Police Under Pressure

Sex Crime (1x3)

Air date: Nov 09, 2014

Examining British policing under pressure from budget cuts. This episode follows officers in Sheffield as they investigate two separate incidents of missing girls, both victims of grooming and horrific sex attacks. Filmed before the Jay Report child abuse revelations became public, the programme follows South Yorkshire Police over 12 months as they struggle to rebuild their tarnished reputation while at the same time trying to deal with a new spate of child sex crimes. With unprecedented access to both detectives on the ground and senior commanders, the film tells the inside story of the investigation of child sexual exploitation in South Yorkshire. In both cases, the police face a fundamental problem: officers may believe the girls are the victims of sexual crimes, but the girls initially protect the perpetrators and deny anything has happened. The film explores the complexity that is often at the heart of grooming cases - making them among the most difficult crimes to investigate and bring to justice.