Departments

The Public Protection Unit

(PPU)

The Public Protection Unit at States of Jersey Police has a remit to deal with aspects of offending which include violent and sexual crimes. The unit deals with domestic abuse cases and child abuse cases.

Jersey experiences relatively low levels of serious violent and sexual crime. Nevertheless, our community is no different from others in having a small number of dangerous offenders in its midst who pose an ongoing threat to other members of society. We define these ‘dangerous offenders’ as those individuals who –

physically abuse children in their care
directly or indirectly engage in the sexual abuse of children
physically or mentally abuse intimate partners and adult family members
commit serious sexual offences
pose a threat to other members of the public through their tendency to use extreme violence

Unfortunately, these offenders are sometimes the most difficult to bring to justice. Their victims are often reluctant or unable to speak out and the onus is often on the Police to try to secure a conviction without critical evidence from the victim. All too often, we are aware that these offenders will continue to commit serious offences if they cannot be brought to justice.

Child Protection
In the first six months of 2007, the Child Protection Unit carried out 54 joint investigations with the Children’s Service and investigated another eight cases where adults have come forward to report historic abuse during their childhood. The latter have so far given rise to six prosecutions for alleged rape and indecent assault against children.

Current investigations have so far yielded one prosecution for indecent assaults on children and three for physical abuse of children in 2007.

Domestic Abuse
Domestic violence is a huge problem for society and for the Police. About 25% of recorded assaults in Jersey are domestic abuse related. In reality, that figure may well be even higher as research shows that many domestic violence assaults go unreported.

In the first six months of 2007, States of Jersey Police attended 363 domestic incidents. 115 domestic abuse assaults were recorded as a result of these incidents which represents an increase of 8.5% compared to 2006 and 21% compared to the three-year average.

Adult Sex Offenders
Whilst stranger sex attacks are comparatively rare in Jersey, States of Jersey Police always urge people to take sensible precautions to ensure their own safety.

Two cases of alleged rape reported to have occurred in the first six months of 2007 are currently under investigation by States of Jersey Police. In one case, a suspect has been charged and, in the second, a file has been submitted to the Force Legal Adviser for consideration.

In addition, the Force has dealt with 14 cases of indecent assault reported to have occurred in the first six months of 2007. Currently, investigations have led to charges in six of these cases.