We couldn't mark the ten year anniversary of Hydrant without hearing from Simon Bailey, QPM, DL, CBE about the origins of Hydrant and the first seven years of the programme, of which he was the portfolio lead.

A Brief History of Operation Hydrant

At the start of 2014 I was appointed to lead the National Police Chief Council’s (NPCC) child protection and abuse investigations working group. It was an honour and a privilege, but I am not sure I could have foreseen what it was going to entail and the impact it was going to have on me.

In hindsight, I could have predicted that the disclosure of non-recent child sexual abuse following the Saville scandal and the “Giving Victims a Voice” report published in January 2013, was going to lead to victim/survivors from all over the country having the courage and confidence to come forward. 

However, I am not sure I could have predicted the volume of disclosures. The highly charged debate about victims being believed, the Football Association child sex abuse scandal and the impact of the decision by then Home Secretary Theresa May to commission an Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).

IICSA was announced in July 2014 and by August 2014 it was clear the police service was struggling to coordinate and deconflict the growing number of cases of non-recent sexual abuse in institutions and perpetrated by persons of public prominence. As a result, I was asked to develop, lead and deliver a response to ensure victim/survivors were dealt with appropriately and that investigations were consistent and based on best practice. I cannot recall if I was charged with leading the NPCC response to IICSA at that time but in due course that happened. I think my chief constable colleagues breathed a collective sigh of relief that someone was going to deal with the inquiry on their behalf.  

When establishing Hydrant, my priority was to appoint a credible and experienced senior investigating officer to oversee and lead the establishment of a major incident room. Within weeks I was fortunate to be introduced to Detective Superintendent Richard Fewkes from South Yorkshire Police. Richard quickly secured office space and tech support in South Yorkshire and in a matter of weeks we had a major incident room up and running with trips to Sheffield becoming routine. 

We were very quickly deconflicting investigations around the country and helping to advise senior investigating officers who were struggling with the volume of reports they were receiving from victims living all over the United Kingdom. 

This was the start of Operation Hydrant – an NPCC asset, that to this day is still at the forefront of coordinating and improving the police service response to child sexual abuse.

Operation Hydrant personal reflections

I was fortunate to serve as a police officer for 35 years, 15 of those as an NPCC officer and the last eight as a chief constable. I am fortunate to have some amazing memories and highlights to reflect on.

Operation Hydrant is one of those highlights. I was privileged to lead the operation for seven years and to work with secondees from all over the country. 

Those secondees left their forces to come and work in Sheffield and I saw how dedicated and passionate they were. At the height of the operation there were 60 plus officers and staff working in the major incident room. I looked forward to spending time with them when I went to their offices, getting to know them and a little bit of their careers to date and then on occasions enjoying an evening in their company where the formalities of rank evaporated. I will never forget the warmth of the South Yorkshire welcome and on retirement being made an honorary Yorkshireman by the team.

Friendships were formed for life based on a shared understanding of what we were doing and why we were doing it. I will never be able to thank the team enough, we delivered on behalf of policing, and I could not be prouder of what we achieved. I am equally as proud of the team continuing to make a difference a decade on.   

We knew we were making a real difference and because of our work victims were being believed and offenders were being brought to justice. I learnt so many lessons from my Hydrant years but the most significant was that in the face of damming criticism and institutional outrage, if you believe what you are doing is right, don’t back down, have the courage of your convictions to challenge the establishment and push back.