Hotels failed to spot signs of exploitation

OFFICERS POSED WITH CADETS FOR OPERATION

- CARL EVE

PLYMOUTH hotels have been tested on their ability to spot predatory behaviour of men renting rooms with children - with some failing to spot the worrying signs.

Neighbourhood officers, working with police cadets, ran a plain clothes operation in a number of city hotels as part of their campaign to raise awareness of child exploitation.

The operation involved a plain clothed male police officer with a 15-year-old boy, and another officer with a 15-year-old girl, visiting a number of hotels, attempting to book a double room for the night. The young people involved in the operation were volunteers from Plymouth Police Cadets.

Pc Mike Smith, the neighbourhood beat manager for the city centre and waterfront who led the operation, said: "When our plain clothes officers and cadets visited the hotels, our expectation was for the hotel employees to notice the warning signs.

"For example, the adult only wanting to pay in cash, a last-minute booking attempt with no luggage, no photo identification provided and the adult insisting on a room with a double bed to share with a child - all of which are signs of possible child exploitation. The relationship between the adult and the child should also be questioned."

However, out of the 13 hotels approached by the plain clothes officers, a worrying 10 did not make any checks or challenges right up to the point of payment.

A similar operation in 2020 by Plymouth officers saw them carry out the same test on 12 hotel with 80 per cent of those tested making suitable checks on the booking before the room was acquired.