Acting Commissioner’s report

Report: 5
Date: 29 January 2009
By: the Chief Executive

Summary

This report summarises the progress of the Metropolitan Police Service against the objectives featured in the 2008 – 2011 Policing Plan for London.

The report covers the period between October and December 2008 with data for individual measures reflecting the 12-month period ending November 2008 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.

Report headlines can be summarised as follows:

• Serious acquisitive crime rate (robbery, residential burglary and motor vehicle crime) is down 25% (approximately 70,000 fewer offences) over 5 years.
• Knife crime during April to November 2008 shows a 13.1% reduction (1,243 fewer offences) compared with the corresponding period in 2007/08.
• During April to November 2008 there were 1,350 fewer youth (under 20 years old) victims of crime than in the corresponding period in 2007, however the number of youth homicide victims increased from 16 to 17 during the same period.
• Gun Crime is down by 25.4% over the last 12 months (764 fewer offences).
• The MPS implements the ‘Policing Pledge – Our Promise to the Public’ designed to tackle the challenges around victim satisfaction.

A. Recommendation

The report be received.

B. Supporting information

1. This report updates progress against the corporate objectives featured in the Policing Plan for London. For each objective we summarise progress to date 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. Following the last MPA Full Authority meeting and the retirement of Sir Ian Blair in November 2008, the interim arrangements are that Sir Paul Stephenson has been appointed Acting Commissioner from 1 December 2008 and Tim Godwin as Acting Deputy Commissioner. The selection process to appoint the next Commissioner is underway.

Our delivery: performance and activity

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

3. The MPS monitors its progress against this objective via two Critical Performance Areas measures in relation to victim satisfaction and the satisfaction gap between white and minority ethnic victims. This survey reports quarterly and the next update will be available in the February performance report.

Recent initiatives

4. The ‘MPS Policing Pledge – Our Promise to the Public’ is in place and sets out the level of service which can be expected by Londoners. The key commitments in the ‘promise’ are set out in Appendix 2. Territorial Policing has established a set of measures and targets against the delivery of those services that will be used to evaluate our performance. These measures and targets will be included in the 2009-12 Business Plan, which is scheduled to be approved by members in March. Delivery on the promise will have significant influence on public confidence and satisfaction with the policing service.

Neighbourhood link

5. The Directorate of Information (DoI) has developed Neighbourhood Link, which enables police to send out messages to members of the public, local businesses and community organisations, both at a local BOCU/OCU level and on a London-wide basis.

6. We will be able to target messages to people living in a borough, a single ward, or area selected using the built-in mapping system. Demographic criteria can also be used so that specific sections of the community can be targeted. When combined, these features offer sophisticated ways for the message to reach the right audience. Initial roll out of Neighbourhood Link began in December.

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

7. The primary measure for this objective is public confidence through a statutory performance indicator measured independently via the Home Office’s British Crime Survey (BCS) (glossary of terms is attached at Appendix 3). The BCS is a long established continuous survey of UK residents conducted face-to-face in people’s homes. The limitations are that respondents are aged 17 and above and it does not capture business crime.

8. From April 2009 the Home Office will be introducing a single top down target for all forces based on the PSA indicator to improve public confidence. The measure is one that will assess how police and local authorities are working together to solve crime and anti-social behaviour issues. The Home Office has written to forces and authorities as part of a consultation process to enable any specific local issues or risks to be identified.

9. The indicative target for the MPS to be achieved by March 2011 is 58% against a baseline of 46% measured in 2008/09 and reflecting current performance (although this still places the MPS 1st in its family of Most Similar Forces). Most forces have been set an improvement target of 12 percentage points with those forces achieving the lowest scores being set the most challenging targets. This will present a challenge for the MPS. Firstly, in terms of the scale of improvement required, secondly in terms of disentangling the positive impacts and perceptions that are specifically related to police action but assessed through a joint measure of police and local authority effectiveness.

10. The MPS will continue to use the Public Attitude Survey alongside the national single measure as its preferred means of capturing public confidence in policing since it has:

• A much greater volume of respondents
• Data broken down to borough level and therefore capable of more informed analysis, and
• The very specific question ‘how good a job do you believe the police are doing in this local area?

