Commissioner’s report

Report: 4
Date: 24 September 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 The narrative in the report covers the periods August and September 2009 with data for individual measures reflecting the rolling year ended 31 August 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 considered in context with the half year figures. Overall crime has fallen 1.2% compared with the same period last year, and headlines for the first 6 months (YTD) can be summarised as follows:

• Knife crime shows an 11.9% reduction or 1,622 fewer violent crimes involving knives against the same period last year.
• Homicide is down by 34.1% (30 offences) against the same period last year, representing the lowest murder rate for 10 years.
• Youth Violence is down by 4.7% (303 offences), a further drop that follows a significant reduction of 13.3% (1882) last year.
• Burglary is up by 9.8% (2,617 offences), and the MPS has once again launched Operation Bumblebee to address it.

We continue to tackle other key problem areas head on e.g. rape and gun crime.

A. Recommendation

That Members discuss 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.

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.

Progress summary

• The latest results show the SPI for confidence in local policing now stands at 49.3% [year to March 2009] 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 in partnership with local councils, confidence was 55.1% [year to March 2009]. The MPS is second in its Home Office Most Similar Family (MSF) group for the SPI (after West Yorkshire at 49.4%) and is 14th out of the 42 police force areas in England and Wales on both these indicators. Considerable effort is being applied to improve this performance.
• Victim satisfaction with our overall service was 77.3% for the year to June 2009. We are aiming to improve overall satisfaction to 80% during 2009/10.
• The satisfaction gap between white and BME victims was 5.5% points for the year to June 2009. This is wider than the target set but comparable to the difference seen across England and Wales.
• 77% 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

2. The MPS is implementing a number of initiatives to address overall victim satisfaction which were reported to the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee on 3 September. These included the type of interaction such as front counter visit, 999 call etc., the nature of the crime being reported, the age of the victim and an individual’s prior opinion of the police.

3. The Three Borough Project involving Brent, Barnet and Harrow has continued to provide promising results. For example, average “Immediate” (I) call response time has improved from 12.04 minutes to 11.06 minutes (target 12 minutes) and average “Soonest” (S) call response time has improved from 89 minutes to 48 minutes. The project is managed by daily “grip” meetings and overseen by a weekly Pledge Delivery group.

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

Progress summary

• Serious acquisitive crime has decreased by 5.1% [10,702 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 just below the reduction target although the figure is provisional.

Recent initiatives

Operation Bumblebee

4. Following a 10 year low to November 2008, burglary is an area of challenge. Some external factors might be driving up burglary, including the recession and prison releases (although it is difficult to identify a clear link analytically).

5. The successful Bumblebee brand is being used again to tackle burglary, which typically rises in November as the nights get longer. Activities include intelligence, forensics, operations, prevention and SNT follow-ups.

6. The marketing campaign launched by the Commissioner and the Mayor of London at NSY says 'To stop a burglar, you need to think like one'. The pan-London campaign reminds Londoners of simple steps they can take to help make their home secure. The advertising features radio, tube card panels and outdoor adverts and highlights advice such as fitting a light timer, installing a door light sensor and asking neighbours to remove your post when you are away.

7. In the two weeks prior to 19 October, MPS officers made over 500 arrests in relation to burglary. We continue to monitor impact and refine the activity mix as described in our burglary action plan.

Traffic Criminal Justice

8. Repeat traffic offenders who try to ignore the law are being successfully targeted by the London Safety Camera Partnership Team (LSCP) resulting in thousands of pounds worth of fines being issued by the courts. Two recent cases launched by the LSCP investigation team were against offenders who had ignored repeated Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) following safety camera activations. The first offender was prosecuted for 5 offences and fined £4,000 plus costs. The second offender was prosecuted for 6 offences, fined £1,050 plus costs and disqualified from driving for 18 months.

9. TfL notified the Service in May 2009 that the LSCP unit funding was to be reduced from £5.8m from 2009/10 to £3m - a shortfall of £2.8m. The MPS has not proposed this reduction in activity but has had to react to the in year withdrawal of funding. Officers are seeking a meeting with TfL to discuss the funding reduction, its effects and to negotiate a long term S25 agreement with TfL for a new level of service.

