Commissioner’s report

Report: 4
Date: 25 June 2009
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report summarises the progress of the Metropolitan Police Service against the objectives featured in the Policing London 2009 – 2012 Business Plan.

The narrative in the report covers the periods April and May 2009 with data for individual measures reflecting the rolling year ended 30 April 2009 unless stated otherwise. It is intended to highlight progress against corporate targets and identifies key operational activities that deliver a safer city for all London’s communities.

This report contains the usual monthly figures relating to the Critical Performance Areas. Report headlines can be summarised as follows:

• Knife crime shows a 11.7% reduction or 1,625 fewer violent crimes involving knives
• Serious acquisitive crime comprising residential burglary, robbery and motor vehicle crime has fallen by 7.5% or 16,230 fewer offences over the last 12 months
• The MPS workforce increased to over 52,000 employees at the end of May while the overall police officer numbers at almost 33,000 are the highest level ever recorded.

A. Recommendation

Members are requested to note the contents of the report.

B. Supporting information

1. This report provides updates on performance against the corporate objectives featured in the Policing London Business Plan. These have been grouped under the key priorities of Confidence, Safety and Continuous Improvement. For each objective we summarise progress and report on key initiatives. For ease of reference a summary table giving an overview of performance is attached at Appendix 1 with a green (G), amber (A), red (R) assessment against the Critical Performance Areas (CPAs) under each objective.

2. The new set of CPAs for 2009/10 include the following key changes from 2008/09:

• Reflecting a change in government policy first highlighted in the Green Paper “From the neighbourhood to the national: policing our communities together” – for 2009/10 there is only one designated Statutory Performance Indicator (SPI) – the new overarching confidence measure “% people who agree that the police and local council are dealing with the anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in their area”.
• No other measures carry a designated SPI status. However we track many CPAs via performance indicators from the Assessment of Policing and Community Safety (APACS) framework. (A glossary of terms is attached at Appendix 2)
• A measure for whether the public agree that the police would treat them with respect has been added, to reflect this key component of the MPS Policing Pledge.
• Knife crime is now a CPA, reaffirming this continuing priority for the MPS.
• The CPAs now also include efficiency and productivity, ICT availability and BME police officer recruitment targets.

3. The work on the 5 P’s of Presence, Performance, Productivity, Professionalism and Pride provide a focus on delivering our priorities of confidence, safety and improvement. Progress is being overseen by our Confidence and Pride Board chaired by the Deputy Commissioner. A fuller report on this will be coming to Full Authority in September.

Our Delivery: performance and activity

Confidence

Objective: Make our services more accessible and improve people’s experience of their contact with us, especially victims and witnesses.

How we monitor our performance

4. The primary measure for this objective is the SPI for public confidence in police and local councils dealing with anti-social behaviour and crime that matter in their area measured independently via the Home Office’s British Crime Survey (BCS). We track confidence in local policing by the MPS alone using a separate BCS indicator.

5. We also monitor our progress via two APACS performance indicators (APACS PI) of user satisfaction derived from a comprehensive survey of service users conducted by an independent market research company. The survey takes place on a continuous basis and captures recent experiences of victims of burglary, violent crime, vehicle crime, road traffic collisions and racist incidents.

6. We gauge how the wider London public perceive they are treated by the police using a measure from the Public Attitude Survey (PAS). The PAS is conducted for the MPS by an independent market research company and measures Londoners' perceptions of policing, identifies their priorities and experiences of crime and policing.

Progress summary

• The latest results show the SPI for confidence in local policing now stands at 48.2% [year to Dec 2008] up from 47.4% [year to Sept 2008] against a target to reach 55.4% by March 2011. On the second indicator tracking the job done by the MPS, rather than that in partnership with local councils, confidence was 54.8% [year to Dec 2008]. The MPS leads its Home Office Most Similar Family (MSF) group and is 15th out of the 42 police force areas in England and Wales on both these indicators. The result for the full year to March 2009 is not expected to become available until July. Considerable effort is being applied to improve this performance and a detailed update was provided to the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee on 8 June.
• Victim satisfaction with our overall service was 77.7% for the year to March 2009. We are aiming to improve overall satisfaction to 80% during 2009/10.
• The satisfaction gap between white and BME victims was 4.7% points for the year to March 2009. The MPS is implementing a number of initiatives to address overall victim satisfaction and this satisfaction gap.
• 78% of the public surveyed agreed that the police would treat them with respect if they contacted them for any reason. We aim to improve this to 79% in 2009/10.

