Minutes

Minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 10 June 2010 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Reshard Auladin (Chairman)
• Tony Arbour
• Chris Boothman
• Toby Harris
• Joanne McCartney
• Jenny Jones
• Caroline Pidgeon
• Valerie Brasse

MPA officers

• Jane Harwood (Deputy Chief Executive)
• Annabel Adams (Deputy Treasurer)
• Siobhan Coldwell (Head of Policing Policy Scrutiny and Oversight)
• Lynne Abrams (Policy Officer)

MPS officers

• Tim Godwin (Deputy Commissioner)
• Anne McMeel
• Mark Gore
• Richard Clarke
• Steve Bloomfield
• Darren Williams

159. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

159.1 Apologies were received from Richard Tracey, Jennette Arnold, and Bob Atkins.

160. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

160.1 There were no declarations of interest.

161. Minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee 13 May 2010

(Agenda item 3)

161.1 Members noted a number of errors in the minutes:

• Valerie Brasse was present at the meeting (not shown as present at the start of the minute), but it was Jenny Jones that dissented to the decision at paragraph 147.
• DAC Owens was asked to provide a briefing note on the opportunity cost to the MPS arising from their support of the JEMS process.
• Members asked officers to be aware of potential scheduling conflicts when inviting local authorities to participate in JEMs meetings, in particular duplication with the Domestic and Sexual Violence Board.

Resolved - That the minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee held on 13 May 2010 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

162. Urgent actions and urgent operational issues

(Agenda item 4)

162.1 The Deputy Commissioner (DC) responded to news items emerging regarding the apparently ultra vires use of powers under the Terrorism Act 2000, Section 44. Members were informed that although the MPS had sent for authorization on 2 April, the Home Secretary failed to sign the document until approximately 51 hours later, 3 hours later than the 48 hour deadline. 840 people were affected by searches conducted on the basis of this document between 5 April and 29 April.

162.2 Members asked how this omission had come to light and how it was that the MPS knew that no further errors would emerge. The MPS responded that this had come to light following a Freedom of Information request, and that all authorities’ records had been reviewed as a result. Six further errors came to light during this investigation, wherein a calendar error had resulted in the Home Secretary signing orders for detention of up to 29 days, 1 day over the legal limit.

162.3 Members challenged the MPS to confirm that they had acted illegally but were told that the MPS had acted in good faith, and the legality of its actions could only be established through legal proceedings.

163. Headline performance report

(Agenda item 5)

163.1 Members were presented with the monthly Headline Performance Report by Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin, who highlighted that only one month into the financial year inference from the figures should not be drawn too readily. Trends observed reflect those reported to this month’s meeting of the Full Authority – violent crime is down, homicide detection rate remains high, and rises in robbery and gun crime have been recorded. The DC encourages a continued emphasis on containment of youth and weapons crime.

163.2 Members requested to know whether the DC had received any indication that the age profile of serious youth violence was getting lower, and whether the rise recorded in weapons crime and robbery could be linked to rising gang activity e.g. gang initiation. The DC reported that no shift towards earlier involvement in crime had been picked up, and that the profile remains predominantly teenage. He agreed that although knife enabled crime is driven in part by peer pressure, a distinction should be maintained between this and gang-related activity. Members are assured that the MPS continue to monitor and target gangs, and that most gang members are within criminal justice system.

163.3 Members noted that MPS user satisfaction amongst BME communities is not hitting the agreed targets. The DC expressed his disappointment and informed the committee that a new confidence and satisfaction board had been established to investigate these failings. The evidence suggests that the means by which the public make contact will impact their user satisfaction, and in specific, front counters have performed the worst. Despite this, the MPS is well placed in comparison to other forces due to initiatives such as enlisting PCSOs to support administrative staff. The DC concedes that training is imperative, and that there may be systemic error e.g. the coupling of enquiry desk and costumer block activities. Progress in this area will be determined by the findings of the aforementioned board and the forthcoming budget settlement.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

164. TP Performance Report

(Agenda item 6)

164.1 Members were presented with the bi-monthly TP Performance report by Cmdr Steve Bloomfield, who made note of the advances made in this area. Significant resource has been diverted into the identification of persons calling repeatedly regarding anti-social behaviour. Such data is monitored daily within each borough, and central oversight is provided monthly and bi-annually. In response to the huge volume of calls, the MPS has developed a partnership model that seeks to ensure that the right responses are tailored and delivered in each instance. Data-mapping techniques have been refined to a lower level of granularity – whereas before street names would be recorded, now victim-offender location (and offence type) is mapped to the yard.