10. On 28 September 2009 the Traffic and Transport OCU control room moved to a new facility at Palestra House, SE1, working directly alongside Transport for London’s London Streets Traffic Control Centre and London Transport’s Control Centre for buses. The new facility will be known as Surface Transport and Traffic Operations Room (STTOC). This will improve the flow of information between partners and increase the effectiveness of the MPS response to incidents on the transport and road networks.

Objective: Reduce serious violence and protect young people

Progress summary

Recent initiatives

Operation Blunt 2

11. Enforcement and prevention initiatives to reduce serious youth violence have continued under Blunt 2, and Operation Verano continues to provide a central intelligence unit to enhance the response to violent crime.

12. Since it began on 1 April 2009, Operation Blunt 2 has now conducted 380,000 stop and searches, arrested 14,700 people and recovered 7,500 knives. It demonstrates the MPS’s continued commitment to tackling violence against young people.

13. Since April this year the Task Force officers have conducted more than 26,000 searches resulting in over 550 arrests for a range of offences and the recovery of 58 knives and 49 other weapons, including two handguns. This sustained and targeted effort contributes significantly to the reduction in youth homicides arising from the use of knives. Youth homicides arising from the use of knives have declined from 19 between January and August 2008 to 8 in the same period this year.

14. A total of 169 people were arrested in a week-long series of raids across London to tackle youth and gang-related violence. Among those arrested were two men suspected of being involved in a knife-point robbery at a jewellers in Southall on 24 September. The two brothers have now been charged with armed robbery and have appeared in custody at Brent Magistrates' Court. A woman was also arrested shortly after the offence and appeared at the same court charged with armed robbery - she was remanded in custody until 21 December. Much of the intelligence that has led this operation has come from the community itself, through some people telling Crimestoppers their concerns about violent people in their community.

15. The advertising campaign, which ran to support Blunt 2 in July and August, was very well received by the target audience of young men aged 13- 15. The innovative campaign comprised an interactive YouTube film supported by TV and radio trailers. In independent tracking, 81% of those asked had seen at least one element of the campaign. This is higher than any other MPS campaign in the last two years. In addition 257,000 unique users viewed the You Tube film and more than two million people visited the website.

Operation Autumn Nights

16. Operation Autumn Nights will be running during the period 19 October to 8 November 2009 to tackle violence associated with the late night economy. For all boroughs this period includes significant operational challenges relating to the school half-term, the change to GMT together with Halloween and bonfire celebrations.

Trident

17. Trident launched its 9th annual advertising campaign on 30 September. This year’s campaign focuses on young women and girls who store and transport guns for others. Under the strap line “Hide his gun and you help commit the crime” it features radio, cinema and billboard advertisements aimed at 15 to 19 year old young women of African and African Caribbean heritage. The campaign, which will run for four weeks in Trident's six priority boroughs of Brent, Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark, has received widespread and in-depth coverage in the national, regional and minority media. This media campaign was led by the DPA and SCD, with support from the DoI’s e-Comms team in creating the new interactive content.

Sapphire

18. From September, the SCD2 Sapphire Command, focusing on rape, is working closely with partner agencies and victim groups to help reduce sexual crimes across London and to support victims in the most effective way. The standardisation of procedures will improve the professionalism with which all victims are treated, alongside improved intelligence and investigation which will increase the number of detections.

19. In September, centralised Crime Monitoring was introduced to authorise all crime recording decisions in relation to rape allegations. 50 more rapes were recorded in September 2009 relative to August.

Recent operations and trials

20. On 2 October 2009, two brothers who embarked on a spree of armed robberies across London and Hertfordshire were imprisoned for a total of 12 years. The pair raided a total of 11 bookmakers, using firearms and threatening staff before making off with significant amounts of cash. The severity and frequency of the offences led to a high profile operation, codenamed Catchwater, and the brothers were arrested by SCD7 detectives in June 2009. They subsequently pleaded guilty to the series of offences.

