Draft MPS Serious Violence Strategy

Report: 7
Date: 26 July 2007
By: AC Territorial Policing and AC Specialist Crime Directorate on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report:

• Introduces the draft of an MPS Serious Violence Strategy as a working document.
• Assesses the key issues in developing the strategy and implementing it
• Invites the Authority to provide comments and advice at this stage, pending formal approval in the autumn.

A. Recommendation

That members receive the report and comment on the draft MPS Serious Violence Strategy.

B. Supporting information

1. Tackling and reducing serious violence is core business for the MPS and underpins much of our current activity. Management Board is clear, however, that there needs to be stronger strategic focus on our key priorities across the range of serious violence issues so that we effectively maximise our resources to best effect. This is particularly in the context of serious violence directed towards young people, which is why we are proposing a core MPS strategic priority to:

‘Reduce serious violence and protect young people’

Clearly, this needs to be consistent and complementary with our other related strategies on youth, drugs and public protection in particular.

Draft MPS Serious Violence Strategy

2. A working draft of the MPS Serious Violence Strategy is enclosed at Appendix 1. It sets out a clear, overarching aim – “to reduce serious violence in London”. It also identifies the critical work strands that will deliver this aim and the principal activities that will drive delivery. It acknowledges that a framework of high level performance indicators will be required, and is under development, to account for our success. The draft deliberately focuses on the key types of serious violence, with a consistent risk management and problem solving approach, involving communities and partner agencies, underpinning all areas of work. The draft strategy seeks to identify the critical links with cross cutting drivers of violent behaviour and victimisation – drugs, alcohol, and mental health – and the incidence of weapon-enabled crime.

What is new?

3. The draft brings together much existing good practice, and provides a framework for co-ordinating activity and driving performance across the organisation, with TP and SCD working even more closely together, supported by CO and all other business groups where relevant. More specifically, the draft provides clarity in respect of the following key issues:

Governance

4. The strategy is jointly owned at Management Board by AC Territorial Policing and AC Serious Crime Directorate. It will be delivered through the Serious Violence Strategy Board, chaired jointly by Commander Violent Crime Directorate (VCD) and Commander Organised Crime and Criminal Networks (OC and CN). It will have clearly defined links to the MPS Drugs Strategy Group, MPS Youth Strategy Group and the MPS Public Protection Steering Group. There will be stakeholder engagement at the local level, including Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs), and pan-London through the working groups of the London Community Safety Partnership, so that we contribute to an increasingly effective multi-agency approach. The deployment of MPS assets across business groups will be managed through the corporate tasking process.

Resources

5. There are no direct financial implications arising from this report. Optimising existing MPS capacity and capability to deliver the strategic priority is essential, as is co-ordinating this with the contributions of other agencies.

6. Much of the work reflected in the strategy is ongoing and covered in existing budgets. Where new developments are progressed they will be subject to the normal MPS/MPA governance and decision making framework as well as the appropriate budgeted business plan approval process.

7. Many of the existing strands of the draft strategy have well established and effective risk assessment models, notably in homicide and domestic violence. In order to develop our risk assessment within the MPS and with partners a greater emphasis and increased co-ordination in this area will be required.

8. Effective and joined up risk assessment with partners is essential in order to identify and monitor the most violent offenders, vulnerable victims and most dangerous places within the MPS. All business groups will need to review their systems and processes in this area in support of the overarching aim to reduce serious violence in London.

Delivery and performance

9. Alignment of resources to specific performance requirements will drive improvements at OCU level. But the key challenge is around managing the risks of dangerous people across strands and business groups. MAPPA will systematically underpin this work through an MPS-wide Standard Operating Procedure – overseen by Commander VCD and with trained, accredited staff in each OCU. This will also reinforce the need for sustained management attention in handling risk through intelligence analysis, focused on victims, offenders and locations. A performance framework is under development.

Engagement

10. A key enabler for the draft strategy is engagement. Our intention is to engage widely, in a timely way, at local and pan-London levels. We intend to identify best practice as well as solutions or advice, which partners and communities believe will best achieve the strategic aim ‘to reduce serious violence in London’. Key to this will be effective engagement with communities to develop approaches, which involve and empower them.

11. The views of the MPA are critical in the development of this strategy. Many other stakeholders across London, including other strategic partners and the Home Office have an important role during consultation on and implementation of the MPS Serious Violence Strategy. Criminal justice partners, local community safety partnerships, business and the community and voluntary sector will be engaged in the development and delivery of the strategy, together with other enforcement agencies who also tackle serious violence.

12. A separate paper setting out the engagement programme, following the Authority Meeting on 26 July 2007 and having taken account of comments will be produced and circulated for members.

National issues

13. Violence is, of course, very high on the political agenda. We anticipate that the Home Office will issue (via the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)) a broad-based national violence strategy by November 2007. We are clear that our overall approach is consistent with the developing Home Office strategy and that of ACPO. We are also carefully monitoring the impact of criminal justice system changes on this issue.

Abbreviations

VCD

Violent Crime Directorate

OC and CN

Organised Crime and Criminal Networks

CDRP

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships

MAPPA

Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements

C. Race and equality impact

Qualitative research shows that violence clearly has a disproportionate impact upon communities in terms of age, gender and ethnicity. Specific implications are being identified though an equalities impact assessment as this working draft develops.

D. Financial implications

There are no direct financial implications arising from this report, as reflected at paragraph 5.

D. Background papers

• Draft MPS Serious Violence Strategy – Appendix 1

E. Contact details

Report author: Commander Sue Akers, SCD and Commander Shaun Sawyer, TP, MPS

For information contact:

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

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