Police in Burton have warned that there are "no plans" to work with so-called paedophile hunters after the UK's lead officer said the partnership was "something they will potentially have to look at".
Detective Chief Inspector Nicki Furlong from Staffordshire Police has spoken out about the risks of a collaboration with vigilante groups following comments from Norfolk's Chief Constable Simon Bailey who admitted that he was "not winning the conversation" in which he had urged such groups to stop their efforts.
Police fear that vigilante groups such as Dark Justice or The Hunted One could put child abuse investigations at risk.
This is despite the success of vigilante cases which, locally, have seen Winshill paedophile Kevin Collins, Burton man George Ingledew, who is currently awaiting sentencing after admitting using the internet in an attempt to incite underage girls into sexual activity and Martin Rhodes, who was jailed for grooming - all uncovered by the Mansfield-based group 'Keeping Kids Safe'.
So-called paedophile hunters pose online as children and then film the 'groomer' when they arrive to meet the youngster.
This year alone has seen 26 incidents involving so-called vigilante "paedophile hunter" groups reported to Staffordshire Police, with a shocking 14 of these having taken place since June 17.
Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the national lead for child protection at the National Police Chiefs' Council, told the BBC: "These vigilante groups are putting the lives of children at risk.
"I am not going to condone these groups and I would encourage them all to stop, but I recognise that I am not winning that conversation. I think working with vigilantes is something we are going to have to potentially look at, yes, but it comes with some real complexity."
Mr Bailey warned that paedophile hunters' activities could hamper existing police operations.
He told BBC Radio 4: "I don't encourage or condone the activities of these paedophile hunters, because we only ever hear of the cases where they believe it has gone well.
"They don't take into consideration the safeguarding risks to children, the implications of a failed operation or the compromise of one of our own operations.So I don't believe that vigilantes are the answer to this problem."
Det Chief Insp Furlong said the force echoes Simon Bailey’s thoughts but it will remain "heavily invested in rooting out those who use the internet to prey on children".
She said: "We fully understand the desire to protect children, however any member of the public who has information about an individual who could be a risk to children should report the matter to the police straight away. This will then enable us to investigate the concerns fully, safeguard children and bring offenders to justice.
"We work with other agencies in a co-ordinated response to ensure that any child at risk can be appropriately safeguarded, and this is something that, in our experience, the vigilante groups do not do.
"When reference has been made to the police potentially working with paedophile hunter groups, this has to be treated with the utmost caution.
"As with any other investigation, the police conduct inquiries in line with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which ensures the investigation is of a standard to withstand its journey through the justice system.
"These groups do not conduct themselves in this way, and therefore it is important that the public understand the difficulties this then causes when they hand their "investigation" over to the police.
"There have been occasions where a so-called "paedophile hunter" has detained an individual of concern and then left the scene without providing the police with any evidence."
As a result of the risks such a partnership would pose, the Staffordshire force has no plans to work alongside any so-called vigilante teams.
Det Chief Insp Furlong said: "There are no plans at this time for Staffordshire Police to work pro-actively with vigilante "paedophile hunters" for these reasons. However, where any person, which will include members of these groups, reports concern about an individual who may pose a risk to children to us, of course we will do everything within our power to keep children safe and bring offenders to justice.
"Staffordshire Police is heavily invested in rooting out those who use the internet to prey on children. Operation Safenet is a pro-active team which is dedicated to bringing offenders of this kind to justice using covert resources. Since the launch of this team, every suspect who has been charged has been convicted at court."
Figures obtained by the BBC show an increase in the number of cases where evidence gathered by paedophile hunters is being used.
More than 44 per cent (114 of 259) cases of the crime of meeting a child following sexual grooming used this evidence in 2016, compared to 20 out of 176 cases in 2014.
More information, and help and advice on how to stay safe, are available by visiting here
