguarding purpose. A DSL who is uncertain should document their proportionality assessment and share. Working Together 2026 is explicit that a failure to share information is as serious a concern as an inappropriate disclosure.

What Schools Cannot Share

  • Information that would identify a third-party informant or whistleblower within the school
  • Specific details of another child (e.g. a victim's identity where this is not necessary for the investigation)
  • Medical or SEND data that is not relevant to the safeguarding concern

How to Frame the Request

When requesting information from a school, be specific: state the legal basis (safeguarding of a child at risk of significant harm), identify the specific information needed and why it is necessary, and confirm you are a warranted officer acting in an official capacity. A vague "we're investigating" request is more likely to result in a cautious refusal than a well-framed, specific request citing the DPA safeguarding exemption.

Recording Disclosure Decisions

Every information-sharing decision should be documented: what was shared, the legal basis, the proportionality assessment, who was told, and when. Officers who decline to share information with a DSL when there is a legitimate safeguarding basis should also be prepared to justify that decision in writing.

🤝 Multi-AgencyMASH

Your Role in MASH: What Police Contribute to Multi-Agency Safeguarding

How MASH structures work, what information police can access and share within MASH, the decision-making process, and what to do when multi-agency action stalls.

By The Safeguard Hub Team·7 min read
What this briefing covers: MASH structures and purpose, the dedicated police role within MASH, what intelligence systems police access, how decisions are made, and escalation options when multi-agency consensus breaks down.

What MASH Is

The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is a co-located multi-agency team — typically police, children's social care, health, education, and other agencies — whose purpose is to receive safeguarding referrals, assess information held across agencies, and make rapid, informed decisions about the level of response required.

The Police Role in MASH

Most MASH arrangements have a dedicated police officer or detective embedded within the hub, accessing PND, force intelligence systems (Niche, COMPACT), and VISOR where relevant. The police contribution typically includes: criminal history of household adults; intelligence about associated addresses; known associates who may present a risk; and previous welfare contacts or domestic abuse call-outs. Operational intelligence that cannot be disclosed should be communicated as a risk level rather than disclosed in detail.

Decision-Making at MASH

  • No further action — information does not indicate a safeguarding concern
  • Early Help — concern identified but below statutory threshold
  • Section 17 (Child in Need) — assessment by children's social care
  • Section 47 (Child at Risk of Significant Harm) — joint investigation commenced

When the System Stalls

If a MASH referral has been made but the response is inadequate given the known risk, officers retain independent intervention powers. A Police Protection Order (s.46 Children Act 1989) does not require social care agreement. Document the rationale clearly. Systemic concerns should be escalated to your force's safeguarding lead and the LSCP.

🤝 Multi-AgencyChild Protection

Section 17 vs Section 47: Understanding Child Protection Thresholds

The legal difference between a child in need and a child at risk of significant harm, what triggers a joint investigation, police involvement in ABE interviews, Police Protection Orders, and Emergency Protection Orders.

By The Safeguard Hub Team·8 min read
What this briefing covers: The distinction between s.17 (child in need) and s.47 (child at risk of significant harm), what "significant harm" means, joint investigations with social workers, ABE interviews, and emergency protective measures.

Section 17 — Child in Need

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 defines a child in need as one unlikely to achieve a reasonable standard of health or development without services; or whose health or development is likely to be significantly impaired without services; or who is disabled. S.17 is a needs assessment — police are not typically involved, but referrals from police can trigger one.

Section 47 — Child at Risk of Significant Harm

Section 47 is engaged where a local authority has reasonable cause to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. A s.47 referral triggers a Strategy Discussion (within one working day), a joint investigation between a social worker and police officer, and assessment of whether an ICPC is required.

Police Roles in a s.47 Investigation

  • Strategy Discussion — contributing intelligence and police perspective to the joint decision
  • Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) interview — video-recorded interview with the child; serves as evidence-in-chief
  • Joint home visit — order of activity agreed in advance in the Strategy Discussion

Emergency Protective Measures

Police Protection Order (s.46 Children Act 1989) — officer may remove a child without a court order if they have reasonable cause to believe the child would otherwise suffer significant harm. Lasts up to 72 hours. Local authority must be notified immediately.

Emergency Protection Order (s.44 Children Act 1989) — granted by magistrate, lasts up to 8 days (extendable to 15), gives the local authority parental responsibility. Applied for by social care; police can assist in execution.

Key legislation

  • 📚 Children Act 1989, ss.17, 44, 46, 47
  • 📚 Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026
  • 📚 Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings (MoJ, 2022)

Key Contacts & Referral Pathways

Quick reference. Always follow your force's safeguarding protocols for local MASH contact details.

🚨 Emergency / Immediate Risk

Child at immediate risk of harm:

999 + Police Protection s.46

📞 Modern Slavery Helpline

NRM referral guidance, 24/7, free:

08000 121 700

🌎 CEOP (Online Exploitation)

Report and intelligence portal:

ceop.police.uk

📞 NSPCC (Safeguarding Advice)

Professional consultation line:

0808 800 5000

📞 Childline (for children)

Free, confidential, 24/7:

0800 1111

🌎 NCA (County Lines)

Intelligence via your local ROCU:

nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk