Midlife martyr wrote:
Is it far fetched to see a situation arising soon where a driver is castigated when he has failed to spot something ?
Thank God for that, it does say Castigated.
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| Author: | captain cab [ Sat Mar 26, 2016 11:43 am ] |
| Post subject: | unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused |
Crawley taxi drivers could be unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused TAXI drivers in Crawley are going to be trained in how to spot the signs they could be asked to pick up and ferry around a child who is being sexually exploited in the town or at Gatwick Airport. To mark Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Awareness Day on Friday, March 18 it was announced all 850 licensed hackney carriage and private hire drivers in Crawley will undergo new training. CSE is the abuse and manipulation of young girls and boys into sexual activity, potentially in exchange for things such as money, gifts, accommodation, affection or status. There are concerns Crawley's links with Gatwick Airport and the number of hotels in the area could mean vulnerable children are being exploited for sex – with drivers unknowingly transporting them. Councillor Michael Jones, cabinet member for public protection and community engagement at Crawley Borough Council and chair of the Safer Crawley Partnership, said: "Taxi drivers are known to transport vulnerable adults and children. "While I've received no intelligence to pinpoint there being a particular issue in Crawley, we cannot be complacent. We are right next to Gatwick Airport and if there is any sort of trafficking of young people going on it is likely that our taxi drivers are on the front line getting fares to ferry them from place to place. "We want to take hard action and the training will highlight awareness of CSE and encourage them to report any concerns to the police and council." Drivers are expected to complete the training course, funded by the Safer Crawley Partnership and Barnado's, this year. The course will highlight the signs to look out for, help drivers understand why a victim may not ask for help and to be aware of how children describe where they are going and why, plus the different grooming processes. Hackney carriage drivers are fully behind the new training. Martin Feasey, a hackney carriage driver in Crawley with 32 years' experience, has his own policy when it comes to being asked to take fares for children. He said: "I refuse to take a child aged under 14 who is alone, they should be accompanied by an adult. I wouldn't say it is safe for someone that young to be going somewhere alone and I wouldn't want to put myself in that situation." Bob Lawrence, a taxi driver for more than 40 years around Crawley, said: "This is a positive step. I cannot think of an occasion where I've ever had a young person in my taxi and felt as though something wrong was going on. "But at the same time, even with all my years of experience, I cannot be certain that I've known what to look out for. This training will change that and I'm fully behind it. "I'd hate to think I could pick up a passenger who was being groomed but if I ever did I'd want to be in the best position to spot what was happening and do something about it." Last year Crawley Borough Council spent £1,800 on handbooks urging taxi drivers to report concerns and what signs to look for. Next month Sussex Police are launching a further campaign in the area to give extra support to people running and working at hotels and B&Bs to help them look out for the tell-tale signs. Read more: http://www.crawleynews.co.uk/Crawley-ta ... z440LMYtoC |
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| Author: | captain cab [ Sat Mar 26, 2016 11:44 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused |
Quote: Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day Alongside Christmas, Easter and St Patricks Day - its one of my favourites |
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| Author: | bloodnock [ Sat Mar 26, 2016 1:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused |
captain cab wrote: Quote: Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day Alongside Christmas, Easter and St Patricks Day - its one of my favourites Clues to look out for: Sweeties, Puppies, Gaberdine Macs, Sunderland Strip with arrows on it etc.....where does it stop? |
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| Author: | Midlife martyr [ Sat Mar 26, 2016 4:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused |
Is it far fetched to see a situation arising soon where a driver is castigated when he has failed to spot something ? |
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| Author: | Chris the Fish [ Sat Mar 26, 2016 7:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused |
Midlife martyr wrote: Is it far fetched to see a situation arising soon where a driver is castigated when he has failed to spot something ? Thank God for that, it does say Castigated.
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| Author: | sasha [ Sat Mar 26, 2016 7:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused |
Midlife martyr wrote: Is it far fetched to see a situation arising soon where a driver is castigated when he has failed to spot something ? Not really. If another scandal blows up somewhere you can bet the council/police/social services will be saying 'Not our fault, we trained all taxi drivers to spot the signs and they didn't. We can't take action unless taxi drivers tell us about an issue so you can't blame us'  It's just an excuse so the authorities can pass the buck if something goes wrong. 
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| Author: | edders23 [ Sat Mar 26, 2016 9:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused |
I had an interesting conversation with a legal student recently. It is technically possible in law to prosecute and jail a taxi driver for failing to act based on their CSE training the argument being along the lines that failing to act makes them complicit in the exploitation but the law is very complicated on these issues I have a bad feeling that councils are trying to put us over a barrel with pants down by pushing this on us not here so far but I'm sure it will come |
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| Author: | Sussex [ Sat Mar 26, 2016 9:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused |
captain cab wrote: Crawley taxi drivers could be unknowingly ferrying around children to be abused The harsh cynic in me questions the 'unknowingly' bit. |
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