Recent initiatives

7. In recent weeks Mounted Branch officers have been working alongside officers from Hackney BOCU in a joint operation to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre. This has been strongly welcomed by a number of local retailers such as Primark, M&S, McDonalds and 02 Telefonica who have commented on the reduction in street drinking and shoplifting as well as improving the feeling of safety in the area.

Safety

Objective: Make our neighbourhoods safer through local and city-wide problem solving and partnership working to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and road casualties

How we monitor our performance

8. Progress is monitored using the serious acquisitive crime rate and, to assess the safety of our roads network across the capital, the MPS monitors the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions.

Progress summary

• Serious acquisitive crime has been on a long term improving trend, falling 7.5% [16,230 offences] over the rolling year. Our target is to achieve a 2% reduction year-on-year for 2009/10.
• The MPS has a long term target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions to half the annual average between 1994 and 1998. The MPS is currently exceeding this target.

Recent initiatives

Operation Spotlight

9. This operation, which commenced in November 2008 contributed to a number of successful outcomes including the achievement of a 1.1% reduction in burglary offences in 2008/09 compared with the previous year and a Sanction Detection rate of 13% for residential burglary. Satisfaction with police response increased from 81% to 91% while satisfaction with police treatment increased from 90% to 97% for burglary victims surveyed in seven boroughs as part of an evaluation of the operation.

10. During 2009/10 the focus will be on the continued use of burglary victim packs, effective co-ordination and management of prolific burglars in HM custody to ensure they are effectively managed upon release and the implementation of Dedicated Detection Teams to ensure every opportunity for maximising Sanction Detections is taken.

Objective: Reduce serious violence and protect young people

How we monitor our performance

11. Performance is monitored against this objective using APACS indicators for most serious violence, knife crime and our investigation performance, for which we use sanction detection (SD) rates as a proxy for the number of offenders brought to justice.

Progress summary

• April 2009 shows an apparent increase of 25.8% in Most Serious Violence (MSV) compared to April 2008. This is a significant change and it is not clear how much is attributable to the change in MSV recording practice brought in by the Home Office from April 2008. We are currently reviewing the recording of MSV in the first quarter of 2008/09. At the end of June HMIC will also be reviewing the adoption of new recording practice across all forces.
• Knife crime showed an 11.7% reduction or 1,625 fewer violent knife crimes.
• The sanction detection rate for most serious violence was 30.4%. Our target is to improve this to 32% for 2009/10
• The sanction detection rate for serious sexual offences was 29.9%. Our target is to improve this to 31% for 2009/10.

Recent initiatives

Operation Blunt 2

12. A report was presented to the SOP Committee on 8 June that provided members with an overview of the strategic and tactical learning from Blunt 2 since it commenced in May 2008. Performance figures relating to knife crime and wider serious youth violence are encouraging but this remains a priority for the MPS and a sustained response with close community engagement remains necessary.

13. In addition to reductions in knife crime, youth homicide (10-19 years) decreased by 3 to 25 homicides in the rolling 12 months to 30 April 2009 compared to 28 homicides a year before.

14. Significant areas of learning have included the need for a pan-London daily management meeting to assess incidents and intelligence to ensure deployments are made where there are indications of serious youth violence, a Central Operations room to provide a centralised command and control and a refreshed Community Impact Assessment to ensure the right contact with communities, including young people.

15. Blunt 2 will continue during 2009/10 with a focus on mainstreaming the activity and reducing costs. The recent resourcing demands of G20 and the central London Tamil demonstrations have impacted on operations under Blunt 2 because of the escalated aid requirement.

16. Effective partnerships with local authorities, schools and other agencies are at the heart of Operation Blunt 2, as is transparency towards and engagement with local communities, especially those disproportionately affected by serious youth violence and knife crime.

MPS Youth Strategy

17. The strategy has developed a new approach to preventing serious youth violence through funding a co-ordinated programme of targeted and specialist youth engagement and diversion programmes. The strategy has been externally reviewed and an evaluation of the programmes commissioned is being delivered to the Youth Strategy Board on 12 June.

18. Positive outcomes from the strategy include the Safer Schools Partnership ensuring that every school has a dedicated police contact through Safer Neighbourhood teams, the Kickz Football diversion programme with the Football Foundation engaging 6,000 young people through football coaching and Met-Track which engages over 5,000 young people in athletics using Sport England coaches and high profile athletes.

