Police commissioner warns against 'Asian gangs' label for grooming

Earlier this month, the government announced a new “taskforce” to stamp out sexual exploitation of youngsters — singling out “British Pakistani men” as regular perpetrators.

PM Rishi Sunak also suggested police forces were still scared of persuing some suspects for fear of being accused of racism or bigotry.

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire’s police commissioner, said it was time to “lay that one to rest”.

He told Monday’s police and crime panel meeting: “As far as South Yorkshire is concerned, that is absolutely untrue — the idea that the police here were somehow inhibited or prevented from doing their work because of sensitivities around ethinicity or being politically correct.

“The Jay report said it was true in 2014. We have moved a long way since then.

“Another reason why we must not get trapped into thinking grooming is all about Asian gangs is because it narrows your field of vision.

“If you are not careful, you stop looking around at other examples of CSE, where it’s happening and who is perpetrating it.”

A quarterly report which went before the panel on Tuesday (25) said exploitation offending had continued to “evolve”, with online CSE now being recorded as the most prolific offending method in the region.

It added: “This is reflective of the national picture around a development from a predominantly community-based contextual risk of CSE to that of a digital threat.”

Dr Billings said: “So much of the grooming is moving online rather than being on the streets.

“When you go online, you see offenders can be male or female, of any age, any ethnicitiy or race and any social class.

“This is one of the best forces in the country now for understanding CSE and being abreast of the changes in the nature of grooming and child abuse.

“In Rotherham in particular, co-location of the local authority workers and police has made a huge difference. We are not where we were in 2014 or 2015.”