11. In addition to public confidence, progress is monitored using Home Office Statutory Performance Indicators (SPIs) focused on the underlying serious acquisitive crime rate and our associated investigation performance – namely the number of offenders brought to justice. Additionally, to assess the safety of our roads network across the capital, the MPS use a very specific SPI - a count of the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions relative to the number of vehicle kilometres travelled. This measure enables the Home Office to compare and contrast performance across forces with different traffic densities.

Progress summary

• The serious acquisitive crime rate is on a long-term improving trend, down 25% over the last five years and we are currently on-track to deliver against our year-end target of a 4 percent year-on-year reduction.

Recent initiatives

Operation Spotlight

12. Operation Spotlight is the MPS corporate burglary initiative. The operation phase will run from 17 November to 31 March 2008. Early results are encouraging, up to 5 January there were 951 arrests of which 408 were charged with residential burglary and a further 391 charged with other criminal offences.

13. Every residential burglary victim now receives an initial investigation by a police officer attending the scene. This is supported by crime scene examination within four hours and a follow up visit by a member of their Safer Neighbourhood team where they are provided with a corporate burglary victim pack. Victims are contacted and informed of accurate timescales for attendance with corporate messages being delivered on every key encounter.

14. A market research victim satisfaction survey is now taking place to measure the progress of the drive for continuous improvements in customer satisfaction.

Operation Tyrol

15. With the support of the Mayor, new ‘Enhanced Safer Transport Teams’ have been planned for rollout as the next phase of Operation Tyrol. The MPS Central Safer Neighbourhood Unit will work with Transport for London (TfL) to ensure maximum exposure to the teams and publicity will be both pan London and at a local level. The first 9 teams identified for January are at the following transport hubs:

1. Barking Station, Barking
2. Ilford BR Station, Redbridge
3. Romford Town Centre, Havering
4. Woolwich Arsenal, Greenwich
5. Bromley Centre and Bromley North Station
6. Peckham High St/Camberwell Green
7. Lewisham Bus Station, Lewisham
8. Walthamstow Central Station, Waltham Forest
9. Hayes Town, Hillingdon

Other recent initiatives in support of this objective include;

16. The implementation of the Reassurance Teams within the Transport OCU to the eleven Inner London Boroughs has allowed us to commence the engagement strand of the seven steps community engagement model and is being well received by users of the transport network. Additional staff have now been selected for the Workplace Violence Unit specifically designed to effectively investigate and reduce violence towards bus drivers and Revenue Protection Inspectors. Two companies have been identified to take part in the first stage of the roll out.

Crime Mapping

17. Public consultation with regards to the current five crime categories displayed on the website has commenced. The consultation results are anticipated by the end of January 2009. Total Notifiable Offences (TNOs) and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) data were available on the website as block figures from the end of December 2008. Extensive consultation will take place prior to any Violence Against The Person (VAP) or Most Serious Violence (MSV) offences being considered for inclusion on the site. The Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) webpage is being trialled in Haringey and is scheduled to be extended to all boroughs by the end of March.

Messages about the dangers of firearms

18. In November CO19 Firearms OCU commenced Operation Makepeace. This is a new presentation package, delivered to communities but aimed at a younger audience with very strong preventative messages. These are being conducted by a newly-formed partnership team within CO19.

Objective: Reduce serious violence and protect young people

How we monitor our performance

19. Performance is monitored against this objective using a combination of Home Office SPIs and internal MPS metrics. The SPIs also feature within the new national Assessment of Policing and Community Safety framework (APACS) introduced in April 2008.

Progress summary

20. The MPS are making steady progress against all the serious crime reduction measures:

• Most Serious Violence and Assault With Injury reduced by 2.9% (2,144 offences) over the rolling year to November 2008.
• Against the new Home Office gun crime definition, we have seen a year-on-year reduction of 25.4% (764 offences) as at the end of November 2008. This reduction has been achieved through a series of proactive initiatives including intelligence-led interventions at identified hot spots.
• The combined sanction detection rate for most serious violence and serious sexual offences is 31.2% for the rolling year to November 2008.
• The Domestic Violence offences resulting in arrest for the rolling year to November 2008 is 68.4%, on track for our target this year of 67%.
• For the period April to November 2008, the number of under 20 year olds becoming victims of violence decreased by 8.8% (1,350 victims) compared to the corresponding period in 2007. (Rolling year comparisons are not possible due to a change of measure definition by the Home Office). This reduction is ahead of the year-end target of a 6% reduction.