Prosecution under ‘double jeopardy’ legislation

19. On 21 May Mario Celaire, a man who killed his ex-girlfriend became the first person to be prosecuted by the MPS under this legislation, relating to the Criminal Justice Act 2003. In 2002 he was found not guilty of the murder of Cassandra McDermott. However, in February 2007 Celaire attacked Kara Hoyte. She found court papers relating to his original trial and confronted him at which point he confessed to the original killing. As a result, a reinvestigation was undertaken and in May 2009 Celaire pleaded guilty to both charges. He will be sentenced in July.

Child abuse investigations

20. On 19 May Robert Stringer was charged with 13 offences of rape and various other sexual assaults that occurred while he was a teacher in Eastcote between 1999 and 2007. In a separate case also investigated by the Child Abuse Investigation Team Ponnuthurai Sivathasan, a private tutor in Ilford was jailed for six and a half years after being convicted of sexually assaulting three of his pupils.

Objective: Disrupt more criminal networks and reduce the harm caused by drugs

How we monitor our performance

21. We monitor performance using a combination of internal measures and an APACS PI.

Progress summary

• We disrupted 382 criminal networks over the 12 months to April 2009 and aim to increase this to 425 disruptions in the rolling year to March 2010.
• The value of assets identified by court order for seizure was £54.0m, currently exceeding the year end target of £45m.
• The number of sanction detections for the trafficking of Class A drugs has fallen from 2,516 in 2008/09 to 2,390 for the rolling year to April 2009. The overall decrease can be attributed to decreases in sanction detections for cocaine (including Crack) and MDMA. Sanction detections for Cocaine (including Crack) decreased from 1,636 in 2008/09 to 1,531 for the rolling year to April 2009. We also saw a large decrease in sanction detections for MDMA down from 206 in 2007/08 to 100 in 2008/09. The recent decreases may be due to higher levels of officer abstraction over recent months compared to the same period last year. There is also some indication that overall drug trends are changing and we are monitoring the situation closely. We have set ourselves the target of improving on 2008/09 performance in 2009/10.

Recent initiatives

22. Specialist Crime has successfully dismantled a criminal gang led by Dr Chinh Nguyen that was responsible for laundering an estimated £5 million from London’s cannabis factories back to Vietnam. In May 2009, Nguyen and his brother were sentenced to 5 and 6 years imprisonment respectively. Officers from the MPS Payback unit currently have in excess of £1 million assets in the UK restrained and enquiries are continuing in respect of tracing overseas assets of all the defendants.

23. During 2008/09 the MPS deprived nearly 4,800 criminals of £21 million of assets illegally gained from their criminal activities. The bulk of the money is reinvested to train and skill those officers to pursue those who exploit vulnerable people. Where individual victims can be identified their compensation will always be the priority. In addition, £500,000 of criminal money will support the Safer London Foundation in its effort to divert young people away from a life of crime.

Objective: Enhance our counter terrorism capability and capacity

How we monitor our performance

24. The MPS continues to report its performance in relation to counter-terrorism to the MPA/MPS Counter Terrorism Protective Services Sub-committee, chaired by Lord Toby Harris. The next meeting of this group is on 23 July 2009. Internally reports are also regularly provided to MPS Performance Board.

Progress summary

25. Terrorism remains a significant threat to the United Kingdom. The current threat level is assessed as Severe (since 4 July 2007). To address this, significant capacity has been developed within the MPS to deliver the Government counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST 2.

Prevent

26. The MPS Prevent implementation plan launched in March is ongoing under the new Prevent lead Commander Shaun Sawyer. This includes development of local counter terrorism profiles to assist partnership work with communities or individuals vulnerable to recruitment by violent extremists.

Protect – ‘New Operations Suite’

27. A new purpose-built Operations Suite in New Scotland Yard for SO1 Protection Command was opened in May 2009 by Baroness Thatcher. The new headquarters includes a command and control centre providing 24-hour assistance to officers in the field, a briefing room with secure video conferencing with the ability to have live footage relayed to the conference room.

Recent Operations and Trials

28. A major SO15 and Security Service investigation into an Al Qaeda influenced terrorist cell active here and overseas has provided the first conviction in the UK for Terrorism Control Order offences. The investigation was supported by South Yorkshire and Leicestershire Police. Four people were charged with offences under Section 58 TACT 2000, breaching a Terrorist Control Order and with possessing encrypted data. At trial, one of the group pleaded guilty and received four and a half years imprisonment.

