Canterbury hotel staff successfully identified potential child exploitation risks during a recent undercover operation designed to test their safeguarding training.
On Friday, October 17, 2025, Kent Police officers and cadets, as part of the nationwide ‘Operation Makesafe’ initiative, visited six city hotels. Officers posed as guests attempting to book rooms under suspicious circumstances to see if staff would recognize and act on potential child protection concerns, such as child abuse or trafficking.
All six venues received positive assessments, with staff demonstrating good knowledge and effectively applying their training to identify vulnerable children. Following the checks, officers revealed their identity, gave immediate performance feedback, and offered further safeguarding training, which all hotels accepted. The operation aims to help the hospitality sector spot and prevent child exploitation and has been carried out across all 12 districts in Kent throughout 2025.
Superintendent Peter Steenhuis said:
‘This operation was undertaken by Kent Police’s Child Centred Policing Team as part of our drive to prevent children from harm through positive engagement and education. Every member of staff our officers engaged with showed signs of concern and vigilance. Based on our review, we are confident that in each location action would have been taken to intervene or report concerns to police in a real-life scenario.’