Recent initiatives

Operation Blunt 2

21. Police activity is focused upon enforcement of legislation to prevent knife carriage but is linked to significant engagement with young people and related preventative work within schools.

22. Knife crime shows a 13.1% reduction between April and November compared with the same period last year (9,518 offences down to 8,275), 1,243 fewer violent crimes involving knives. More than 3,800 knives have been recovered as a result of operations conducted under Blunt 2. Since 5 July 2008 the Operation Blunt 2 Task Force alone has recovered 438 knives, 15 firearms and 73 other weapons.

23. Phase 3 of Blunt 2, running between 20 October 2008 and 9 November 2008, focused on preventing serious youth violence and knife crime associated with half-term, Halloween and bonfire celebrations. Figures for the week ending 2 November 2008 showed reductions of 30% in knife crime, knife-enabled robbery and youth victims of violence when compared with the same week last year.

24. An operation to detect and prevent the retail sale of knives was also conducted. Some 799 test purchase operations were conducted by Trading Standards Officers working with Safer Neighbourhood Teams and MPS Volunteer Cadets. The activity resulted in 148 sales of knives to persons under eighteen years of age (19%). This compares with a sale rate of 30-35% for operations conducted during July and August, showing improving awareness and compliance with legislation.

25. Operations commenced in November targeting 25 violent street gangs involving 352 individuals across 15 boroughs. These operations are being led by boroughs but with support from the Violent Crime Directorate. Activity during November resulted in 30 arrests for a variety of offences. An additional 13 members of two street gangs were arrested during November and remanded in custody following an operation to tackle drug supply in Southwark.

26. Since 12 January there have been enhanced post-school deployments between 3pm and 6pm each weekday running through to the end of the spring term on 3 April. These deployments comprise an additional 18 officers from the Transport OCU deployed to priority transport routes during this risk period. These specific deployments are intended to prevent robbery and related violence directed against school aged young people that has been seen previously at this time of year.

Operation Argon

27. Operation Argon was run over Christmas and New Year to reduce shootings and stabbings that are linked to licensed premises and to recover firearms and illegally held knives. The operation consisted of:

• Specialist licensing advisers who move around clubs and pubs ensuring they are supported in running safe events and venues
• Officers with mobile screening arches who can support club and pub search regimes
• Armed operations designed to tackle those who carry guns (Neon)
• A community reassurance vehicle that reassures members of the public who see this high-profile operation in action.

28. Since the operation was launched on 15 December about 300 clubs have been entered. There have been about 15 closures and 20 action plans put in place. Identified problems have been unaccredited door staff and inadequate searching regimes. A mobile screening arch has been deployed on several occasions, sending queues of clubbers through an additional layer of security.

29. There have so far been about 25 arrests for offences ranging from robbery / handling stolen goods, possession of firearms, possession of drugs / with intent to supply, offensive weapon, fraud, theft, threats to kill, immigration matters, serious assault and murder (the murder of Craig Brown on Christmas Eve). Three vehicles and a number of firearms have also been seized.

30. Significant amounts of intelligence have come in about threats to life and other gang activity. Argon has combined high profile overt policing tactics with gathering and responding to fast-time available intelligence. The operation is a wide partnership between SCD, CO and TP and draws on the skills and expertise of SCD8, CO14, CO19, Operation Blunt, the MSC and the Territorial Support Group. City of London Police and British Transport Police are also involved.

31. In the absence of nationally defined SPIs, we monitor our performance using a combination of internal measures.

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

How we monitor our performance

32. In the absence of nationally defined SPIs, we monitor our performance using a combination of internal measures.

Progress summary

• Good progress is being made in disrupting criminal networks – achieving over 30 disruptions each month through the deployment of proactive teams acting on intelligence.
• The MPS are above target for the number of cases where assets are seized. The value of assets identified by court order for seizure for the first nine months of the year (Apr - Dec 08) is £35.4m.
• The number of sanction detections for trafficking shows a small increase on the corresponding period last year. In 2007/08 the MPS achieved 2,529 sanction detections for Class A drug trafficking, the corresponding figure for April to November this year stands at 1,760.
• The data shows that there has been an improvement in sanction detections for Class A drugs and cocaine and heroin individually compared to the corresponding period ending November 2007 (monthly averages of 213, 139 and 43 respectively).

