New adult and child protection structure to enhance vulnerability work

We have introduced a new structure to our public protection unit (PPU) teams as part of our enhanced focus on vulnerable people.

As well as increasing staffing numbers, our new structure to the PPU sees a focus on adult and child protection, rather than the previous investigations and safeguarding structure.

This means that officers will be more focused than ever before on the children and adults we are protecting as part of the unit’s work while we look to grow the existing teams and recruit more specialist staff.

This recruitment drive will see us continue to grow our capacity to help us deal with increasing demand within the PPUs.

Going forward, we will be:

• Designing and developing our child protection teams

• Designing and develop new multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASH) arrangements with partners

• Working more closely with our locally-based harm reduction hubs (HRH) to enhance our offender management and intervention work.

This work will run alongside our ongoing improvement work as part of our response to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) recommendations made in 2022 and we continue to improve our response, investigations and safeguarding work as part of this.

Detective Chief Superintendent Jen Mattinson, who is leading the work on the PPU developments, said: “The key underlying message for all of this is continued close partnership working in our communities and we’re committed to continuing to do that.

“Matching demand by providing more capacity to our teams and improving the service we provide to victims in Staffordshire are two key goals that we hope this new structure and ongoing developments will provide.

“Only by working with our communities and partners will we be able to improve our adult and child protection services to better serve those who need us across Staffordshire.”

To find out more about our PPU and our HRHs, visit: Force Priorities | Staffordshire Police.

For more information on how we can help you get the right support, see: Your area | Staffordshire Police.