Hotels and businesses play major role in safeguarding children in Manchester city centre

Children are being safeguarded in Manchester city centre thanks to training delivered by police officers to hotels and businesses.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has been recognised as one of the forces leading the way with the implementation of Operation Makesafe – a national initiative which aims to prevent child sexual exploitation from occurring within the hospitality sector through engagement, education, and test purchasing.

Chief Superintendent David Meeney, district commander for the City of Manchester, attended the launch event in Birmingham to showcase the effective partnership work GMP is doing to tackle child sexual exploitation in front of senior government leaders, senior police officers from other forces across the country, and representatives from the hospitality industry. 

Under Operation Makesafe, the bespoke training sessions seek to support business owners and employees to identify potential victims of child exploitation and, where necessary, how to alert police officers so they can intervene before any young person comes to harm. By increasing awareness of the indicators of exploitation, we can better prepare businesses to recognise the signs and empower them to report their concerns to us.

At one hotel in the city centre, we received a call from an employee who, after receiving the Operation Makesafe training from GMP, identified that he did not feel comfortable with a guest who had tried to check in. It was an older gentleman, with a young girl who appeared to be in duress. This employee followed the training and asked all the right questions. He swiftly called the police and as a result of this employees quick thinking and instinct, we were able to safeguard the young girl and make a crucial arrest.

Similarly, at another large hotel in the city centre, staff were concerned about an underage girl who had checked into a room with an older man. As directed by the Operation Makesafe training, they called the police, and we were able to have officers at the scene in minutes. Because the staff felt confident recognising the signs of exploitation, together, we were able to safeguard the vulnerable girl and take action against the alleged offender.

Operation Makesafe is in effect across all eleven Greater Manchester districts as we continue to proactively tackle child exploitation.

Chief Superintendent David Meeney said: “To date, we’ve been able to make significant steps to protect young people in Manchester as a direct result of these training sessions and I would like to thank the local businesses for their commitment in joining our fight against child exploitation. Their support is crucial.

“We endeavour to support employees to identify potential victims, ensuring they report it police so we can effectively safeguard people, improve partnership information sharing, and upskill staff to specifically prevent vulnerable young people from becoming victims in the first place.

“We’re committed to making sure as many people in our communities are aware of the signs of child criminal and sexual exploitation and these case studies highlight the importance of effective partnership working; by having more people alive to the signs of exploitation it means we can effectively safeguard vulnerable people quicker and protect them from harm.”

Cllr Garry Bridges, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: "safeguarding children is a priority for the council and its partners and we do that most effectively when the public, businesses and public services work together.  Operation Makesafe is a good example of this approach and commitment to bring to justice those who seek to exploit our children".

"The safeguarding of children's welfare is everybody's business and it's important that people in the hospitality industry are equipped to spot the signs of child sexual exploitation and know what to do when something isn't right. Together we can make it much more difficult for abusers to operate." 

Find out more about Operation Makesafe: Operation Makesafe | The Hydrant Programme