164.2 The MPS pledged to bring forth the recommendations of the aforementioned confidence and satisfaction board to the MPA when a plan has been drafted. The performance of other metropolitan forces is now reported to the board, and the private sector is being widely consulted in order to establish best practice. The MPS report that the BOCU fund is being focused on five core themes: the effective tackling of ASB and crime; partnerships; local service provision; working for the public; and the seeking of confidence.

164.3 Members requested more information regarding paragraph two of the report, concerning the move to a five area structure. The MPS responded that work has been undertaken by ACTP regarding this realignment. A short brief had been sent to the Chair, Members will be given details by the end of July, and a paper will be coming to committee on 16 September 2010.

164.4 Members noted that the February 2010 report of HMIC had revealed inadequacies in the IT system that identified repeat callers, and asked whether the MPS could confirm that it would now be sufficiently robust so as to satisfy the HMIC. The MPS responded that they are fully cognisant of the challenges presented by cases such as Pilkington, and that although the system would not presently capture all repeat victims – the search engine is ineffective, not accounting for misspelt words for instance - it is in development and rollout is anticipated to go ahead in October 2010.

164.5 Members questioned why it was that the survey cited within the report, at paragraph 19, recorded such low public awareness of the work of Safer Neighbourhood Teams. It was noted that some boroughs had worked hard to expand ward panels to little avail. The MPS confirmed that they are reviewing the practices of Safer Neighbourhood Teams to better engage with communities. However, they find the figures equally confusing – best practice workshops have been run, and leaflets regarding the teams have been posted through every door in London for instance.

164.6 Members requested to know whether the victim-offender location framework conflicts with the motivations of the diamond district initiative. An interim report into the Diamond Initiative reported a reduction of one-third in serious reoffending against a control sample of 2000 offenders. The draft business case for a broader roll-out shows a cost saving of £120 million (in court and prison costs). The MPS agrees to brief MPA on developments over the coming six months.

Resolved – That the report be noted and that a revised focus on the ‘victim-offender location’ is supported.

165. Stop and search

(Agenda item 7)

165.1 The MPS introduced a report regarding the use of stop and search powers as requested by Members at the January meeting of the Full Authority. All told MPS conducted 488,455 PACE searches over the year to March 2010, although the frequency of s.60 searches has been lowered to approximately 5000 a month, down from highs of 12000 in October 2009. Home Office statistics suggest that BME people are 7.6 times more likely to get stopped and searched than white people nationally, down to 4.1 times across the jurisdiction of the MPS. Ninety percent of searches are conducted on males, and the burden of stop and search falls significantly upon 19-25 year olds.

165.2 The MPA were asked to contextualize these figures. For instance, in approximately seventy percent of gun crimes, both the victim and perpetrator are BME. Eighty—seven percent of knife crime relates to youth violence, and is concentrated in BME communities. Intelligence-led stop and search has been an effective tool, leading to the seizure of 9.5 thousand weapons since 2008. Operation Pennant has been in existence since 2006, concentrating on the quality and timeliness of data outputs from stop and searches. A monitoring panel including BME members oversees this work. Furthermore, community engagement has been prioritized e.g. in Brent.

165.3 Members raised the issue of the EHRC report ‘Stop and Think’ which highlighted the ‘excess’ number of searches performed on BME citizens by the MPS. The MPS have been given 21 days to respond, and the committee was informed that they have a robust business case. Ted Henderson explained that to ameliorate the charge of ‘excess’ would require the MPS to adopt parity of searches i.e. five white people stopped and searched for every one black. Operation Pennant is increasing local accountability, but the aim of parity is questioned by the MPS – given the variance in crime hotspots.