21. The MPS is the first Force area in the UK to obtain an interim Violent Offender Order (VOO). These came into force on 3 August 2009 and are a civil order enabling police to obtain prohibitions against violent offenders to protect the public. MPS officers obtained a summons against a person convicted of the manslaughter of his wife and a series of harassments and breaches of a restraining order against his ex-partner. An interim VOO was obtained on the 4 August to protect his ex-partner and her associates. MPS will seek a full Violent Offender Order on 16 November 2009 to extend the prohibitions to a maximum of 5 years.

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

Progress summary

Recent initiaives

22. Recently, TSG and SCD have worked in collaboration to share resources and mobilise a dedicated surveillance team. Using SCD vehicles and radios with CO staff, the team was dedicated to anti-burglary operations across London boroughs. The deployment was managed through the SCD11 tasking office. The two commands are now working together to enhance the TSG surveillance capability as part of their crime postings to TP in support of boroughs.

Recent operations and trials

23. Three individuals were recently convicted of conspiracy to control prostitution for gain. The three ran a number of brothels in North West London. A full financial investigation was undertaken by CO14 Clubs and Vice financial investigation unit and this resulted in a confiscation hearing on 7 September at Southwark Crown Court. Total benefit from the three was assessed as £730,000 and a combined confiscation of £100,500 (£28,500, £42,000, £30,000). This network has been successfully disrupted and prevented from setting up again.

24. On 8 September 2009, Noel Francis Cunningham was arrested by Dutch police in Holland having been wanted since 2003. Cunningham was unlawfully at large and a European Arrest Warrant for conspiracy to commit robbery, escape, GBH and firearms offences had been circulated for his arrest after he escaped from a prison van on the way to his trial at Inner London Crown Court. He was one of the Met’s Most Wanted people. SCD and SOCA carried out extensive work to trace him to Amsterdam where he was living under a false identity.

25. On 23 September, officers from the Money Laundering Team SCD6 arrested a 64-year-old man on suspicion of money laundering, fraud and identity act offences. During a search of his house, officers recovered 3 handguns, a counterfeit identity document factory and also seized a Mercedes SL500 worth £50,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Other assets that have been subject to a restraint order as a result of the investigation are a property in Spain, a £250,000 yacht, a horse and 400,000 euros. Officers believe the man is part of a larger criminal network linked to drug trafficking. The investigation continues.

Objective: Enhance our counter terrorism capability and capacity

Recent initiatives

Airport Security– supporting MPS criminal networks objectives

26. On 23 September officers from SO18 Aviation Security and the UK Borders Agency executed search warrants in West London. Seven men were arrested regarding an organised international human smuggling network after a nine month investigation involving the Heathrow Human Smuggling Unit, and the UK Borders Agency. Documents, computers and cash were seized. Safety deposit box keys were found, leading to further warrants, and investigations continue.

27. On 4 September SO18 organised a joint operation at Heathrow, targeting the Private Hire & Licensed Taxi trades. The MPS worked with eleven local Councils and six partner agencies. A total of 338 vehicles were stopped, over 100 drivers were reported for offences and some interviewed by Works & Pensions. Dangerous and uninsured vehicles were seized, unpaid fines recovered and numerous licensing infringements dealt with.

Recent operations and trials

28. A man of extreme right wing views possessing components for improvised incendiary devices was given an indeterminate sentence (to serve a minimum of six years) for possessing explosive substances with intent. The man had amassed material which could be used for incendiary/explosive devices

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

How we monitor our performance

29. 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 has been put in place in the Home Office. This will be complemented by a new delivery structure within the MPS and ACPO. The programme reports 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 has the MPS lead responsibility 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

30. The Olympic Security Board met on the 1 October to review progress and the five programme boards, each associated with one of the strands of the strategy, continue to meet and ensure that the various projects are being delivered on time and within budget. The Ministerial meeting, NSID, will meet again in late October and will continue to consider progress on delivery within the £600m funding envelope.

31. The newly-constituted Olympic & Paralympic Policing Coordination (OPC) Team, which is a joint MPS and ACPO team to coordinate the delivery of national police-led projects on Olympic security, began work on 28th September 2009 at Churchill Place, Canary Wharf. In association with HMIC and ACPO, the team have continued working with planning teams to review resourcing requests to ensure a harmonised and efficient approach to national Olympic police planning. The Review team applied an established HMIC methodology to review the MPS non-specialist and specialist resource level projections required for the policing operation for the Games.

