HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) has said that Police Scotland’s response to the rise of online child sex abuse was more reactive than proactive, and warned of an increase in so-called vigilante groups.

A report conducted by HMICS said that almost half of online grooming cases were reported to police by paedophile hunters, who are unregulated and untrained.

Ten recommendations were put to Police Scotland in the report, which include calling on the force to:

• Improve the means by which the scale and nature of online child sexual abuse is assessed
• Undertake a strategic threat assessment to accurately identify the scale, nature and threat to children from online child sexual abuse
• Work with the National Crime Agency to ensure intelligence is shared effectively
• Review the capacity and capability to conduct undercover online covert operations in support of policing priorities

Police Scotland said it remained committed to “keeping children safe and building safer online communities”, and would carefully consider the report.

Gillian Imery, HMICS chief inspector, said there are “real challenges” to capturing the true nature and extent of online child sexual abuse.

“There is no dedicated analytical capability nor centralised intelligence assessment capability directed at online child sexual abuse,” she said.

“The lack of qualitative analytical and intelligence assessment hampers the force’s ability to identify future trends and developments, to formulate proactive responses, and to task specialist resources.

“There is very little proactive work being carried out in this area of criminality. One of the main proactive tactics would be to deploy undercover online specialist officers; however, this does not often happen.

“If Police Scotland had a more robust approach to its proactive capability, the opportunities for Online Child Abuse Activist Groups to operate would reduce.”

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Police Scotland deputy chief constable, Malcolm Graham, said: “Protecting children in Scotland is a top priority and we know that reports of online child sexual abuse, committed by sexual predators here in Scotland and worldwide, continue to rise exponentially.

“Cyber-enabled crime is placing an ever-increasing demand on policing in Scotland and elsewhere.

“It is essential in an ever-increasing digital world, despite limited funding, we continue to invest in both resources and new technologies to support our officers, giving them the best tools and confidence to keep pace with what is a complex area of investigation.

“Our officers investigate online sexual abuse on a daily basis and are as vital a part of front-line policing as the officers who patrol our streets.”