Specialist Crime Directorate – thematic performance report

Report: 6
Date: 1 April 2010
By: AC Specialist Crime on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report gives an overview of Specialist Crime Directorate’s performance against its headline measures and targets with specific commentary on e-crime project and asset seizure

A. Recommendation

Members are requested to note the contents of the report and make any comments:

B. Supporting information

1. This report provides an overview to the committee on Specialist Crime Directorate’s (SCD) performance against our previously agreed headline measures. The financial year-to-date period covered is 1 April to 21 February 2010 inclusive.

2. It also contains projects or improvement work; some examples of operational successes against serious and organised crime; updates on implementing efficiency savings and highlighting progress against our diversity strategy.

3. All crime data supplied has been reconciled with Performance Information Bureau and where appropriate should match that contained in any complementary corporate submission.

Headline Measures

4. The table below shows our range of headline measures and our financial year-to-date performance against the targets. Where appropriate the targets reflect our contribution to help achieving the corporate objectives.

5. There are two areas this report focuses on. They relate to the progress on the police central e-crime unit project and asset seizure.

Gun crime offences

6. There has been a significant increase of 299 or 11% rise in gun crime offences recorded in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). There were 3,004 offences compared with 2,705 for the same period last financial year. SCD had responsibility for the investigation of 1,006 or 33.5% of offences committed in this crime category (Territorial Policing have responsibility for investigating the remainder of these offence types). This is a 38% increase in the more serious end of offending.

7. Currently the weekly average is around 64 offences. If this rate is maintained, the end of year forecast is likely to be around 3,328 offences. A projected increase of 302 offences or 10% on last year’s final figure of 3,026 offences. This will provide an end-of-year figure much closer to that of 2007/08. Realistically we are not in a position to achieve the 3% reduction target as the remaining weekly average should not exceed 4 offences for this to happen. This was always a challenging target as the last few years had witnessed a continued and sustained reduction in offences.

8. The overall MPS gun crime sanction detection rate is 25.6%. The corporate target is 25%. There have been 772 FYTD detections. The detection rate has improved by 0.7 percentage points when compared with the last reporting period. It’s worth noting the rate is 3.5 percentage points higher than two years ago. SCD has detected 293 or 29% of the offences they have responsibility for investigating.

Homicide

9. There have been 102 homicide offences FYTD. This is 33% or 24% fewer than the same reporting period last year. If the current trend continues, the projected end of year figure should be around 113 offences. This would be the lowest recorded total in many years and forty fewer than last year.

10. The MPS detection rate is 96%, where 98 offences have been detected. The Homicide and Serious Crime Command overall detection rate is 92% (90 offences with 85 detections). Their in-year detection rate is 83% (excludes detections claimed for pre-financial year - allowed by Home Office counting rules).

11. Trident FYTD, are investigating six homicide offences (seven fewer offences than with same period last year) and they have detected six, providing a detection rate of 100%. Their in-year detection rate is 50%.

12. Child Abuse Investigation Command has a single murder investigation team. There have been three offences and claimed six detections. Their in-year detection rate is 66%.

Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU)

13. The Unit was established twelve months ago. There has already been a significant success in creation of data sharing agreements, well publicised operations and development of this unit to achieving its remit as set out in the ACPO e-crime strategy.

14. We have been successful in moving forward the concept of a virtual taskforce. In its current format, the taskforce has a finance industry focus, with partners from banking, payment services, telecoms and Chatham House who provide facilitation services and academic rigour.

15. As the concept develops, this model will be extended to other sectors such as the government, retail and travel. It’s sanctioned by the chief executive officer of each member organisation, and is overseen by a joint strategic working group who ensure that its activity is targeted on the highest priority e-crime issues.

16. Some recent successes for the unit include; Operation Poplin - this related to a new banking Trojan. [4] Around £726k was harvested from over 70 fraudulent accounts which were created using stolen identities and utilised to steal funds from customers’ accounts. The key to success in this operation was through working in dynamic partnership with industry. It concluded within three and a half weeks, preventing harm calculated at a potential cost of £22m, if a more conventional law enforcement operation had taken place. This operation resulted in five people being convicted to a total of thirteen years imprisonment.

17. Operation Lumpfish - working in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers from West Midlands police, its aim was to combat fraudulent international online music sales where over 200,000 stolen identities were put to unlawful use.

18. Operation Phyllite - the first large scale operation of its kind culminated in the successful closure of more than 100 globally hosted websites selling scam Premier League football tickets. The learning and recommendations have transferred to strategic prevention activity for future Olympic crime issues.

