Crime and intelligence - Child Abduction Act 1984: Policy (N09)

1. Summary of changes

1.1. This policy and its supporting standard operating procedure (SOP) have been reviewed in June 2022 - no amendments to content have been made. 

2. What this policy is about

2.1. This policy relates specifically to child abduction/potential child abduction of a child by persons connected to that child with the intention of taking or sending the child out of the United Kingdom without the appropriate consent.

2.2. It is an offence under Section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984.

2.3. It does not cater for the 'live' kidnap of a child which will be treated as a crime in action which is dealt with under separate policy S01700.

Compliance with this policy and any linked procedures is mandatory.

3. Statement of policy

3.1. The UK government's "Every Child Matters - Change for Children" programme which includes the national service framework for children and is supported by the Children Act 2004 requires all agencies to take responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child to enable them to:

• be healthy
• stay safe
• enjoy and achieve
• make a positive contribution and
• achieve economic well-being

3.2. Kent Police respond to all reports of a child abduction and will also aim to prevent an abduction taking place with a view to keeping a child within UK and British jurisdiction.

4. Implications of the policy

4.1. Finance/staffing/training/other

4.1.1. There are no known additional financial implications other than those already incurred.

4.1.2. All officers and staff involved in protecting and safeguarding children will receive appropriate training and refresher training according to their roles.

4.1.3. A robust supervision and management oversight structure is in place which is responsible for all aspects of safeguarding children.

4.2. Risk assessment

4.2.1. This policy has been assessed as having a medium risk.

4.2.2. Police officers and police staff will adopt a generic risk assessment in line with the relevant procedure and in accordance with their individual roles.

4.3. Equality Impact Assessment (EIA)

4.3.1. This policy has been assessed with regard to its relevance to race and diversity equality. As a result of this assessment the police has been graded as having medium impact.

5. Consultation

• D/Superintendent Head of Public Protection
• PPU CST DIs
• Major Crime
• Finance
• Human Resources
• IT Security
• Legal
• Freedom of Information
• Health and Safety

6. Monitoring and review

6.1. Monitoring of this policy will be the responsibility of the head of Protecting Vulnerable People (PVP) via the governance and scrutiny DI.

6.2. This policy will be reviewed every two years with the next review taking place in June 2024.  

7. Security

7.1. Kent Police has measures in place to protect the security of your data in accordance with our Information Management policy (Policy W1000 – Information Management).

8. Retention and disposal of records

8.1. Kent Police will hold data in accordance with our Records Review, Retention and Disposal policy (Policy W1012 – Records Review, Retention and Disposal).