Contents
Report 6 of the 2 February 2011 meeting of the Communities, Equalities and People Committee, provides an update of Performance against compliance with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.
Warning: This is archived material and may be out of date. The Metropolitan Police Authority has been replaced by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC).
See the MOPC website for further information.
Victims’ Code of Practice performance update
Report: 6
Date: 2 February 2011
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner
Summary
The purpose of this report is to provide an update of Performance against compliance with the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.
A. Recommendation
That members note the progress being made to comply with the Code of Practice for Victims and efforts made to improve satisfaction.
B. Supporting information
1. The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (VCOP) details 48 obligations for the Police Service to comply with. It is not possible or practical due to size and IT limitations to design a performance matrix for all 48 obligations.
2. Within the MPS several key obligations are monitored. These are areas that are considered of key importance to victims of crime and range from notification of a suspects arrest or decision to charge, through to maintaining ongoing contact with the victim throughout the investigation.
3. The Crime Reporting Information System (CRIS) is interrogated to identify the timeliness of updates to victims based on the date of entry of a particular code. The date of this code is what is used to determine whether the update occurred within the timescales or not. For example if a suspect was arrested on 1/11/10 and the victim informed code was dated 2/11/10 then this would be considered in time and compliant with VCOP.
4. This compliance data is issued to all Borough Crime Management Units on a monthly basis and represents compliance on that borough at that particular point in time. It should be noted that compliance data can change daily so therefore a snapshot is taken on the 7th of each month for the preceding month.
5. The main limitations to accurately monitoring VCOP is ensuring the investigator or police staff user remember to record the update code once a message has been passed to the victim. Quite often a report may appear as having little or no contact codes present, and yet a review of the investigative notes reveal high levels of contact between the MPS and victim.
6. To address this issue and provide an enhanced level of service, TP Emerald completed the rollout of the Victim Focus Unit project in January 2008. Its primary aims are to provide victims of crime with updates of investigations, to address VCOP obligations and to ensure that victims are given information about support services.
7. Figure 1 illustrates overall MPS compliance with keeping a victim informed of developments on a monthly basis (VCOP Obligation 5.9). The MPS has put significant effort into this area as prior to the publication of VCOP it was recognised nationally that victims were generally kept informed on an “as and when” basis.
Figure 1 - Compliance with Obligation 5.9 - Maintaining Monthly Contact
| Month | % records showing new update given within 28 days of previous update |
|---|---|
| January 2007 | 21% |
| January 2008 | 58% |
| January 2009 | 83% |
| January 2010 | 93% |
| September 2010 | 92% |
8. The following table illustrates this same indicator and is broken down by London borough.
Figure 2 - Compliance with Obligation 5.9 - Broken down by London Borough
| London Borough | % records showing new update given within 28 days of previous update | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan-08 | Jan-09 | Jan-10 | Sep-10 | |
| Barking and Dagenham | 68% | 86% | 96% | 95% |
| Hackney | 63% | 92% | 97% | 93% |
| Havering | 71% | 81% | 89% | 91% |
| Newham | 42% | 71% | 91% | 94% |
| Redbridge | 69% | 85% | 98% | 100% |
| Tower Hamlets | 48% | 94% | 94% | 94% |
| Waltham Forest | 86% | 84% | 93% | 98% |
| Barnet | 79% | 89% | 94% | 82% |
| Brent | 60% | 78% | 97% | 98% |
| Camden | 39% | 95% | 96% | 97% |
| Enfield | 61% | 65% | 89% | 96% |
| Haringey | 59% | 86% | 98% | 99% |
| Harrow | 52% | 75% | 70% | 83% |
| Hillingdon | 41% | 81% | 96% | 94% |
| Islington | 68% | 92% | 100% | 98% |
| Bexley | 90% | 87% | 94% | 91% |
| Bromley | 61% | 80% | 96% | 93% |
| Croydon | 59% | 86% | 95% | 95% |
| Greenwich | 29% | 92% | 92% | 98% |
| Lambeth | 45% | 60% | 95% | 73% |
| Lewisham | 75% | 82% | 91% | 96% |
| Southwark | 60% | 77% | 92% | 88% |
| Sutton | 44% | 84% | 99% | 98% |
| Ealing | 57% | 97% | 91% | 85% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 39% | 70% | 97% | 97% |
| Hounslow | 75% | 85% | 99% | 98% |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 96% | 95% | 84% | 89% |
| Kingston Upon Thames | 72% | 97% | 96% | 96% |
| Merton | 62% | 89% | 96% | 97% |
| Richmond Upon Thames | 84% | 96% | 96% | 95% |
| Wandsworth | 83% | 93% | 97% | 92% |
| Westminster | 45% | 81% | 99% | 98% |
| MPS | 58% | 83% | 93% | 92% |
9. Compliance with this area has been made easier by the provision of data to assist boroughs with identifying investigations where contact has either lapsed or is approaching its time limits. This data is provided centrally by Territorial Policing Operation Emerald (Criminal Justice department) and is supplied on a weekly basis.
