Diversity issues within the Territorial Support Group (CO20)

Report: 9
Date: 7 September 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report gives an overview of the work undertaken by the Territorial Support Group (TSG), identifying not only the strategic support it provides to the Service overall but also the significant impact it has on assisting other Business Groups in meeting their objectives. The report identifies how the TSG measures its outputs and the indicators it employs to ensure the OCU is effective in meeting their own and Corporate objectives.

Given the significant impact the TSG OCU can have on communities, the report also outlines the activities undertaken to explain the role and tactics of the OCU to those Boroughs on which it is deployed. This is particularly with regards to those elements of the community they are more likely to encounter due to the intelligence led nature of their work.

This paper also identifies the actions undertaken by the TSG to ensure it has a diverse workforce who operate within a fair environment and finally gives a synopsis of future action and the structure to support it.

Finally, this paper outlines the after-care procedures undertaken by the TSG in the aftermath of serious incidents.

A. Recommendations

That

1. Members note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

This report presents information on the following:

• Role of TSG
• Profile of TSG OCU staff
• TSG recruitment and retention
• TSG Diversity Activity
• TSG tasking and performance
• TSG Stop and Search: monitoring of activity
• TSG community engagement

Role of the Territorial Support Group

1. The role of the TSG is to provide the strategic reserve for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to assist in dealing with incidents that are beyond the capability of other Units.

2. Terrorist incidents, planned and unplanned public order events and volume crime ensure that the MPS are continually tested as to their readiness and adaptability. The TSG are an OCU who are trained and equipped to ensure the Service’s response is appropriate and timely.

3. TSG is part of the Central Operations (CO) Business Group and has Pan London responsibility. The OCU has a budgeted workforce target of 847 staff comprising 785 police officers and 62 police staff. The majority of staff are based in five sites across London to ensure an equitable cover throughout the Capital. TSG also have the capacity to provide the MPS with a 24-hour response to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents.

4. The TSG is principally a uniformed unit although does have provision to mount covert operations. Each day the OCU posts 5 Police Support Units (PSUs), each made up of 1 Inspector, 3 Sergeants and 18 PCs, as Commissioner’s Reserve. In addition the OCU undertakes to provide daily 10 additional PSUs mainly to support Borough colleagues.

5. The OCU makes an impact on all Service objectives; however, it concentrates specifically on the three areas of priority crime, counter terrorism and public order.

Priority crime

6. A large percentage of the OCU’s time is directed towards priority crime. The TSG continues to provide the bulk of the ancillary crime support to the largest and busiest Boroughs. Tasked directly through the strategic tasking process, at the request of TP, the TSG mounts specific operations towards objectives set by Boroughs. The TSG also supports the Serious Crime Directorate in their fight against priority crime, principally drug offences.

7. The TSG offers various types of tactical support to the other business groups and the success of these tactics can most easily be measured in terms of outputs and outcomes. For example, during the last planning year, TSG officers have undertaken more than 18,000 arrests and drugs seizures of which more than 65% concluded in a sanction detection. In addition, the OCU undertook more than 46,000 stops with an arrest rate of over 30%. (The performance of the OCU is considered in more detail later in the report.)

Counter terrorism

8. Almost 20% of the work undertaken by TSG is directly related to counter terrorism activity. TSG provides a 24-hour 365-day response to CBRN incidents, and can provide the first line response in the event of such an incident. Where there is a perceived terrorist threat, the OCU can also provide CBRN teams to planned public events.

Public order policing

9. The TSG continues to play a major part in policing public order events in the Capital, both planned and unplanned. All officers within the TSG are trained to the highest level of public order tactics. Consequently officers from the TSG are deployed to police events that are likely to require these skills, typically challenging, often large-scale events where the risks to public safety and security have been assessed to be significant. For example, demonstrations and large sporting events including some football matches.

10. TSG officers are also trained in the rapid entry of premises and often respond to requests from other OCUs to assist them in entering building to effect arrests.

11. In summary the TSG OCU is a highly trained, mobile unit with a range of tactics that can respond to multifarious tasks throughout the Capital. The TSG deal with many high profile incidents that are often in the public eye. The impact made by this OCU on policing London is clear. The remainder of this report will identify how the management of the OCU ensures the impact is positive and shows the positive action being taken to provide accountability.

Profile of TSG OCU staff

12. The OCU currently employs a total of 841 staff of which 785 are police officers and 62 are Police staff, slightly under its budgeted workforce target of 847.