Objective: Enhance our counter terrorism capability and capacity

How we monitor our performance

33. The MPS continues to report its performance in relation to counter-terrorism to the MPA/MPS Counter Terrorism Oversight committee, chaired by Lord Toby Harris. The next meeting of this group is on 29 January 2009. Internally reports are also regularly provided to MPS Performance Board.

Progress summary

34. Terrorism and domestic extremism remain a significant threat to the United Kingdom. To address this threat significant capacity has been grown within the MPS to deliver the Government counter terrorism strategy (CONTEST). Additionally, Chief Constables have unanimously agreed proposals to develop national co-ordination of counter terrorism assets in England and Wales.

35. Data from the MPS Public Attitude Survey (PAS) consistently indicates that the public still believe our counter-terrorism policing activity is important. Work is in hand to develop the relevant survey questions further to ensure that any analysis of the public’s responses accurately reflects all aspects of our counter-terrorism activity.

36. Learning from our four Prevent (i.e. to stop people becoming or supporting terrorists or violent extremists) pilot sites is beginning to shape future activity. We are now ready to begin recruitment of a number of Prevent Engagement Officers. These officers will work alongside their borough colleagues (in a similar way to the current Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Officers) to support the embedding of our Prevent Strategy across the rest of the MPS. It is our intention to have all the relevant officers in place by the end of 2010/11.

37. Working with local authorities through the Prevent pilot sites has assisted in our development of local intelligence / information sharing agreements. Prevent will only succeed if we can share relevant intelligence / information with our partners and with communities so that they too understand the scope of the problem presented by terrorism / violent extremism and to recognise how their involvement can contribute to defeating it. Negotiations with local authority partners have helped us to understand the level and breadth of information intelligence they will need in order to inform their own activities.

Other recent initiatives include;

38. The introduction by CO11 Air Support Unit of the EC145 helicopter, recognised as one of the most advanced police helicopters in operation in the world, into operational service has allowed the MPS to enhance and develop it's counter terrorism capability.

39. Exercise Wooden Pride took place between 11 and 12 November. This saw a number of MPS units work alongside the military in practicing terrorist hostage negotiation and rescue situations. A number of MPS Business Groups took part including Resources Operational Support Group who provided power, water and furniture within derelict buildings, created temporary office accommodation and additional building works. The Computer Aided Modelling Bureau provided spatial information to support tactical operations for special firearms officers and the military during the hostage release exercise.

40. The DoI Operational Technology group used their expertise in CCTV to support MPS colleagues and other emergency services in a three-day exercise, based on a terrorist scenario in November 2008 named Operation Torch. It was an exercise which took place at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, simulating the management and response of key services to a CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear) multiple fatality incident involving over 100 deaths.

41. The DoI initially provided CCTV to assist in monitoring the exercise for post-event evaluation purposes. However, as the event enfolded it became evident that CCTV could actively support the operation with CCTV being deployed to remotely monitor the safety of emergency services working in potentially contaminated areas. The unit are now considering how they could become part of a response team in real-event scenarios.

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

How we monitor our performance

42. 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. The Olympic Security Directorate reports on progress for this planning to the Director of Olympic Safety and Security in the Home Office. The MPA maintain oversight of the MPS involvement.

43. There are four critical performance areas against which progress against the delivery programme is being measured:

1. Meeting the Demand: strategic options for delivering the gap: The paper of costed options of how the identified gap between supply and demand will be met, is incorporated within the draft Costed Security Plan (CSP) delivered in October 2008 (see below). On target
2. Beijing Security Learning: LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games) official debriefs:
3. OGC Gateway 0 - Programme Strategic Assessment: OGC (Office of Government Commerce) review of the Programme has moved from Red to Amber. On Target.
4. Costed Security Plan delivery: The CSP was delivered to ministers in October 2008, ahead of schedule, it is to be viewed by ministers in February 2009.

Progress summary

44. A first iteration of the costed plan for Olympic security, presenting the level of mitigation to Olympic threats that can be provided within the £600m public expenditure envelope previously announced by Ministers, has had its initial consideration by senior officials at the Olympic Safety and Strategy Steering Group (OS4G) on 11 November 2008.