Serious Acquisitive Crimes
10. Serious Acquisitive Crimes are not routinely extracted from the monthly performance information; therefore a year on year comparison is not possible. Figure 3 Illustrates data taken from a snapshot on the 21st October 2010.
Figure 3 - Overall compliance with obligation 5.9 broken down to Serious Acquisitive Crimes types
| Offence Class | Total No of VCOP Applicable Records | Number of records shown as receiving ongoing update | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Burglary | 931 | 877 | 94% |
| Robbery (of business property) | 66 | 65 | 98% |
| Robbery (of personal property) | 1300 | 1254 | 96% |
| Theft from vehicle | 193 | 182 | 94% |
| Theft/Taking of vehicle | 256 | 237 | 92% |
| Total | 2746 | 2615 | 95% |
11. Figure 4 is the same indicator but broken down to Boroughs
Figure 4 - Borough Compliance with Obligation 5.9 broken down to Serious Acquisitive Crimes types
| Borough | Total No of VCOP Applicable Records | Number of Records shown as receiving update | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kensington and Chelsea | 76 | 70 | 92% |
| Westminster | 117 | 115 | 98% |
| Camden | 51 | 51 | 100% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 30 | 29 | 97% |
| Hackney | 49 | 48 | 98% |
| Tower Hamlets | 73 | 67 | 92% |
| Waltham Forest | 53 | 46 | 87% |
| Redbridge | 100 | 100 | 100% |
| Havering | 48 | 46 | 96% |
| Newham | 192 | 189 | 98% |
| Barking and Dagenham | 94 | 91 | 97% |
| Lambeth | 167 | 144 | 86% |
| Southwark | 263 | 247 | 94% |
| Islington | 62 | 62 | 100% |
| Lewisham | 106 | 105 | 99% |
| Bromley | 81 | 77 | 95% |
| Harrow | 87 | 84 | 97% |
| Brent | 164 | 156 | 95% |
| Greenwich | 95 | 91 | 96% |
| Bexley | 43 | 43 | 100% |
| Barnet | 81 | 79 | 98% |
| Richmond upon Thames | 48 | 48 | 100% |
| Hounslow | 43 | 41 | 95% |
| Kingston Upon Thames | 22 | 21 | 95% |
| Merton | 54 | 53 | 98% |
| Wandsworth | 88 | 86 | 98% |
| Ealing | 95 | 85 | 89% |
| Hillingdon | 96 | 89 | 93% |
| Edmonton | 61 | 60 | 98% |
| Harringey | 65 | 65 | 100% |
| Croydon | 98 | 83 | 85% |
| Sutton | 44 | 44 | 100% |
| Total | 2746 | 2615 | 95% |
Domestic Violence
12. Domestic Violence Crimes are not routinely extracted from the monthly performance information; therefore a year on year comparison is not possible. Figure 5 Illustrates data taken from a snapshot on the 21st October 2010.