165.4 The Chair advised that the committee consider each element of the report in its turn. Members questioned the causality inferred at paragraph 2, noting that a far steeper reduction in s. 44 searches was recorded prior to the European Court of Human Rights decision and the subsequent tactical changes reported. The DC responded that he had no figures on this previous fall, but that it does not diminish the correlation reported. Members note that with regard s. 60 the use of October as a benchmark may be misleading as this month saw the highest recorded use of the power.

165.5 Members noted the ‘media storm’ that such disproportionality figures have previously provoked, and asked whether the MPS have the evidence necessary to justify them. The MPS responded that the EHRC letter has provided an opportunity for reflection and debate on police powers, and John Wadham (Legal Director, EHRC) had been invited to participate. The MPS remain unable to correlate the frequency of stop and search and the reduction of crime as form 5090 – used for stop and search – does not include a field for geo-coding the location. Nor do they collect data on suspects charged as a result of a stop and search.

165.6 Members agreed with the MPS that people generally accept stop and search as a tactic – e.g. its inclusion in the Young Londoner’s manifesto - but object to the manner in which such encounters are managed by police. Stop and search should be intelligence-led and local bureaucracy should, therefore, continue to provide the predominant accountability framework. Given the difficulty in obtaining quantitative evidence, much evaluation of stop and search programmes, including Blunt 2, occurs ‘informally’ at the local level. The number of searches authorized by each authority is recorded and fed into Pennant boards, which have powers to call in a borough commander.

165.7 Members sought clarification regarding how the MPS had refined the use of s. 44 powers. The committee heard that following a review by Lord Carlile this power is no longer used as a blanket technique but, rather, it is based on intelligence.

165.8 Members made note that EHRC do not issue such letters lightly and that the MPS should take it very seriously. The MPS confirms that they do so, and requested that Chris Boothman assists as a member of a panel appointed to challenge their response.

165.9 Although statistics on reduced disproportionality are encouraging, only positive evidence confirming the utility of stop and search would satisfy the EHRC. Furthermore, there is a risk that the disproportionate use of such powers would allay their deterrence value, as weapons could be passed to girlfriends or white friends, for instance, without fear. Localism also bears the risk of insular decision-making.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

166. MPA overview of MPS domestic violence performance

(Agenda item 8)

166.1 During the financial year 2009-2010 the MPS recorded approximately 120000 incidents of domestic violence and 59000 offences. Measured against the previous year incidents are up, whilst offences are down. Domestic violence continues to constitute a significant proportion of MPS business e.g. thirty percent of all violent crime. However, The MPS has exceeded targets and arrest rates, and cautioning alone has been reduced (although it still makes up fifty percent of action taken in some boroughs). Furthermore, reporting of forced marriage and ‘honour’ based violence has increased, which is welcomed.

166.2 Problematically, performance across boroughs is inconsistent and data on sexual orientation is not reported in 99.9% of cases. Although there is a flag to capture instances of domestic violence and a flag to capture when an individual has been the repeat victim of an offence, there is no way to identify when an individual has been a repeat victim of the same type of offence.

166.3 Members noted that many of the issues highlighted within the paper should be addressed by the MPS action plan in response to recommendations from the MPS’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Board, which will be updated in November 2010. Members welcome an emphasis on the wider victim experience, and that the DV Homicide report highlights that domestic violence is not just partner-partner but includes family members. In September 2009 the MPS broadened crime reporting fields in accordance with the definition of hate crimes, and would welcome the proposed update to the CRIS system in this instance.

Resolved – That the recommendation be supported.

166.4 The committee supported the recommendation that a flag be created for cases of repeat domestic violence.

167. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 9)

149.1 Members agreed to exclude press and public.

Part 2: Summary of exempt items

168. Report by the Director of Professional Standards on behalf of the Commissioner

(Agenda item 10)

168.1 The committee agreed to approve the request of separate funding for legal representation.

Resolved - That the request be approved.

169. Exempt minutes of the meeting 13 May 2010 – to be agreed

(Agenda item 11)

169.1 Members agreed the minutes of the above meeting.

Resolved - That the minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee (Part 2) held on 13 May 2010 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

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