13. Currently, 9.8% of TSG’s officers are women officers, whilst 72.7% of our police staff are women and overall 14.7% of TSG’s staff are women. The percentage of women police officers in the TSG is less than in the MPS as a whole (approximately 20%) but is higher than in other large, specialist OCUs such as Traffic (6%) and Firearms (3%).

14. At present, the number of Black Minority Ethnic (BME) officers in TSG is 6.2% whilst 16.6% of police staff are BME and overall 7% of TSG’s staff are BME. Once again the percentage of BME officers in the TSG is slightly less than in the MPS as a whole (approximately 7.5%).

15. The age profile of police officers shows that 51% of TSG’s officers are under 35 years of age; 3% are aged between 20-25 years, 23% are aged between 25-30, 25% are aged between 30-35, 28% are aged between 35-40, 14% are aged between 40-45, 6% are aged between 45-50 and 1% are over 50.

16. The age profile of police staff shows that the 63% of TSG’s police staff are aged 35 or above; 3% are aged between 20-25 years, 12% are aged between 25-30, 22% are aged between 30-35, 23% are aged between 35-40, 14% are aged between 40-45, 9% are aged between 45-50 and 17% are over 50.

17. In line with corporate practice, the sexual orientation of TSG staff is not currently recorded and faith and disability are not mandatory fields within Met HR. However, work is currently being undertaken to get a clear understanding of the diversity profile of our staff and it is anticipated that the advent of the self-service facility on Met HR will assist in collecting this information.

TSG recruitment and retention

18. TSG is one of the largest operational OCUs, and like other specialist units recruits staff primarily from other (B)OCUs. TSG requires applicants to have completed their probationary period and to pass the fitness test. This test has been thoroughly examined by Service fitness instructors and is role specific.

19. To ensure that TSG increasingly reflects the diverse communities it serves, it is vital that its recruitment campaigns appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Therefore TSG has been and continues to be very active in trying to attract as diverse a range of applicants as possible. Consequently, it is important that everyone has a realistic understanding of what the OCU does.

20. Accordingly, the OCU holds open days throughout the year, which are run by police officers and staff, most of whom are mentors. The TSG Diversity Champions are heavily involved in advertising campaigns and TSG open days and the next open day is on the 20 September.

21. To ensure that these events attract as many women officers as possible, letters are sent personally to female officers who have additional, recognised public order skills and experience (i.e. are ‘level II’ public order trained) inviting them to the event. In addition the OCU Commander has written to the Senior Police Woman’s Association to notify them when senior posts are available. Women officers (and BME officers) who attend the open day are also sent a personal letter informing them when the next recruitment process is to take place.

22. At the start of each recruitment process the Recruitment Manger liaises with all staff associations to ensure that they are aware of the process and we ask that they assist the OCU in notifying their members of our recruitment process.

23. The OCU has also run a national advertising campaign, using an experienced advertising company, specifically targeted at female officers.

24. The OCU has developed a large and effective mentoring system, and is working to increase the number of female mentors. Part of their role is to assist and prepare officers to apply for the OCU. This has included taking officers to the public order training centre to enable them to experience the reality of training expectations. In addition, Physical Training Instructor (PTI) courses have been offered to female officers to increase the number of female PTIs to act as positive role models. These activities have been undertaken following feedback from a number of potential applicants, which revealed that the perceived fitness levels required by the OCU dissuaded some officers (mainly women officers) from applying.

25. Once recruited it is vitally important that all officers are treated fairly and similarly treat their colleagues and Londoners equitably and with respect. To this end training has been given to supervisors regarding diversity, the most recent was delivered in June of this year. The needs for this emerged from TSG’s work to develop the OCU’s Equality Development Action Plan (EDAP). In addition the initial induction course includes fairness at work issues.

26. The OCU has an established female officers forum, which allows common issues to be discussed. Both the OCU Commander and the HR Manger attend this. In addition officers returning to work from maternity leave are supported before their return. The officers are given a point of contact to assist with the transition back to work and the need to provide training is assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure their skills, knowledge and understanding are up to date.

27. In addition the OCU has a bespoke exit survey and all staff leaving the OCU are given the opportunity to speak to either the OCU Commander or HR Manger when they leave if they wish to raise issues.

TSG diversity activity

28. As part of TSG’s commitment to mainstreaming diversity and equalities issues, a Chief Inspector has been recruited to manage their diversity work and has been in post since June 2006. An important element of this role will be to monitor and update TSG’s Equality Development Action Plan (EDAP) for 2006/7. To support the delivery of these actions, Diversity Champions from across the TSG lead on each of the strand areas to support the work of the Chief Inspector (Diversity).

