Investigations at the limits of the conceivable

Their workplace could hardly look more ordinary: a screened-off area without a door, four tidy desks with three screens each, a few neatly sorted hard discs, CDs… only the family photos are missing. But the material examined here is anything but ordinary: this is where the Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) unit of the criminal police is based. The tasks of the seven-member team – four investigators and three civilian analysts – include analysing photos and videos that would not exist in a better world. Yet they do exist… and in order to hold the people behind them accountable, they have to be analysed. And analysing means, first and foremost, looking at them.

"We receive new reports every week, " says Sven Schwaller, head of the CSAM unit. These can come from individuals, schools, the public prosecutor's office, Europol or other international organisations. Each report has a connection to Luxembourg. 107 new CSAM investigations were opened in 2024 alone, compared to 86 in the previous year.

Mike is one of the civilian analysts in the unit. He was hired because of his IT experience, but he only learnt the details in the job interview. That didn't put him off: "I always wanted to join the police, so I took the job. I've been here for five years now. The work is still incredibly fascinating." Sitting next to him is Steve, who is assigned to the team as an investigator. He also didn't know whether the unit was right for him: "None of us knew at the beginning whether we would be able to handle it. You only find once you've actually done it." [Portraits and their surnames have been omitted for investigative reasons, ed.] Today, the opportunity to complete an internal internship in the youth protection unit is an option for all aspiring police officers.