Child Abuse Investigation Team named Team of the Year at inaugural Gloucestershire Police Federation Recognition Awards

7 September 2026

Gloucestershire Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) has been named Team of the Year at the  inaugural Gloucestershire Police Federation Recognition Awards.

Det Insp Sarah Rhys-Davies, DC Caroline George, T/Det Sgt Sophie Royle, DC Georgia Marshall, DC Jess McCahill, T/DC Jess Furber, DC Andrea Besford, and police staff member Ellen Forster all work for CAIT.

 
They face high demand, increasing work remits and frequent traumatic incidents, yet they put their all into every investigation.

 
This tenacity means they often succeed in securing charges for serious offences, leading to long prison sentences. The CPS’s recent Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) quarterly report shows that the team has a 100% solved rate for interfamilial sexual offending, which reflects CAIT’s success in disrupting violence against women and girls and delivering an excellent service to victims.

 
In 2025, CAIT faced critically low staffing levels, and officers from response investigation teams temporarily backfilled vacant posts. As a consequence, a number of non-specialist officers – including student officers – were rapidly transitioned into one of the most emotionally demanding departments in policing.

 
To support this transition, the supervisory team worked hard to onboard the new officers, providing essential knowledge about the risks and procedures associated with child abuse investigations.

 
Within a week of the redeployment, CAIT experienced an unprecedented surge in child death investigations. Across the year, 24 child deaths were investigated, with six occurring within a seven-week period alone – representing a 32% increase compared to 2023 and 2024.

 
Notably, the department encountered a significant rise in teenage suicides, a pattern not previously experienced at this scale.

Compounding this, three of the child deaths investigated during the year involved children of serving police officers. These incidents had a profound effect on team morale and wellbeing. Despite the personal and professional toll, CAIT officers and supervisors demonstrated remarkable resilience, compassion and unwavering commitment to safeguarding children and supporting families.

DC Marshall said: “I feel proud to be part of the team. It's a really special department, and the work we do is really rewarding. We genuinely are invested in the job and care about the victims. I always want to do a good job and have them feel that the right person is advocating for them. I feel lucky to do the job, to be honest. I really do feel like it's a privilege to be able to do this.”

When she heard they were winning an award, Det Insp Rhys-Davies said she was “really delighted for the team”. She continued: “It's been a really tough year with resourcing and demand, and the nature of what we deal with can be harrowing and traumatic. For them to get some recognition of all of the hard work and tenacity that they've put in is fantastic.”

She continued: “I spent 12 years myself as a DC on this department, so I'm fully aware of the harrowing trauma that comes in and the responsibility of investigating it. I just want to lead the team to make their investigations and their experiences within the department as smooth and pain-free as possible. They're the ones that are dealing with it, day in, day out. They're amazing.”

Gloucestershire Police Federation Chair Adam Williams said: “This team have had to deal with a lot this year – the emotional impact of even a single child death investigation cannot be overstated, and this is on top of the other sensitive sexual offence cases the CAIT team investigates daily.

 
“The work is distressing but it is incredibly important. The team are worthy winners of this award, and we all thank them for their determination to safeguard the most vulnerable in our society.”

Representatives from the CAIT team will attend the 2026 Gloucestershire Police Federation Recognition Awards on Thursday 10 September 2026.

The Gloucestershire Police Federation Recognition Awards are in association with Bluline Health.  

 
Also sponsoring the Awards are Gloucestershire Police Group Insurance Scheme, Niche, Uniform Mortgages, Police Friendly, Warren & Co, Philip Williams, Police Mortgages, Axon, Accord, No1 Copperpot Credit Union, Quick Mortgages, Temple Legal and Serve and Protect Credit Union.