29. Central Operations Head Quarters (COHQ) has a full time diversity coordinator who supports TSG’s diversity work centrally and COHQ holds monthly Diversity Meetings, chaired by CO’s Business Manager, which TSG regularly attend. The Business Manager’s Diversity meetings provide support to diversity representatives, and act as a forum where issues can be raised and good practice can be developed and shared. In addition, these meetings are an opportunity for COHQ to provide an update on the diversity work they are involved in on CO’s behalf, for example corporate diversity projects including development of the Equalities Scheme.

30. The following provides an overview of TSG’s diversity work (note that Community engagement work is covered in detail later on in the report).

Development of TSG’s diversity forums and equality development action plan

31. Late in 2005 the TSG OCU held a series of meetings with representatives from each of the diversity strands. At these meetings diversity issues were discussed and champions identified for each of the strands. These champions meet regularly with the Senior Management Team (SMT) lead, OCU commander and the HR manager as a Diversity Focus Group.

32. Each Champion created a diversity questionnaire designed to identify issues under each strand. These questionnaires were sent to both present and previously employed staff of the TSG. The forms were anonymous to encourage frank feedback regarding relevant issues. The results of this process were used as a baseline assessment of staff’s perception of equal opportunity and diversity issues on the TSG. This information is currently being used to update and develop the TSG EDAP. In particular, this has primarily helped identify actions to support the recruitment, retention, selection and progression of staff, as discussed in the previous section of this report.

33. It is intended that the work conducted by the TSG focus groups in the future will inform our senior managers and decision makers on areas of development and improvement. They will provide advice, guidance and continue to consult both the Diversity & Citizen Focus Directorate and staff associations on diversity issues. The groups will continue to review current practice and where appropriate will be the catalyst for change on the OCU.

34. To support this work, advice has been sought from both the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate (DCFD). This consultation process is ongoing, with the DCFD strand leads being invited to attend TSG meetings and provide guidance and support. An example of this was when the DCFD lead on disability was asked to review the TSG recruitment and application process for compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

35. Individual strand leads have already had an impact, for example the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) lead has worked closely with the recruitment team; advertising for and recruiting an LGBT representative, identifying a LGBT lead in personnel, working with the Gay Police Association in advertising and recruitment campaigns and co-ordinating a visible TSG presence at LGBT open days and market place events.

TSG diversity training and mentoring

36. The need for local diversity training is heightened as MPS diversity training is currently being updated (and will be delivered via the Race and Diversity Learning and Development Programme).

37. The focus group has also been instrumental in the development of the local diversity training that will be delivered from August 2006. This will include specific training for supervisors, mentors and new TSG recruits as part of their induction training. The SMT lead on diversity is to attend the operational training forum to ensure diversity issues are covered.

38. As already mentioned the TSG OCU has a well-established and successful Mentor Scheme. The TSG EDAP require that both the mentoring activity and diversity training is regularly reviewed and updated.

Establishing diversity forums and staff support networks

39. The OCU has also identified improvements to the support provided to female staff. The introduction of a Female Forum has given female staff an opportunity to exchange experiences and provide advice to the senior management team on issues of concern. Future initiatives will include the introduction of a secure web based “chat room”. Development of similar support mechanism for other diversity groups is being considered.

Flexible working

40. Although the TSG OCU has 33 staff who are currently working on a flexible roster or on compressed hours, it is recognised that the current roster and the operational demands made on the TSG by the organisation restrict the availability of flexible working in comparison to other OCU’s. Part of the work to be conducted, identified in the EDAP, is the need to review the TSG flexible working policy. This review will consider how best the TSG is able to support the flexible working policy, whilst still being able to maintain a capable operational response. Again the DCFD lead is to be involved as part of this review to provide a corporate perspective and provide advice on best practise.

Territorial Support Group tasking and performance

41. Territorial Support Group performance monitoring is driven by the requirement to provide operational support to other business groups of the Metropolitan Police Service. Special Operations (SO), Territorial Policing (TP) and the Serious Crime Directorate (SCD) being the primary customers.

42. The TSG provides a daily Pan London response in the form of the Commissioner’s Reserve. The primary aim of the Commissioner’s Reserve is to deal with spontaneous events that are too large for the host unit to deal with. Examples may be spontaneous public disorder, searches for high-risk missing persons and immediate action at the scene of a serious assault or murder. When the Commissioner’s Reserve is not responding to a call, they are tasked to provide Borough support.

