Violent Crime Directorate - update

Report: 10
Date: 26 October 2006
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides an overview of the developments in the Violent Crime Directorate (VCD). It represents further progress in achieving the Commissioner’s vision of cross-business group working. This report presents an update on progress for the Violent Crime Directorate.

A. Recommendation

That the report be noted

B. Supporting information

1. The Violent Crime Directorate (VCD) was established in March 2006 and was formed with the intention of providing a central service focus for the delivery of performance on Violent Crime. The overarching intention was to address dangerous people, dangerous places and to support vulnerable victims.

2. This report sets out the current progress and thinking in relation to the joining up and strengthening of the Violent Crime Directorate.

Violent Crime Directorate aims and objectives

3. The aims of the Violent Crime Directorate is to reduce specifically the following incidences:

• Gun enabled crime
• Knife enabled crime
• Personal robbery
• Alcohol-related violence

and to achieve this through the following:

• Increase the number of offences brought to justice in relation to all types of violent crime.
• Reduce the number of victims of all forms of violence.
• Increase confidence, trust and satisfaction among victims of domestic violence and hate crime.
• With partners, to ensure the effective management of dangerous persons and potentially dangerous persons.
• Increase overall confidence, trust and satisfaction in the MPS.
• Providing a clear, intelligence and evidence-based analysis of violent crime in London.
• Mapping current activity to identify gaps and to develop and implement solutions through the control strategies.
• Co-ordinating the response/tasking of MPS business groups along the continuum of violence – in particular, interventions into high-impact neighbourhoods.
• Providing support to boroughs in delivering their local strategies. In particular, through links with Safer Neighbourhood Teams and through tasking of the proactive team (Current Racial and Violent Task Force - RVCTF) to target and arrest dangerous and potentially dangerous persons.
• Having particular regard for the context of citizen-focussed policing, effectively engaging with and responding to the range of diverse communities. This will include the corporate priority of violence against women.
• Working with criminal justice partners to ensure the most effective and timely criminal justice outcomes.
• Working in existing local and national partnerships tackling violence and identifying new opportunities for a wide range of partners to contribute to the delivery of the objectives.
• Continuing to develop the understanding of the driver and predisposing factors behind violence.
• Identifying and sharing good practice.
• Ensuring minimum standards of service delivery are consistently achieved and enhanced.
• Ensuring we provide appropriate levels of support and protection to victims of violence.
• Further developing and implementing the Risk Assessment Management Panel (RAMP) process into boroughs.
• Raising public awareness through education, marketing and maintaining a high profile for activity and success.
• Influencing opinion formers and decision-makers in relation to legislative change and resource levels.

4. The table below outlines the targets for Directorate proposed in March 2006 and provides the current situation as of October 2006.

Currently there is a 4.9% reduction in relation to violence against the Person (VAP), sexual offences and robbery. [1]

5. The long-term plan is to develop a public protection performance indicator that reflects the complexity of risk management and subsequent outcomes.

Update on progress

Intelligence

6. The VCD are members of the joint intelligence group bringing together the separate business groups of SCD 5 (Child Protection), CO14 (Clubs and Vice), and TP.

7. In preparation for the migration over to the MIB, the VCD has drawn together all its intelligence assets, co-located them at Notting Dale and ESB and is working up the necessary structures and protocols to ensure a fully integrated intelligence support system. Through the development of the intelligence processes the RVCTF are now deployed to respond proactively to all key areas of public protection in response to the tasking process.

8. The RVCTF are tasked to tackle men of violence through using alternative tactics to tackle both domestic violence and hate crime offenders by focusing on other areas of criminality that they are engaged in. Such activity has a dual benefit in that it reduces the risks to vulnerable communities and also brings offenders to justice for organised criminal activity.

Tasking

9. As part of the intelligence function, the VCD has developed a fully functional interim tasking system to tie together boroughs, VCD and other business groups in relation to violent and volume crime. The current process replaces three separate forums and makes the process more efficient and uses fewer resources. This is a fully functioning cross-business group-tasking model.

Strengthening the function

10. A project manager has been appointed to develop a cohesive and integrated public protection function, drawing together the current separate units that are employed within the VCD. The purpose of this is to provide a joined-up seamless service from the point of a victim reporting a violent crime to the offender being brought to justice and their subsequent management at point of completion of their sentence or re-integration into the community.

11. Currently there are six separate HQ units within Territorial Policing (TP) that have responsibility for specific kinds of violence and danger in London. These are:

• Sapphire.
• Sapphire Cold Case.
• Jigsaw.
• Compass.
• Racial and Violent Crime Task Force.
• Community Safety Units Service Delivery.

12. These six units work separately to address violence in London. They all deal with separate phases of violence and vulnerability and have separate policies that underpin their work. Work is currently underway through the co-location of these units to ensure consistent working practises across London whereby the whole spectrum of public protection accountability is reflected not only in the HQ units but also at borough level.

13. This is critical to enable the MPS to address violence holistically and is particularly important set within the context of the requirement to provide a value-added public protection service to the people of London. This integration will provide a Centre of Excellence in tackling violent crime for the MPS. This will also ensure early identification of critical incidents through more effective working practises and better communication.

14. Integration will ensure that:

• HQ staff across specialisms can be integrated to reflect the holistic nature of violence in London, whilst still ensuring the benefit of developed expertise in these domains.
• Development of outcome-based public protection performance measures with a clear line of accountability.
• Ensure the MPS has an audit trail for defensible decision-making on violent crime.
• Maintain a corporate memory around public protection in London
• Centralised policy across all boroughs and specialisms thereby setting consistent standards across boroughs.