32. 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. As well as many other small marches and protests, August saw the start of the football season which has continued on during September. Most matches have passed off without incident but there have been a few occasions where violence between various groups has taken place. In terms of major events, DSEi (the Arms Fair at Excel) and the G20 finance Ministers meeting both passed off without incident.

33. On 11 September, a group calling themselves ‘Stop Islamification of Europe’ held a protest outside the Mosque in Harrow. A significant policing operation was required to manage both this and the counter-demonstrations that took place for a number of hours that evening. Close liaison was undertaken with the local community, the Local Authority and wider community across London. This joint working ensured that the event passed off without major incident, though police lines came under bottle and missile attack from those within the counter-demonstration on a number of occasions. On Sunday 13 September, a significant policing presence prevented disorder taking place in Central London between right wing groups and counter-demonstrators. Similar events are taking place across the country and the MPS is monitoring them closely as further events are anticipated in London. CTSET will be working closely with community groups across London in advance of any further protest events.

Continuous improvement

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

Progress summary

• The efficiency target, based on gross revenue expenditure, has been increased by HM Treasury from 9.3% to 10.3%. The new 2008-11 target is £344.9m. The savings forecast for the two years to the end of March 2010 is £261.7m against a revised target of £257.3m - an overachievement of £4.4m. This was reported to MPA Finance and Resources Committee on 17 September.
• We have targeted recruiting 20% of all police officers from minority ethnic groups and are currently achieving 15.0%. Individuals must be allocated places according on the timing of their applications, and of course the MPS does not discriminate. However, targeted advertising channels and limited Positive Action to support BME recruits in the application process is helping to increase the BME candidate success rate, albeit more slowly than previously hoped.
• We are aiming for our corporate ICT systems to meet target availability levels. During 2009/10 performance information will be available for 8 key systems. For the first quarter all 8 systems achieved or exceeded their target availability.

34. On 14 September, the Audit Commission formally reported on the quality of the 2008/09 final accounts. The District Auditor issued an unqualified audit opinion in September, subject to satisfactory completion of outstanding work and resolution of the discussions taking place with the Department of the Communities and Local Government, on the treatment of pension costs for officers in the new (2006) pension scheme. All outstanding issues have now been satisfactorily completed.

35. The MPA/MPS has been awarded an overall score of two, representing an 'adequate' performance in the Audit Commission’s PURE assessment. While the MPS aimed to achieve a level three score, the Audit Commission has stressed that in 2008/09, PURE has been a much harder assessment for 2008/09, with organisations expected to demonstrate improved performance to maintain current scores. The Audit Commission has also stressed that the national trend for PURE scores is downwards, again demonstrating that the MPA/MPS' maintained score is in recognition of improvement. PURE scores released so far (24 Authorities) confirm this trend, with 13 authorities dropping a level (including one which has dropped two levels), 10 authorities now at level 2 (including the MPA/MPS) and 14 at level 3.

36. Other key achievements to note on the PURE assessment are level three scores in themes of Managing Finance - Financial Planning (maintained from 2007/08) and Managing Resources - Workforce. The assessment of workforce is a new area of PURE and the level three judgment shows that the MPA/MPS is 'performing well' in planning, developing and supporting its officers and staff.

37. HR has been short listed for two Personnel Today Awards to be held in November. Recruitment has been short listed for the Diversity in the Workplace category for their work with five key communities, whilst Occupational Health has been short listed for the Health at Work category. The Police Constable Foundation Training team has also been short listed for the CIPD Awards 2009 in the Learning and Development Category for their work in enhancing foundation training to include Hydra immersive learning.

Finance

38. The sale of Johnson House, Westminster was completed on 26 August, raising a receipt of £26.3m to the MPA.

39. The overall financial position at Period 5 was reported to the MPA Finance and Resources Committee on 22 October 2009. The revenue budget is currently forecast to overspend by £16.1m (approximately 0.5% of budget) although every effort is being made to bring spend within the approved budget. The Capital Programme shows year to date total expenditure of £44.5m, 19% of the revised annual budget of £234.2m. The forecast spend for the year of £218m is £16.2m below the revised annual budget.