43. In addition to Commissioner’s Reserve each TSG base provides two further Police Support Units (PSUs) a day, a total of 10 across London. Five of these PSUs will be deployed on Borough Reserves, they tackle short to medium term problems, mainly on Boroughs. The other five are deployed on Crime Postings that deal with medium to long term crime problems.

Tasking and impact assessments

44. A corporate tasking process exists, which enables each department to maximise the use of the specialist skills provided by the TSG in support of their own business groups. On a bi-weekly basis the corporate tasking meeting takes place, where Business Groups can bid for TSG resources. These bids are supported by intelligence led problem profiles with specific objectives. The chair of the tasking process (currently DAC Specialist Crime Directorate) decides where the resources will be posted and for how long.

45. It is the responsibility of the host Borough to not only justify their bid for TSG resources by producing a cogent problem profile but also to undertake a full community and equality impact assessment for each operation they propose. The impact assessment is discussed between TSG and Boroughs when the tactical solution is proposed, additionally the TSG receive a daily briefing from Borough they are providing support to, which includes up-to-date intelligence and current community issues.

46. Following a specific operation it is the role of the host Borough or other Business Group to organise a full debrief. If TSG have played a part in the operation they will attend the debrief and assist in identifying areas for improvement. If the incident has, in anyway, been traumatic for officers, TSG will provide officers with support and have developed post incident procedures accordingly.

47. During the last financial year the TSG have supported Territorial Policing (TP) through many hundreds of postings across 25 of the 32 Borough Operational Command Units (BOCU). In addition the TSG OCU have supported other Business Groups as follows:

Serious Crime Directorate:

• Operations Supported = Over 300

Special Operations:

• Public Order Events supported =114
• Armed Automatic Number Plate Reader Operations = 48
• Armed Guards = 24
• Football Aid = 86

Counter Terrorist activity terrorist:

• Operations = 22
• Counter Terrorist patrols = 72
• Legion patrols in support of ceremonial events = 8

Performance: measuring the effectiveness of the TSG

48. The TSG OCU is one of the most proactive units of the MPS. The work undertaken by officers within the OCU is invariably intelligence led and consequently leads to a high success rate.

49. The outputs for the last financial year (1.4.2005 to 31.3.2006) are shown below.

50. To ensure that the success rate is maintained it is essential that BOCUs understand the tactics that can be employed by the TSG against specific crime problems. To that end a senior management team representative from the TSG meets regularly with every BOCU in the MPS.

TSG Stop and Search: monitoring of activity

51. The TSG conducts approximately a third of all stop and searches undertaken by the MPS. Consequently the OCU has invested heavily to ensure it can report comprehensively and with confidence on stop and search and how this tactic is used. This ranges from regular reporting on some key issues to having the capacity to create ad-hoc reports on individual officers if necessary. To effectively do this, TSG maintains its own stops database, which records the ethnic appearance of the individuals stopped.

52. The OCU undertakes a dip sample from its own database of stop and search every six months that identifies:

• Where the stop took place (i.e. in the area posted to), who was stopped (i.e. was the individual known to police - particularly for priority crimes);
• If an individual was arrested and if it was for the reason they were initially stopped and
• How many of the arrests lead to a sanctioned detection or no further action.

53. An example of a dip-sample report’s management summary can be found in Appendix 1.

54. In addition to measuring the outputs of stop and search the OCU also continually monitors the ethnicity of those stopped by its officers. The OCU uses the host borough’s stops data as the comparator and on a monthly basis compares the ethnic make up of those stopped by TSG officers with those stopped by Borough officers. These figures are broken down by base, team and individual officer and allows for discrepancies to be highlighted. This work has resulted in individuals being identified and action taken with regards to additional training and supervision.

55. The self-defined ethnicity data of individuals stopped by TSG officers is captured centrally on the MPS Stops database. It should be noted that TSG is reliant on Boroughs entering data from their stop and search monitoring forms onto the central database on their behalf. However, the total number of stops attributed to TSG on the central database is significantly lower than the figure recorded on TSG’s own database, which is based on activity reports submitted by each team at the end of every shift. This issue is currently being addressed and TSG’s local database and processes are being developed to also capture self-defined ethnicity data.