15. Strengthening the function will provide a consistent approach to violence across these different specialisms. This will ensure that the complexities associated with violent offences can be addressed through a multi-agency action plan.

Current projects supporting overarching aims

16. Five most challenged wards across London - this arises from a piece of research done by Professor Stanko to identify those wards where violent crime is high. The VCD is now coordinating and supporting activity on the relevant boroughs to address the issues. In addition to the first five wards an additional three gun crime wards have been included into this project. This will escalate up to the 34 wards that are responsible for 20% of all violent crime in London.

17. Operation Safer Streets 2006 – aims to reduce instances of robbery across London through using conventional and innovative tactics. The MPS has employed a proactive data-gathering exercise to identify trends across London and subsequently to approach boroughs with support and intervention strategies to provide the appropriate response to deal with the issue.

18. Risk Assessment Management Panels (RAMP) - this project is currently being piloted on five boroughs. It was established to deal with those ‘offenders’ that were un-convicted but had significant criminal intelligence reported that indicated a public protection risk. The aim was to develop a process of risk management of ‘offenders’ who did not meet the MAPPA threshold but nonetheless posed a significant risk to Londoners. This pilot also incorporates the management of risks to vulnerable persons (i.e. persistent missing children).

19. Violence against Women and Honour Based Violence - both seek ways in which agencies and CJU partners can make interventions to reduce risk to victims.

20. Project Umbra – the MPSs flagship project developing a fully integrated and joined up approach to domestic violence. The scope of the project involves courts, CJU partners, care of children of families with DV backgrounds and other care and support agencies.

21. Sapphire Cold Case - the team continues to use enhanced development within DNA to bring to justice offenders. To date 23 Sex Offenders have been convicted. In total the unit has ensured that dangerous sex offenders have been imprisoned for 210 years. The team have also developed specialist knowledge in relation to convicting offenders through use of ‘bad character’ evidence. This advance in using previous allegations of crime and criminal intelligence has led to the provision of a strong prosecution case supporting the victim’s account.

22. Rape Review - the review was designed to advance the MPS understanding of rape investigation. Through a combination of bespoke research on rape allegations and an exploration of the management support to rape victims and investigations. In collaboration with the Strategic Research Unit the VCD has tasked research to follow on from this initial review and a number of key areas have been taken forward. These include engagement with CPS in respect of their decision-making processes around rape; the vulnerability of victims and how this may affect the attrition rate; offender backgrounds and how victims may have been targeted through their vulnerability.

23. Operation Jigsaw - activity has been developed to provide a coordinated response to dangerous and deported offenders arriving at Heathrow airport. This work has led to the safe repatriation of very high-risk offenders into the community in a controlled and risk-managed environment. Prior to the involvement of Operation Jigsaw these offenders would have been allowed to return into the United Kingdom without any criminal intelligence being disseminated in respect of their offending history. As a result of this the VCD on behalf of the MPS is leading on a national protocol in liaison with other forces.

25. Operation Compass - this unit has undertaken an analysis of outstanding missing people in London. They have identified that there is currently 1314 persons outstanding of which 384 are children. The team has put in place a system linked to the vulnerability of the child to prioritise which cases require immediate review. The outcome of this review will be to identify investigative opportunities and potential organisational vulnerabilities.

26. Home Office ‘Alcohol-Related Crime Programme’ - this is a national project but in relation to London and is managed through GOL. The project involves providing additional funding to the ten most challenged boroughs to address alcohol related violence. The project includes the role out of programmes such as ‘Best Bar None’ that is a multi agency system for town centre management of licensed premises that has proved successful across the country.

27. Guns, gangs and knives - VCD have developed a key linkage with SCD and Blunt to develop a joined-up response within this forum. TP have seconded staff to develop this project and research and analysis work is being tasked through VCD tasking forum.

Partnerships

28. The VCD are continuing to develop strategic partnerships to support its drive to reduce violence in London. A key element of this has been to draw much closer alignment between the London Criminal Justice Board and the Strategic Management Board for London.

29. The VCD led a two-day seminar at Bramshill on the 28 and 29 September 2006 for all partner agencies with the aim to provide an opportunity to educate each other in respect of their individual agency role within MAPPA and to focus on the shared responsibility to enhance public protection arrangements across London. This event culminated in the signing of a commitment across all agencies to deliver on action plans in support of a pan-London public protection strategy.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The overall objective of the VCD is to reduce the impact of violent crime in communities. However, as policy-writers in relation to these specific areas of business, the MPS remains mindful of adverse impact or disproportionality that may occur as a result of the policy’s interpretation by staff. This area of business is regularly monitored for this purpose.

2. It is recognised that the manifestations of violence impact differently on different communities. The objectives of this work, if achieved will reduce the levels of violence suffered by all communities in London.

3. The consultation with key stakeholders, including IAG’s, and influential community leads will assist in ensuring that the proposed development meets the needs of the diverse communities in London. A key aspect to this work is the continued development of a race and equalities impact assessment, which will take place following the consolidation of the proposed structure, led by the Project Lead with ACPO.

D. Financial implications

The original financial implication of £285K remains, whilst the scoping exercise in relation to business realignment and cost benefit analysis is carried out. Initial accommodation moves has been undertaken at minimal cost, however, a full accommodation strategy based upon finalised structured will require additional consideration following consultation. A full review of police officer and police staff posts is underway.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: D/Supt Sandra Looby and Julia Flower, MPS

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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