Figure 5 - Borough Compliance with Obligation 5.9 broken down to Domestic Violence Offences.
| Owning Borough | Total No of VCOP Applicable Records | Number of Records shown as receiving update | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kensington and Chelsea | 8 | 7 | 88% |
| Westminster | 14 | 12 | 86% |
| Camden | 12 | 12 | 100% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 11 | 11 | 100% |
| Hackney | 12 | 12 | 100% |
| Tower Hamlets | 22 | 22 | 100% |
| Waltham Forest | 17 | 15 | 88% |
| Redbridge | 24 | 23 | 96% |
| Havering | 23 | 18 | 78% |
| Newham | 34 | 30 | 88% |
| Barking and Dagenham | 32 | 29 | 91% |
| Lambeth | 59 | 25 | 42% |
| Southwark | 60 | 51 | 85% |
| Islington | 10 | 9 | 90% |
| Lewisham | 37 | 36 | 97% |
| Bromley | 29 | 28 | 97% |
| Harrow | 36 | 33 | 92% |
| Brent | 71 | 64 | 90% |
| Greenwich | 31 | 31 | 100% |
| Bexley | 4 | 4 | 100% |
| Barnet | 20 | 20 | 100% |
| Richmond upon Thames | 17 | 17 | 100% |
| Hounslow | 20 | 19 | 95% |
| Kingston Upon Thames | 11 | 11 | 100% |
| Merton | 17 | 17 | 100% |
| Wandsworth | 20 | 19 | 95% |
| Ealing | 31 | 13 | 42% |
| Hillingdon | 17 | 13 | 76% |
| Edmonton | 39 | 39 | 100% |
| Harringey | 19 | 19 | 100% |
| Croydon | 24 | 19 | 79% |
| Sutton | 20 | 14 | 70% |
| Total | 803 | 694 | 86% |
Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Operational Command Unit (SCD2) - Investigated Offences
13. With regards to SCD2 investigations, Figure 6 Illustrates data taken from a snapshot on the 21st October 2010.
| Owning Unit | Total No of VCOP Applicable Records | Number of records shown as receiving ongoing update | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCD2 | 1346 | 686 | 51% |
14. SCD2 works with the NHS Specialist Commissioning Group to jointly commission Haven services for victims of rape and serious sexual violence. The services are jointly funded to a total £4.2m this financial year. There are three Havens which are situated in Camberwell, Paddington and Whitechapel. There role is to improve criminal justice outcomes as well as physical and mental health outcomes for victims. Victims are generally referred by police to the Havens, but victims can refer themselves for Haven support anonymously. SCD2 Specialist Support Team provide dedicated support to the SCD2 Haven partnership through training, chairmanship of the strategic board and managing partnership initiatives
Increases in satisfaction
15. As mentioned earlier, the rollout of the Victim Focus Units (VFUs) has lead to far greater compliance with VCOP obligations. The MPS is keen to continue to improve the service it gives to victims of crime and is placing significant emphasis on the quality of the service delivered by VFU’s.
16. The following table illustrates the steady increase in satisfaction with police follow up. VCOP obligation 5.9 mirrors a user satisfaction survey (formally British Crime Survey) question that asks if the victim was kept informed on a regular basis and this requirement is a key principle of VFU daily business.
| Year | Obligation 5.9 Compliance | Victim Satisfaction with follow up |
|---|---|---|
| June 2007 | 28% | 58% |
| June 2008 | 70% | 59% |
| June 2009 | 85% | 66% |
| June 2010 | 94% | 68% |
17. Prior to the establishment of VFUs the satisfaction with police follow up remained static at around 58% and the MPS was bottom when compared to our 4 Most Similar Forces. However Quarter 4 data from IQuanta shows the MPS as improving and now 3rd within its MSF.
18. TP Emerald continues to push and develop the VFU’s and are now looking towards including the public satisfaction data along side VCOP performance. The aim is to illustrate the quantity of contact via VCOP compliance and the quality of that contact through the satisfaction measures.
C. Other organisational and community implications
Equality and Diversity Impact
1. There are no implications. This report details the current performance and compliance levels against VCOP and the steps being taken to further improve satisfaction levels.
Consideration of MET Forward
2. This area of work forms part of the Met Specialist strand and within that the Public Protection programme.
Financial Implications
3. There are no financial implications as this report is focused on performance and compliance against VCOP.
Legal Implications
4. There are no legal implications as this report is focused on performance and compliance against VCOP.
Environmental Implications
5. There are no environmental implications as this report is focused on performance and compliance against VCOP.
Risk Implications
6. There are no risk implications as this report is focused on performance and compliance against VCOP.
D. Background papers
None
E. Contact details
Report authors: Alan Catlin, Victim and Witness Care and Court Interfaces Project Manager, TP Emerald - Department of Investigation and Criminal Justice, MPS
For information contact:
MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18
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