56. The table below compares the self-defined ethnicity of those stopped by TSG that recorded by the BOCUs that TSG are primarily deployed to (Brent, Newham, Lewisham, Lambeth, Ealing) for the (calendar year) 2005. It should be noted that when ethnic appearance data is compared, the difference between the percentage number of black people stopped and search is not significant.

57. Effective supervision of stop and search activity is vital in ensuring the professionalism of these encounters. As a sergeant is always deployed to supervise in every team, it is possible to ensure effective supervision during patrols.

58. To ensure high standards of stop and search are maintained within the TSG all officers joining the OCU undertake an induction course, which includes training on stop and search, recommendation 61 and how to ensure officers use the power fairly and proportionately, guided by intelligence. In addition the OCU are currently scoping how to extend this training, to include the personal interaction aspect of stopping people.

59. Stop and search is also one of the critical inspection areas for the TSG OCU. Consequently once a year a full quality assurance inspection is undertaken within the OCU that considers the quality of the stop, the consequent administration, supervision and inputting by Boroughs.

60. As part of this commitment to ensuring the professionalism of its officers, the TSG has developed a rigorous process to review complaints against officers. This process ensures that professional standards issues are addressed; feedback from this review process is used to support managers and supervisors in taking appropriate action – as explained below.

61. Following negotiation with the Department of Professional Standards (DPS) it has been agreed that each month the TSG OCU will receive a list of officers who have received 3 or more complaints within a year and looks at Officers who have trends in their complaint record, either with regards to quantity or theme. Each month TSG considers each of these officers and where necessary the files are sent to the base Chief Inspector for consideration as to additional training, welfare issues or supervision.

62. Since this system has been established, stops-related complaints have reduced, as have the number of officers who have received 3 complaints or more in a 12-month period. The total number of complaints is less than 0.5% of the total numbers of stops carried out by TSG in a year.

63. Based on past experience, only a small fraction of these complaints are substantiated.

Community engagement

64. As most of the tasks undertaken by the TSG are Borough based, it is vital that the communities they police understand how TSG works and is deployed by the MPS and have the opportunity to voice their concerns and provide feedback to officers. The TSG are aware of the impact they have due to their work, and consequently are committed to engaging with the communities they serve.

65. For sometime the TSG have been undertaking specific interactions with the communities in which they are deployed. To ensure that a more uniformed approach is taken in TSG’s community engagement work, and that the priority of this work is recognised, community engagement is now a specific objective of the OCU. Every six months, the base chief inspectors must present their progress in this area to the OCU Commander.

66. Each base is expected to liaise with local groups on their priority Boroughs, specifically in the context of stop and search. To support this activity, it is the responsibility of the Chief Inspector Diversity to hold regular meetings with base representatives. The purpose of these meetings is to monitor and review community engagement activity and share good practice.

67. Examples of TSG community engagement activity include:

• Engagement with the Recommendation 61 Group on Lewisham Borough. This worked commenced in November 2004 and is now a sustainable partnership with the group and the wider LCPCG. The TSG have provided a series of presentations to the group around Stop & Search, the role of the TSG and how they operate when deployed. The presentation includes data on stops, searches, complaints and the workforce diversity/ gender profile of the unit. The group’s understanding of the TSG has been greatly enhanced. The TSG also supported the Lewisham recommendation 61 Group when they presented the 'Stop & Search, The Way Forward Conference’ in March 2006. This event was hosted at the Lewisham Civic Suite and attracted over 200 young people.
• Engagement with Second Wave, which is a Charity Arts Performing College, based in Creek Road Deptford. This organisation has approximately 400 young people attending at various times all from a variety of backgrounds and faiths. The TSG attend once every 6 - 8 weeks to meet with the young people and discuss various aspects of policing, training, stop & search and the impact this has on the local youths and the wider community. The OCU is actively looking at the possibility to involve the Second Wavers in training around 'Stop & Search' and interactions with young people and have approached Hendon recruit training to move this forward.
• Engagement with Southwark Stop and Search Group Chair, Avril Jones. Initially the TSG provided a presentation to Southwark's Critical Incident and Risk Panel followed by the Rec. 61 Group. This activity led to involvement in a schools education programme. To date TSG officers have attended a faith school in Camberwell to speak to young people (age 10 - 11) about Stop & Search, police powers, citizens rights and complaints. The aim is to develop this project with 2-3 more schools, one Prep School in Dulwich followed by two further secondary schools in Peckham. It is then intended to present this with, Southwark's Rec. 61 Group, to the Home Office/MPA to scope funding for educational material in relation to the curriculum model around Citizen Focus.
• Engagement with Southwark's YIP (Youth Involvement Programme) which runs throughout August. They will be attending three afternoon sessions in Burgess Park and on the Aylesbury Estate to engage with the youngsters around policing, community safety and inevitably Stop & Search.
• Engagement with schools officers on Westminster and particular for North Westminster Community college. The OCU has attended meetings with young people from the school as part of their "citizenship classes", assisting with classes and giving talks about the TSG. The participants are all aged 15-16 years and in their final year. The majority of those involved were all of Kurdish/Middle eastern background with first hand experience of war and human rights abuses. Trips were arranged for the youths to visit the Public Order training centre at Gravesend.
• Engagement in schools involvement programme in northeast London. This scheme, in association with Trident, drew young people from the local school and involved them in many aspects of police work. This is a project that is likely to be repeated in the forthcoming years.
• Insight days to engage communities by giving firsthand experience of TSG work. In July of this year three members of the Brixton Stop and Search group accompanied Officers from 5 Unit TSG during 8pm- 4am Commissioner’s Reserve posting on Paddington Division. During this visit the guests were given the same intelligence overview received by the TSG officers. Actual stops and arrests were examined and discussed by the group with officers.