29. A recent major investigation led by SO15 into a conspiracy to steal over £1 million of high value vehicles received considerable publicity due to the link to extremist Abu Hamza through his sons who were among the subjects of the investigation. The investigation exposed a well-organised crime group well versed in the import and export of stolen vehicles and associated documentation. Eight were arrested and charged, seven pleaded guilty to theft and fraud offences and received substantial custodial sentences in May 2009.

30. The National Terrorism Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) cash team carried out several cash seizures in May and June 2009, involving over £26,000 suspected of being linked to terrorist groups. NTFIU disruption teams also carried out two proactive disruption operations using non-terrorism legislation. Five premises were searched with three arrests regarding fraud and money laundering.

31. Terrorist fundraisers, facilitators and groups have been disrupted by cash seizure, arrests, prosecutions and convictions. Strategically this active use of new legislation will test its boundaries, set working precedents and enhance our operational effectiveness. The experience gained will enhance national policing capability in using cash seizures as a disruption technique in CT linked operations.

Section 44 Review

32. Following a review of the MPS use of stop and search powers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT) a new model refining its use has been established for a three month pilot in four boroughs: Southwark, Brent, Newham and Tower Hamlets. This will reduce the overall numbers of s44 stops while giving a closer protective focus on key areas and events. Guidance has been issued in respect of powers, which all officers are required to adhere to.

Objective: Plan for, and effectively police, major events in London and prepare for the 2012 Olympics

How we monitor our performance

33. There are no SPIs for this corporate objective, which in itself is linked to the wider milestones for delivering the national Olympic Security Programme that goes beyond policing and are the responsibility of the Home Secretary. A new programme management structure is in the process of being put in place in the Home Office. This will be complemented by a new delivery structure within the MPS, ACPO and other partners which is also being developed.

34. The programme will report to a newly formed Olympic Security Board which is currently chaired by the Director General of Office of Security and Counter Terrorism in the Home Office. This meeting is attended by Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison who is responsible for the Olympics and is also attended by members of the MPA. In addition, the MPA maintain oversight of the MPS involvement through the MPA Olympic Sub-Committee.

Progress summary

35. The current position in relation to the Olympics is as follows;

• An updated Safety and Security Strategy for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was approved by Ministers in February 2009. This is complemented by a concept of operations document which continues to be developed and refined
• Five programme boards have been set up within the Home Office, one for each of the five strands of the strategy. Interim programme leads have been identified and are running the processes while the posts are advertised. Each programme contains a number of different projects
• The responsibility for delivery of the projects rests with the agency commissioned with the work. Some projects are commissioned to the MPS, some to ACPO and others are commissioned to other Government departments
• Work is currently underway to develop the infrastructure that will support the MPS and ACPO in delivering the commissions and will work with the Home Office Programme Management Office
• In the meantime, work continues to progress the existing projects and the MPS reports key issues to the MPA Olympic Sub-Committee

36. This objective is not solely about the Olympics but also reflects the need for the MPS to deal with the large number of public order events that take place in the Capital. This year has been very busy already in public order terms. The events of G20 almost immediately led into the spontaneous demonstrations by the Tamil community in Parliament Square.

37. This long running protest ran continuously throughout April and May and created considerable policing challenges, such as the re-direction of TSG officers previously allocated to boroughs to undertake operations against violence and burglary, being deployed to protest policing. This has adversely impacted upon borough performance against violent and volume crime including burglary. This was discussed at length at last month’s Full Authority meeting and a full report has been sent to the MPA Finance and Resources Committee.

38. While the demonstrations continue, they have significantly reduced and the policing operation has downsized accordingly. The cost of the Tamil demonstrations up to 1 June is estimated at £10.5 million of which £4.4 million was opportunity costs and £6.1 million was additional costs. Looking forward, the month of June sees the traditional ceremonial events of Trooping the Colour and Beating Retreat taking place as well as intensive planning for Notting Hill Carnival.

Continuous improvement

Objective: Lead and manage our service to ensure the most efficient, effective and economic use of all the resources entrusted to us

How we monitor our performance

We monitor performance using a combination of APACS PIs and an internal measure.

