Policing behind the scenes: Meet the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT)
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It’s easy to have an opinion about policing and what we are able to share, but sometimes a lot of important work happens out of plain sight.
Away from the public eye are teams working in some of the darkest spaces to protect the most vulnerable.
Our online child abuse investigation team (OCAIT) is one of them.
In 2025, our small team made up of six police officers and one member of staff, received over 300 referrals for indecent images of children (IIOC) offences which resulted in 102 arrests across the organisation and examined 1,064 devices.
It is meticulous, complex and often harrowing work. There are no quick wins and little visibility, but the impact is life changing.
Their commitment to safeguarding children often goes unnoticed, but this week we’re changing that by shining a spotlight on the people behind the results and the roles they perform every day to protect our children.
We are proud of them, and they should be proud of themselves.