Our people

40. 160 candidates were selected for promotion to chief inspector, of which 27 (16.87%) were female and 8 (5%) were BME. Regarding the former, 27 of 32 candidates (84%) were successful while in the latter, 8 of 10 candidates (80%) were successful.

41. In accordance with the Commissioner’s focus on pride, the first passing out ceremony for PCSOs took place on 28 August. Successful students received framed certificates to commemorate their success. In another recent initiative, student PCSOs have been taken out of training school for the first time to gain valuable experience with the public by working alongside colleagues from the Colindale Safer Neighbourhoods Team.

42. At the end of August 2009 the MPS had 52,349 employees. The number of regular police officers stood at 33,193, whilst the number of special constables totalled 2,624 officers in line with the deployment plan. There were 4,839 police community support officers (PCSOs) impacting positively upon community relations.

43. The recent economic climate has impacted significantly on police officer turnover, with considerably fewer police officers leaving the service (currently turnover is 18% lower than originally forecast). This has resulted, however, in lower recruitment levels, which has reduced the opportunity to improve diversity, and therefore the end of year target for BME recruits (20%) is unlikely to be met.

44. The Directorate of Information’s (DoI) e-Comms team has upgraded the Met’s Careers website, improving its usability and accessibility to the public. In addition, the Special Constable application has been recreated to provide members of the public with the ability to submit and track the progress of online applications. This is supports the drive to increase the number of MPS Special Constables ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

45. Full implementation of the Transforming HR operating model has been postponed in order to further develop the technological model. The THR programme team (including DoI), are working closely with Steria and other suppliers to ensure that the technology will soon be ready. The issues relating to the postponement of the THR ‘go live’ date were reported to the MPA Finance and Resource Committee on 17 September 2009.

Information technology

46. The DoI’s Infrastructure Development & Estates Support section is working with the Property Services Directorate to equip new Safer Neighbourhood bases with the necessary information and communications technology.

47. In the last month four Safer Neighbourhoods bases have been provided with the required ICT infrastructure, continuing phase 2 of the Safer Neighbourhoods (SN) Programme. A total of 216 bases have now been installed and a further 84 are due to be completed by Q4 2010-11.

48. Equipment being installed includes computer terminals, telephony, electronic security (CCTV, access control and alarm systems) and also a public-facing LCD screen. The screens display relevant local information, including updates on current campaigns, as well as contact details and opening hours of their local Safer Neighbourhood team.

49. The Police Information Points (PIP) pilot being implemented by the Directorate of Information’s (DoI) is progressing well with 5 units currently in use by the public. Over 15,000 hits were recorded across all 5 PIPs for the month of September and over 60 minor crime reports were submitted. Feedback suggests that the PIP is being positively received as a tool for delivering police information, campaigns and online services to the public. Within police station front counters, the PIP is providing the public with an alternative to queuing for a station officer. A further 2 PIPs are being installed in the Hounslow and Westminster shopping centres during October.

Corporate health

50. The MPS has reviewed its approach to managing corporate health. Aspects of health have been defined in 4 key areas: Leadership; Skills and Capabilities; Systems, Structures and Processes; and Values and Standards of Behaviour.

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. Environmental impact

There are no direct environmental implications arising from this report.

E. 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

F. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising directly from this report.

G. Background papers

None

H. Contact details

Report author(s): Katy Tuncer and Worth Houghton, 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 of UK residents conducted face-to-face in people’s homes designed to capture levels of crime and public attitudes to crime as well as other criminal justice issues. The results play an important role informing Government policy. The survey captures the views of approximately 48,000 citizens across England & Wales annually – roughly 3,000 in London. Survey results are published quarterly and relate to a rolling 12-month period. Limitations are that respondents are aged 17+ and it does not capture business crime.

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.

MSV

Most Serious Violence includes homicide & child destruction; attempted murder; wounding/GBH; causing death by driving (dangerous driving, careless driving under the influence of drink or drugs, careless or inconsiderate driving) or by aggravated vehicle taking.

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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