Progress summary

• During 2009/10 we aim to deliver net cashable, efficiency and productivity gains of £142.9m. The 2008/09 results will be available for the next Full Authority meeting.
• We have targeted recruiting 20% of all police officers from minority ethnic groups and are currently achieving 15.2%.
• We are aiming for our corporate ICT systems to meet target availability levels. During 2009/10 performance information will be available for 8 systems. In March 2009 these 8 systems all achieved or exceeded their target availability.

39. At the end of May 2009 the MPS workforce increased to 52,080 employees. The number of regular police officers has increased to 32,977, whilst the number of special constables continues to grow and stands at 2,552 officers in line with the deployment plan. The number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) has increased to 4,627, impacting positively upon community relations.

Celebrating achievements

40. A police constable from the Territorial Support Group Anna Neocleous received a commendation for bravery from the Chief Constable of Hertfordshire on 30 April 2009. This was in recognition of an off-duty arrest of a knife-point robber in September 2008. Whilst walking her dog, she challenged the suspect and informed him that he was under arrest. The suspect then attacked the officer causing a number of injuries. Despite this the officer prevented the suspect from escaping until local officers reached the scene and were able to restrain him.

41. The longest-serving Asian woman police officer in the MPS was given an award for her contribution to policing and the Sikh community by the GLA. PC Purnima Raval from SO7 Palace of Westminster was presented with the special Vaisakhi award during the Vaisakhi festival at Trafalgar Square in May. The MPS Sikh Association praised her outstanding dedication to the Asian community, especially her work with Asian women addressing issues such as equality and domestic violence.

Environment

42. MPS Transport Services and the Environment team are leading on a feasibility study of the GLA vehicle fleet and potential for utilising electric vehicles as part of the GLA Cleaner Transport Forum. The MPS is also continuing to make progress on implementation of its Climate Change Action Plan, including the implementation of solar panels at one of its sites. In addition, the MPS Head of Environment and Sustainability was awarded the Environment Manager of the Year Award at the national Energy & Environment Awards comprising of nominees from the public and private sector.

C. Legal implications

1. There are no direct legal implications arising from this performance monitoring report.

2. The MPA is required to monitor compliance of the MPS’s performance in accordance with s6ZA of the Police Act 1996 as inserted by the paragraph 8, Schedule 2 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 and The Police Authorities (Particular Functions & Transitional provisions) Order 2008.

D. Race and equality impact

There are key areas of specific activity in relation to equalities that demonstrate our commitment to diversity and are essential to the success of the MPS. These include improving the quality of service provided to victims of hate crime, ensuring that a consistent and effective service is provided to London’s diverse communities; improving performance against domestic violence, ensuring a consistent level of service across all communities and minimising disproportionality issues; increasing community trust and confidence in the police use of stop and search ensuring it is used fairly and proportionately; continuing to develop a workforce that reflects the diversity of London and improving the progression of women within the police service.

E. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising directly from this report.

F. Background papers

None

G. Contact details

Report author(s): Michael Debens, Director of Business Strategy, MPS

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 2

Glossary of terms

APACS

Assessment of Policing and Community Safety – performance management framework which will provide the Home Office and its partners with the capability to monitor and assess performance in policing and community safety

BCS

British Crime Survey – a long established Home Office managed survey designed to capture levels of crime and public attitudes to crime as well as other criminal justice issues. The results play an important role in informing Government policy. The survey captures the views of approximately 48,000 citizens across England & Wales annually – approximately 3,000 within London. Survey results are published quarterly and relate to a rolling 12-month period.

CPA

Critical Performance Areas - the suite of MPS corporate measures used to track progress against the delivery of corporate objectives

Criminal network

a network of individuals involved in ongoing criminal activity for some form of personal gain (usually profit, but can also be for social standing).

Disruption

a disruption has been achieved when a network is unable to operate at its normal level of activity for a significant amount of time.

Harm

where the consequence of pursuing an activity is seen to have an adverse effect on the social, physical or economic well being of individuals or a community.

OGC

Office of Government Commerce

SD

Sanction detection - police generated detections of a crime. SDs include charges, cautions, fixed penalty notices [FPN], taken into considerations [TIC], summons and cannabis warnings

Serious acquisitive

Includes residential robbery, burglary and motor vehicle crime

SPI

Statutory Performance Indicator

TIC

Taken into consideration – the clear up of multiple crimes attributable committed by one criminal e.g. multiple burglaries

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