Abbreviations

TSG

Territorial Support Group

MPS

Metropolitan Police Service

PSUs

Police Support Units

OCU

Operational Command Unit

COHQ

Central Operations Head Quarters

CBRN

Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear

PCs

Police Constables

TP

Territorial Policing

BEM

Black and Minority Ethnic

Met HR

Metropolitan Police Service Human Resources database

PTI

Physical Training Instructor

EDAP

Equality Development Action Plan

SO

Specialist Operations

SCD

Specialist Crime Directorate

CO

Central Operations

BOCU

Borough Operational Command Unit

PATP

Operational Model under the National Intelligence Model

DPS

Directorate of Professional Standards

YIP

Youth Involvement Programme

LCPCG

Lewisham Community Police Consultative Group

DFCD

Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate

DDA

Disability Discrimination Act

LBGT

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual

C. Race and equality impact

1. This paper highlights how due to the nature of TSG deployment, the impact of TSG’s operations are likely to have a differential impact on London’s diverse communities, particularly around stop and search; some communities may be more likely to come into contact with TSG officers due to the intelligence lead approach used in TSG’s deployment. Community and Equality Impact Assessments are therefore conducted for all TSG operations to ensure they are intelligence lead. Debriefs are conducted after operations to ensure the impact of each operation is fully understood. It is the responsibility of local, host Boroughs to lead on these activities to effectively capture local knowledge and intelligence fully. These activities receive the full support of TSG and TSG representatives are actively involved in every stage.

2. The need for community engagement is highlighted and is included in TSG’s operational objectives. Community and Equality Impact Assessments will be used strategically to inform how community engagement activity can be done most effectively, ensuring accountability.

3. This paper also highlighted the challenges TSG faces in becoming more representative of London’s Diverse Communities. The TSG have developed an Equality Development Action Plan to address this, which is regularly reviewed.

D. Financial implications

The work outlined above is part of the general policing duties and management of the OCU.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: David George, Chief Superintendent (CO20), MPS

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Stop and Search: dip sample highlight report

Overall summary

A dip sample using the central stop and search database was conducted between the period 1.02.2006 to 28.02.2006. This was to cover both stops that did not lead to an arrest and those that did. The sample of negative stops were further examined to establish if the stops were carried out according to intelligence led policing and in line with the PATP document supplied by Borough. This sample included 100 stop and searches. There was also further examination to establish if known robbers and criminals were amongst those stopped in the right area. The results of this part of the sample are broken down by TSG base on the following pages and the overall summary is as follows:

• Stops carried out within the area designated by the BOCU on the PATP = 85% (87%)
• Stops carried out on known criminals = 62% (68%) of which 15% (25%) convicted robbers.

The stops that led to a successful outcome (either arrest or seizure) were further examined to identify if the reason for the arrest matched up with the initial reason for search. This was an examination of a further 100 stop and searches. The sample was also examined to identify if the stop and search led to a crime sanction detection or no further action.

• Arrests made for same offence as reason for stops = 73% (75%)
• Arrests from stops that led to sanction detection = 71% (66%)
• Arrests from stops that resulted in no further action = 23% (15%)

The figures in brackets shows the result from the last dip sample.

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