19. Since April 2009, the unit has made 33 arrests, carried out two cash seizures totalling £58.5k, closed down 1,361 websites and stopped 809 telephone numbers.

20. Details on the project’s implementation to date include:

• Confirmed funding to recruit and support an Olympics team based within the unit
• Two meetings of regional representatives have taken place. This is a forum for the national e-crime project to apprise the regions of ongoing activity and a conduit for the regions to bring concerns, questions and best practice to ACPO through the programme
• The national e-crime programme benefits map has been revised and strand leads will be asked to agree benefit measures
• Revision of ACPO guidelines for computer based evidence has been passed to us and is part of the forensic strand. Work is ongoing and a delivery date expected for ACPO e-crime conference in June
• Continuing to develop an in-house e-crime awareness package for use by all forces
• Working with Trading Standards to implement the strategy for fraudulent website removals
• Working in partnership with industry to schedule a series of presentations on emerging technology to assist in increasing national e-crime capability
• Continuing to develop standard operating procedures for mobile phones/devices
• Negotiations are ongoing with publishers to create a joint e-crime prevention guidance to be distributed in electronic format

21. The unit is currently running two major operations in relation to serious organised crime groups that are exploiting government networks to cause national harm and more work is coming in from the financial sector. We continue to build on our relationships with third party providers. Negotiations are ongoing to secure further resources from partner agencies and to promote increased intelligence and learning opportunities. It is intended to collate more information regarding the investigative tools and systems of all constabularies/forces in order to assist and enhance UK capability in relation to the national e-crime threat.

Asset seizures

22. This year’s target for asset recovery was always going to be challenging. Rize has been a successful and innovative operation and has been the focus of our asset seizure activity over the past twenty months. It involves teams from Specialist Crime, Territorial Policing and Central Operations. It resulted in over three thousand boxes being seized from three safety deposit facilities across London. About 80% of these have been restored, though some have been referred to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs Excise for further examination on tax related matters. That leaves around 700 boxes requiring differing levels of police investigative skills.

23. To date, the MPS teams have made 205 cash seizures, recovered £10m in criminal assets, detained a further £14.2m under Proceeds of Crime Act legislation, overseen a £200k repayment of benefits to the Department of Works and Pensions and almost £6m paid over to HMRC regarding non-payment of taxes. There are also a number of confiscations linked to secondary investigations. And finally, there were 28 successful claims for disruption against criminal networks. These have contributed to that corporate measure and target.

24. There have been some difficulties with using a dedicated court for seizure hearings. Often what appears a straightforward seizure can quickly become a tangled and complex money laundering investigation. These can take many months to unravel and for the true picture and details to finally emerge. A number of defendants are or have contested the forfeitures. This requires resources being deployed in the appeal process including those from Directorate of Legal Services.

25. There are some mitigating factors as to why we are not achieving our asset seizure target. The sheer volume of enquiries generated by Rize has meant a heavy workload for the financial investigators involved. This is complicated by many investigations becoming protracted and longer-term in nature. This has reduced officers’ capacity and capability in respect of work outside of the operation, leading to a knock-on effect for wider MPS activity. The partnership approach has understandably seen our partner agencies being the primary beneficiary of seizures in some cases.

26. A recent survey of payback units across the MPS highlighted the following as contributory factors to a fall in performance levels:

• increased awareness amongst criminals of the relevant powers and how to avoid coming to notice
• increase and focus of resources on crime types that have no POCA outcomes
• rotation of financial investigators reducing resilience, experience and outcomes
• uncertainty remains over the future funding arrangements for some financial investigators posts

27. The Payback Programme Board, chaired by AC SCD, is responding to these findings where it is possible for the MPS to do so.

Projects and Improvement

28. On 1 April, the people and resources associated with Central Operations Clubs and Vice Unit formally transfer across to the directorate. They have responsibility for the policing of the night time economy of licensed premises, nightclubs and casinos; on street and off street prostitution as well as the trafficking of women for sexual purposes and obscene publications including the investigation of the electronic sharing of indecent images of children. A small project team, supported by specialist colleagues in our Performance Improvement Unit, are working closely to ensure this move takes place in a seamless, efficient and effective manner.