45. The progress that has been made in defining the contents of the security programme was acknowledged and the following next steps were endorsed:

• Stronger links with the national counter terrorist strategy (CONTEST) needed to be established;
• Support for key assumptions within the document needed to be established;
• The financial framework and its implications needed to be widely consulted upon; and
• Plans for policing and wider security (the focus of this first draft of the costed security plan) needed greater integration with those of LOCOG and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to produce a single strategic framework.

It was agreed that this work should be completed before further submission to ministers. Key stakeholders, including the Cabinet Office, Departments of Transport and Health, the GLA, and ACPO are directly involved in this process.

46. In order to ensure that Olympic security preparation is more closely integrated with existing Counter Terrorism frameworks, the Home Office Permanent Secretary, Sir David Normington has asked Charles Farr, Director General of the Office of Security and Counter Terrorism, to take on responsibility for this work from 2 January 2009. Mr Farr will undertake the role of Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) until a full time SRO can be recruited.

47. A strategy framework is now being prepared that will:

• Consolidate and refresh the security strategy - our vision, aims and objectives; identify threats and key risks to the Games and the overall approach to mitigating these; articulate the principles and assumptions on which planning will be based and how these have been arrived at; and specify the core roles and responsibilities of different organisations.
• Articulate a concept of operations that sets out how the strategic approach will be delivered.
• Specify the delivery plans that combine to form the Olympic Security Programme.

48. This document will also establish the relationship with other established strategies, the impact on maintaining core services (‘business as usual’) and make an initial assessment of any residual risk that planned security activity will leave.

49. The plan retains a cost envelope of £600m additional funding as a core assumption.

Recent key events

Damien Green investigation

50. In December British Transport Police Chief Constable Ian Johnston completed his review into the manner of the investigation into Government leaks. His recommendations included consideration of proportionality and whether the investigative approach met current policy and best practice. He noted that police investigations can be especially challenging when faced with Parliamentary rights and freedoms and suggested the MPS, upon completion of the investigation, should work with the relevant authorities to develop guidance to inform future decisions and actions in such circumstances.

‘Baby P’

51. SCD delivered an update report to the MPA Strategic and Operational Policing Committee (SOP) Meeting on 8 January further to a first report to SOP on 4 December. This report provides the Committee with information requested about implementation of the Laming Report in 2003, training for investigating officers and current staffing of Child Abuse Investigation Teams. The report also provided an update on progress against a detailed action plan developed in December 2008 in response to the Joint Area Review, and the HMIC report. The majority of the identified activities fall to SCD5 and partners to deliver, others being addressed by TP and DOI. Responsibility for monitoring progress of this action plan is with Commander Gibson. A progress meeting was held on 7 January.

52. The report highlights the fact that part of the action planning process will be a review of resources allocated to Child Protection and Safeguarding, initially for consideration by the SCD Command Team but may, following the review, need wider corporate resourcing which will have to be dealt with as part of the Service’s medium term budget and planning process.

53. This information is supported by a separate report to the same committee by TP providing an update on the Every Child Matters programme of work including Public Protection Desks, Merlin activity improvements and next steps for the MPS and London Safeguarding Board.

54. During the SOP meeting one of the members expressed a particular interest in receiving a more detailed personal briefing with regard to the HMIC assessment report and the associated Action Plan. Commander Gibson will deliver this briefing at a session for all interested SOP committee members at a date in the near future. Progress on the Action Plan will continue to be reported to the SOP meeting.

Conviction in Rachel Nickell killing

55. In December, Robert Napper pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Rachel Nickell in 1992 and was sentenced to a hospital order for life. The investigation into the murder was taken on by the Murder Review Group in 2001 and Napper was identified through a DNA profile in 2004. The MPS has acknowledged the error of wrongly accusing Colin Stagg of the murder and has also recognised that more could have been done in other cases that might have prevented the killing of Rachel Nickell and other serious attacks by Napper.

Stockwell Inquest

56. At the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the jury returned an open verdict and answers to specific questions set by the coroner. As a result of the evidence presented during the hearing, the coroner did not allow the jury to consider a verdict of unlawful killing.

57. The family lodged a judicial review claim with the High Court that relates to the decision of the coroner:

• Not to allow the jury to return a wider narrative finding other than answering a series of questions
• Not to allow the jury to return an ‘unlawful killing’ verdict in respect of C2, C12 and three members of the command team.

