A POLICE superintendent has told anti-grooming campaigners he was sorry West Yorkshire Police “missed the signs” of child sex exploitation in the past, but insists that the issue is now the force’s number one priority.

Superintendent Vince Firth made the comments during a heated discussion on child sexual exploitation at a meeting of Bradford Council’s Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee last night, shortly after the force was accused of having ignored warnings children were being exploited in the past.

His comments were today supported by West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns Williamson, who said “clearly West Yorkshire Police haven’t always got everything right.”.

The discussion, which lasted more than three hours at a meeting on Tuesday night, looked at the work being done in Bradford to deal with grooming, and included speakers from Bradford Council, police and children’s charities.

Also attending the meeting were former Keighley MP Ann Cryer and Angela Sinfield, a Keighley mum who has campaigned for a public inquiry into how grooming has been tackled in the past.

The committee heard that more young people were being referred to the district’s child exploitation hub, which investigates grooming cases, and that this meant more people were recognising the signs of exploitation.

Mrs Cryer and Mrs Sinfield both used their opportunity to speak to accuse West Yorkshire Police and Bradford Council of being much too slow to act on the issue of grooming in the early 2000s.

Both spoke of how when they raised the issue of grooming gangs in Keighley more than a decade ago and said they were largely ignored by authorities and other politicians.

hey said that recent cases had validated their calls for action.

Mrs Sinfield, who said police had never apologised for dismissing her claims, added: “I don’t want any more lip service. I want police to say, ‘we got it wrong.’”

Supt Firth, the partnerships lead for Bradford District Police and who sits on Bradford Child Sexual Exploitation Hub, said: “I’m speaking as a superintendent here and not speaking for West Yorkshire Police in its entirety.

“When I came here in 2011, I realised there were things happening we didn’t understand.

“I believe things have changed. I think people across the country didn’t understand what was happening right in front of our eyes.

“There was a belief that because we caught some offenders and there were a few high profile court cases then this would stop offenders from committing similar crimes in the future.

“I am really sorry we missed the signs that this was taking place but it is now the number one priority for West Yorkshire Police.”

Earlier in the meeting he said: “I have been very up front about the fact that in the past we didn’t recognise the signs of CSE. We were no different than any other authority who didn’t understand what was happening.”

Talking about the increase in referrals in the past year, he said: “We have worked really hard to increase people’s confidence to be able to come forward and report their concerns.

“In the past we’ve had reluctance for Asian victims to come forward, but we’re now getting more referrals from the Asian community.”

Supt Firth explained the difficulties with dealing with some suspected grooming cases, saying: “The children don’t always want to co-operate with us.

“They don’t always realise they are being exploited - many think they are in a relationship with someone who loves them.”

He said this often made it difficult to collect enough evidence to lead to an arrest. If this was the case, police could carry out “disruption” activities. These could include closing down a business where police suspect grooming may be taking place.

Supt Firth said last year a snooker hall in Bradford was closed as part of one such disruption exercise. He added: “If we don’t have the evidence to bring someone to justice then our main priority is to reduce the risk to the child. We have to use covert tactics that are normally used for organised crime, because this is organised crime.”

Mrs Sinfield, a former Keighley councillor, has been campaigning for more to be done to tackle CSE since the early 2000s, and has recently started a petition for a public inquiry into how the situation in Keighley was allowed to get where it is today.

“She told the committee: “The key to CSE is prevention, we should be looking to prevent what is happening, not sticking a plaster on once it’s happened. The effects of grooming last a lifetime.

“When we raised the issue, we just wanted to be believed and treated with dignity and respect.

“People said Ann Cryer was fabricating the issue when she raised it and called her racist. Telling people what you’ve seen isn’t racism. We weren’t supported by the people who should have.”

She spoke of how she felt CSE was linked with drugs, and was a form of organised crime, adding: “The backbone of sexual exploitation is drugs, the people who commit these crimes are funded by drug money. If we do more to tackle the drug element we go some way to preventing grooming.

“The blame is shifted onto the child. It is not the child’s fault, it is a network of criminal activity funded by drugs. We need to be getting into primary schools to be advising children, we need to talk to parents to make sure they know the signs a child is being groomed.”

Faisal Khan, a former Bradford Moor Councillor, addressed the committee, saying: “As an Asian man myself, I don’t want people to use race as an excuse not to investigate a crime because it would offend the Asian community.

“These people are criminals who should be dealt with, and there should be no sensitivities about what communities they are from. The victims are from all communities.”

Michael Jameson, head of Bradford children’s services, said: “I believe that we have strengthened arrangements to protect young people, and this report shows we are increasingly self aware about our weaknesses.

“We need to work on it and not become complacent.”

After the meeting Nicholas Smart, West Yorkshire chairman of the Police Federation, said: “The issue of safeguarding is now treated completely differently by us and other partner groups than it was a few years ago.

“If you go into any police station and speak to the hub commander you will see how important the issue of safeguarding is treated.

“There has been a total cultural change. we have had a total different approach to the issue over the last few years, especially after various enquiries highlighted shortcomings across the country in dealing with this. It is the main priority for West Yorkshire Police, and all officers know that. This is a long term change in focus, not just a short term thing.”

Mark Burns-Williamson, West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner said “Tackling child sexual exploitation is an absolute priority for myself, West Yorkshire Police and partners. This abuse has a devastating effect on victims, their families and communities.

“I have previously brought partners together to focus and co-ordinate work on CSE and made an extra £3.5 million available to the police for increased capacity to deal with CSE, human trafficking and cyber-crime.

“Through a number of events I have held, I consulted with the communities and partners of West Yorkshire and agreed with the five directors of children services a two-year £440,000 project focused on CSE.

“This includes engagement in a schools programme to raise awareness in all five districts, raising awareness is key to prevention and protection and this work is on-going.

“I have also appointed a Safeguarding Advisor whose role is to develop a cohesive and consistent response to CSE in West Yorkshire by developing partnerships between key stakeholders and identifying best practice from local, regional and national sources and assist in keeping children and young people safe.

“I support Supt Firth comments, clearly West Yorkshire Police and our partners haven’t always got everything right but we are doing everything we can to make sure children and young people are protected.

“I want victims and witnesses, in particular those who are most vulnerable, to always come first and any young person who has been a victim or a witness of this sexual exploitation should have the confidence to come forward, trust that their voice will be heard and be justified in believing that the responsible authorities will make sure they and others are supported and kept safe.”