Operational successes

Some recent successful investigations by our units include:

29. A man who fled to Ireland in a bid to escape justice was jailed after committing two rapes. At Crown Court, he was sentenced to eight and a half years imprisonment for each offence of rape and 99 days for absconding. The rapes occurred in September 1996. Late 2009 he was arrested in Northern Ireland following a pro-active operation between Sapphire Command and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The defendant has not shown any remorse for the crimes and was determined to avoid prison, what he didn't appreciate was that police were equally determined to achieve justice for his victims. The second of his victims was taken to an address where she was raped by at least four men over a prolonged period of time. The victim was eventually able to leave the address and approached a passing police vehicle and reported the attack. Due to the prompt actions of police two men were arrested at the scene. Enquiries led police to link this offence with the rape of a 24-year-old victim four days earlier. Further arrests followed during the investigation which resulted in one man serving a ten year prison term for the two attacks. A second man was sentenced to six years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to a count of false imprisonment and of rape in relation to one incident.

30. A man appearing for retrial at Crown Court pleaded guilty to his role in importing £38.5m worth of drugs and has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. The defendant was originally sentenced at another court receiving 26 years imprisonment for conspiracy to supply 150 kilos of Class A Drugs (cocaine) and 13 years for conspiracy to supply 8 tonnes of Class C Drugs (cannabis) to run concurrently. At his original trial the jury heard that he was arrested with another man, following a joint investigation conducted between the Serious and Organised Crime OCU’s Projects team and South African Organised Crime law enforcement agencies. The operation focused on the importation of cocaine and cannabis by British nationals into the UK from South Africa. A consignment was seized at Felixstowe port and concealed in a shipment. Another seizure was made in South Africa and the drugs were destined for UK. It is believed that the criminal network started importing drugs in 2001, with similarly sized consignments to those seized more recently being imported and not detected until the police seizures. The defendant was one of the key organisers. He also operated two businesses, one based in London.

31. A 20-year-old man who fled the UK to Dubai in an attempt to avoid arrest has been found guilty of stabbing a teenager to death. The victim was found in a communal stairwell and was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination found the cause of death as stab wounds to the leg. It is believed that he bled to death in a matter of minutes due to his femoral artery being severed. He was a college student and had expressed a desire to join the Fire Brigade. The suspect was arrested at Heathrow Airport as he returned to the UK and charged with murder the following day. An uncle was also convicted of assisting an offender. He was arrested as he had purchased an aeroplane ticket for his nephew to allow him to escape to Dubai.

32. A prison officer, who struck up an illicit relationship with an inmate, abused her position to smuggle mobile phones into prison for him. She was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment. Pleading guilty to three counts of wilful misconduct in a public office. The defendant was found in possession of a mobile phone as she entered the prison, where she worked. Prison officials informed police that a male prisoner had been found with a concealed mobile phone. Further inquiries by officers from Economic and Specialist Crime OCU established that messages and calls received on this phone had been made from the officer’s personal phone. She was re-arrested on suspicion of wilful misconduct in a public office. It appeared she had passed the phone to the inmate back in January and that the phone she was found in possession of was also destined for him. She resigned from the prison service during the police investigation.

33. An 18 year old man has been sentenced to an indefinite prison sentence for the public's protection after he was found in a London street with a firearm and ammunition. At court he was charged with possession of firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life. It follows an investigation by Trident officers in south London. He was stopped in a vehicle by firearms officers as part of a wider police operation. A taser was used as he refused to comply with police instructions.

34. A youth has been convicted of the murder of a store manager. Three others were convicted of his manslaughter and three of conspiracy to rob. The sentencing followed a long and complex investigation by Homicide and Serious Command. The manager was fatally stabbed. He lost his life because the defendants, who each played their various parts, had devised a plan to steal the store's takings. The store's security guard betrayed the manager’s trust by conspiring with others to rob the very premises and staff he was supposed to protect. A reconnaissance visit was held the day before and the guard informed the others about access, avoiding CCTV and telling them where to hide. The guard finished work that night, leaving the manager and colleagues knowing the robbers were lying in wait. The defendant stabbed the victim in the neck and back, having made no attempt to get the cash they came for, fleeing empty handed. The suspects jumped into a waiting car which was later discovered dumped and burnt out. A total of 22 people were arrested during the course of the investigation. Detailed phone analysis, forensics and witness evidence resulted in seven defendants being charged.

Efficiency savings

35. As part of the 2009-12 business planning process, we identified in excess of £15m of efficiency savings that would be delivered by the directorate as a result of foregone growth, better contract management and a general improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of our core deliverables.

36. By far the largest contribution towards the £15m was made by Forensic Services, who relinquished £5.6m of anticipated growth, together with a cut in real budget allocation of a further £5m. Due to improved management control and more efficient procurement of forensic contracts this saving is on schedule to be delivered during 09/10 financial year. The expectation is that further budget reductions will be possible in future years.