58. The High Court ruled that the coroner was correct not to allow the jury to return a wider narrative finding. The family sought permission to appeal that decision to the court of appeal but this has now been withdrawn. The High Court has not dealt with the second issue and it was adjourned generally. The family have yet to decide whether to proceed with their claim before a substantial judicial review hearing can take place.

59. The coroner has now made a report under Rule 43 of the Coroners' Rules 1984. Under this rule a report may be made where a coroner is holding an inquest into a person's death, the evidence gives rise to a concern that circumstances creating a risk of other deaths will occur, or will continue to exist in the future, and in the coroner's opinion action should be taken to prevent the occurrence or continuation of such circumstances or to eliminate or reduce the risk of death created by such circumstances.

60. The MPS has received the Rule 43 report and now has 56 days to respond, which is achievable.

61. As in all police shooting cases, the CPS will review the inquest evidence and outcome. This review is not likely to be completed in the near future and may well have to await the outcome of the judicial review.

62. An HMIC review of MPS progress against the Independent Police Complaints Commission Stockwell 1B recommendations will commence on 23 February 2009. This will be followed by an update report to the MPA, taking account of issues emerging from the Inquest.

Public Order Policing over Christmas and New Year period

63. The New Year celebrations attracted an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 people. The MPS deployed about 3,200 officers, a reduction of about 250 officers on last year’s event. From a policing perspective, the event seemed quieter than last year. Arrests were up from 84 last year to 103 this year which is believed to be a result of the more ‘proactive’ approach promoted by the strategy. Reported crime was down from 132 offences last year to 77 this year, although the overall figure may rise as crimes are subsequently reported.

64. Following a number of air strikes in the Palestinian occupied Gaza strip an impromptu protest took place on 28 December at the Israeli Embassy in Kensington with around 700 people present. This protest very quickly escalated beyond the capability of the local borough and pan London resources were called in to assist. Since that day, daily demonstrations have taken place at the same location with those protesting varying from between 250 and 400 people.

65. On 3 January a large march took place in Central London about the same issue numbering approximately 15,000 people. However, a group which contained a number of violent protesters continued with loud vocal protests in the location of the Israeli Embassy and 16 arrests were made, mainly for public order offences.

Our organisation: managing the business

Our people

66. Looking forward to 2009 we are on track to meet our workforce targets. We are set to deliver over 32,000 officers by the end of the financial year and hit the 7,000 milestone for female officers and, in addition, 2,700 Specials. Last month also saw 86 new PCSOs join the MPS, the highest number ever for one month, bringing the end of financial year forecast to 4,700. The PC intake into training school is planned to hit 300 in January 2009, the highest intake reached for over 18 months. Lastly, the most recent Specials recruitment print campaign which went out on 30 October generated 300 applications in the first five weeks. The PCSO outdoor campaign "Make a visible difference" began on 15 December and ran for two weeks.

67. Diversity continues to be a priority. The MPS has the largest minority representation; in excess of 45% of all black and ethnic minority (BME) officers of all Forces in England and Wales. Additionally, the ‘Equip to Achieve Scheme’, an intensive one-year development programme for high potential BME police officers, has thus far selected 14 officers (2 Constables, 4 Sergeants, 5 Inspectors and 3 Chief inspectors). The programme is now being individually tailored to meet their requirements.

Continuous improvement

68. For the second year running the MPS were finalists in the Chartered Institution of Waste Management Awards for Environmental Excellence. The MPS was praised for reaching a 36% recycling level last year and for the unusual waste streams recycled including uniforms, weapons and horse waste.

69. A total of 206 (97% by value) of all off-system contracts have been loaded onto MPS financial system (MetFIN) as part of the Developing Resources Management Programme. The remaining 3% are specialist contracts, which ultimately may not be loaded onto the system. This activity was completed one month ahead of schedule.

70. Opportunities to implement Strategic Procurement Plans (SPP) have been identified and prioritised by the Developing Resources Management Programme. The SPP workstream has been put in place to ensure rigour is applied to the process of identifying potential financial benefits to the MPS. The opportunities identified will now be validated with the respective Business Groups.

Challenges to the MPS

Business crime

71. The scale of the economic downturn and the consequent impact on policing is London is still unclear although it is evident that business crime comprising robbery from businesses, non-residential burglary, theft from shops, theft by employees and fraud/forgery is already showing signs of increasing. Business crime is up by 9.3% between April – November 2008 compared with the same period in 2007 and this is likely to increase, this will therefore become an increasing focus for the MPS in 2009.

