Retired NYPD detectives boost ACS probes

The city’s child-welfare agency is beefing up its investigations of high-priority cases involving kids ages 3 and under by getting retired NYPD detectives involved as early as possible in the process.

The initiative, which officials said was piloted with good results on 750 cases since July, is part of the ongoing reforms of the Administra- tion for Children’s Services under new Commissioner David Hansell.

“This new, heightened protocol will bring more investigative expertise into our highest-risk cases — throughout the course of the investigation,” Hansell said Friday.

“Over the last nine months, we’ve instituted reforms across this agency based on evidence, data and best practices in child protection — and combining child-protective and law-enforcement investigative expertise in our most serious cases is a key component of this.”

The protocol applies to cases involving fatalities, serious injuries or suspected sexual abuse.

The agency said it has increased its number of investigative consul- tants — all of whom are retired NYPD detectives — by 26 percent this year, to 173.

Officials said the work includes conducting criminal and domesticviolence clearances before childprotective specialists ever enter a family’s house, leaving them better prepared and safer for the initial visit.