37. Further savings are on course to be achieved through the reduction in the size and consolidation of several teams. These include Intelligence Standards Unit (£1m), Covert Policing Standards Unit (£0.5m), Service Review Group (£0.5m) and Extradition Unit (£0.4m).

38. Additional general efficiency savings of £0.5m are also being delivered across the directorate as a result of better use and management of resources such as vehicles, overtime and general running costs.

39. The final proposed efficiency saving related to a reduction of 25 police staff posts. Those posts identified were vacant and had been so for a period of time and were in addition to those identified above. In a full year this reduction was expected to realise a further £1.3m.

Diversity

40 Since our formation in 2002, the Directorate has seen a steady increase in black and minority ethnic (BME) officers. Over the past year the number of BME officers has increased from 173 officers (5.65%) in March 2009 to 218 (6.16%) in January 2010. [5] The Trident OCU has the highest percentage with 9.7% (34) BME officers and the Rape & Serious Sexual Offences OCU has 8.9 % (32) BME officers.

41 The transfer of rape investigations to SCD (Rape & Serious Sexual Offences OCU) has increased the number of female officers in the directorate and we now have 946 (26.7%) female police officers and 1,643 (58.9%) female police staff, compared with percentages of 23% and 58%) for the MPS as a whole. More than half (55.9%) of officers in the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences OCU are female.

42 Our completion of the self-declared diversity data on MetHR is improving slowly. At the end of January 2010, 6.9% of SCD officers and staff had completed the information about their religion, faith or belief and 6.5% had completed the information about their sexual orientation. Almost 6% of our officers and staff have completed the information about disability with 88% of these declaring they do not have a disability and 11% (33 colleagues) declaring a disability.

43 Our Diversity Forum, chaired by the Director, Business Support, continues to meet every six weeks. The Forum monitors OCU diversity action plans and their progress on improving representation across all strands of diversity. The Forum has a programme of diversity related speakers and recent topics have covered neuro-diversity, MPS staff support associations, the MPA’s role and the Race & Faith Inquiry emerging findings, as well as updates on the developing MPS Diversity Strategy and the Equality Standard for the Police Service. Plans for 2010 include inviting presentations from other business groups, which would encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas across the MPS.

44 Each Diversity Forum meeting also gives two OCUs an opportunity to update the forum with progress on their diversity action plans and to share good practice. Recent examples have included reviewing and amending job advertisements for Field Intelligence Officers to attract more female applicants; working with Primary Care Trusts to share information about people who fall below the section 136 Mental Health Act 1983 threshold in order to prevent them from committing crime and mentoring schemes to encourage officers and staff from minority groups to consider opportunities within the directorate.

45 Diversity continues to be included in our programme of performance inspection visits when DAC Specialist Crime and Director, Business Support, visit each OCU on twice a yearly basis.

46 We have initiated some work with Specialist Operations in response to the Race & Faith Inquiry’s emerging finding about diversity in specialist units. A joint workshop was held to identify the outcomes (both positive and negative), strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats of increasing diversity in specialist units. A number of issues emerged that were common to both business groups and this work is progressing with further workshops to identify the necessary controls and develop these into action plans that support the new MPS Diversity Strategy. Working jointly with SO provides the opportunity to share good practice and just as importantly to work together on common actions to take diversity forward.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The activities that form this report and the data content are arrived at with a regard to delivering Specialist Crime policing services tailored to the needs of individuals, groups and communities. The equality and diversity issues have been addressed in the body of this report

D. Financial implications

1. As per the London Policing Plan, the opening budget for 2009/10 is £390m with a workforce of 3,279 police officers and 2,774 police staff. All activities outlined above will be delivered within this funding envelope.

E. Legal implications

1. As this is a performance monitoring report there are no direct legal implications arising from this report.

F. Environmental impact

1. As this is a performance monitoring report there are no direct environmental impacts

G. Background papers

None

H. Contact details

Report author: Raymond Marshall, Specialist Crime Directorate, Performance Improvement Unit, MPS

For information contact:

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

Abbreviations and Acronyms

BME

Black minority ethnic

BOCU

Borough Operational Command Unit

DAC

Deputy Assistant Commissioner

EIA

Equality impact assessment

HMRC

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs

MPA

Metropolitan Police Authority

MPS

Metropolitan Police Service

OCU

Operational Command Unit

SCD

Specialist Crime Directorate

SO

Specialist Operations

UK

United Kingdom

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