Meeting our promise

72. Our promise to the people of London contains some significant challenges and will require us to strive even harder if we are to deliver what we are setting out to achieve. In many cases it will mean working in a very different way and we will need to make sure that we listen to what the public are telling us. For instance, Safer Neighbourhood Teams will become even more involved in supporting victims and witnesses and more widely engaging those who are victims in helping us shape local priorities. That is why measuring our progress in delivering the promise will have a significant focus in the 2009/12 business plan. As we deliver on the promise this should positively impact on public confidence in the MPS.

Serious violence

73. While this performance report sets out encouraging recent trends in reducing offences such as gun crime, knife crime and most serious violence, the MPS is by no means complacent and recognises that the threat of violence, particularly affecting young people, has not receded. The MPS welcomes the appointment of James Cleverly as the Mayor’s new Ambassador for young people and looks forward to working together to tackle this issue.

C. Race and equality impact

1. There are no specific race and equality implications arising directly from this report. However, 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.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising directly from this report.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

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

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 2

Policing Pledge - Our Promise to the Public

The Metropolitan Police Service takes pride in providing the best possible service to people in London and our Policing Pledge sets out the standards of service you can expect from the Met.

These are some of our main Pledge commitments:

• We will always treat you fairly with dignity and respect ensuring that you all have access to our service at a time that is reasonable and suitable.
• We will work to keep you and your neighbourhood safe from harm. Each ward has a dedicated Safer Neighbourhood team that will provide a visible police presence and will only be used elsewhere if there are special reasons for doing so. They will spend at least 80% of their time visibly working in your neighbourhood, tackling your local policing priorities.
• We will publicise the details of your Safer Neighbourhood team so that you know who your dedicated team is and how to contact them.
• We will respond to every message directed to your Safer Neighbourhood team within 24 hours.
• We aim to answer 999 calls within 10 seconds and non-emergency calls within 30 seconds. We will always tell callers what will happen next and give an estimated time of arrival if appropriate.
• We will respond immediately to emergencies so that we get to incidents as quickly and safely as possible – aiming to attend within 12 minutes and much sooner if possible.
• When responding to non-emergency cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses or agreed neighbourhood priorities we aim to get to you within 60 minutes. (We use the word ‘vulnerable’ to describe someone who may be at risk because of their age, disability or their personal circumstances).
• Alternatively, if appropriate, we will make an appointment to see you at a time that is convenient to you within 48 hours.
• We will attend regular public meetings, at least once a month, to agree local crime and policing priorities and give updates about crime and policing issues in your area.
• We will keep victims of crime informed about the progress of cases at least once a month.
• We will contact people who have been involved in a road traffic collision (accident) within 10 working days.

You can find more information in the full version of our Policing Pledge which is available on our website www.met.police.uk.

The Metropolitan Police Service is committed to providing you with the best possible service. If we fail to meet our Pledge we will explain why it has not been possible on a particular occasion to deliver the high standards to which we aspire and you deserve.

If you feel we have not met our Pledge we would like to hear from you. You can leave a comment on ‘Your Voice Counts’ on our website or phone us on 020 7230 4737. We will acknowledge your comment within 24 hours of reporting it to us. We will also offer to speak to you in person about your comment and tell you how we will deal with it.

How you can help us

There are a few simple steps you can take to help us give you the best service we can:

• Only phone 999 in an emergency such as when a crime is happening, you know that someone suspected of a crime is nearby, or someone is injured, being threatened or in danger.
• Give us any information that may help us prevent or detect crime. To contact the Metropolitan Police Service in non-emergencies dial 0300 123 1212 or alternatively you can report crime or provide information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
• You can get involved by joining your local Neighbourhood Watch, taking part in Safer Neighbourhood meetings or by becoming a special constable or Met volunteer. You can contact your Safer Neighbourhood Team for information about local meetings (their details can be found at www.met.police.uk/saferneighbourhoods) or to find out more about volunteering visit www.met.police.uk/recruitment.
• Follow crime prevention advice to help keep yourself and your property safe. Crime prevention advice is available on our website.
• If you see something suspicious or you are not sure about somebody’s actions or behaviour, however insignificant it may seem at the time, call the confidential anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321.

Appendix 3

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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