Central Operations - Thematic Performance report

Report: 6
Date: 11 November 2010
By: Assistant Commissioner Central Operations on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report gives an overview of Central Operations performance against its headline measures and targets. The report then gives, as requested by the Authority, specific commentary on the Territorial Support Group, detailing current performance achievements.

A. Recommendation

That

1. Members note the contents of the report and make any comments.

B. Supporting information

1. This report provides an overview to the committee on Central Operations’ (CO) performance, reporting by exception. The financial year-to-date (FYTD) period covered is 1 April 2010 to 31 August 2010 inclusive.

2. It also contains, as requested by the Authority, specific commentary on the Territorial Support Group (TSG) focusing on current performance achievements, professionalism, partnership working and community engagement.

3. Central Operations provides highly visible specialist policing services across the whole of London. Its officers and staff operate in neighbourhoods and communities in all 32 boroughs and they work closely with colleagues in all the other Metropolitan Police Service business groups.

4. The main functions of Central Operations are:

• To provide the MPS strategic reserve capable of being deployed immediately to deal with any incident
• To target, through the corporate tasking process, crime and disorder hotspots to help deliver safety and confidence
• To police London’s roads to reduce casualties and deny criminals use of the roads
• To provide armed support to unarmed officers when life is endangered and to respond to, provide command for and resolve threats posed by armed criminals
• To provide a centralised criminal justice function for all traffic matters across the MPS
• To provide MPS specialist training, including firearms and public order
• To plan for, and police, public order, sporting and other major events
• To plan for, and respond to, any major incident including a terrorist attack
• To plan for the policing of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

5. Central Operations is formed of nine Operational Command Units (OCUs) all of which are pan London and provide operational support across the organisation.

Business Development and Support OCU (CO1)

6. The Business Development and Support OCU provides a high quality, customer-focused support service to the whole of CO. This service encompasses functions such as performance and planning; information management; communication; diversity; finance and resources; risk management; training and development; managing change and modernisation and the CO Coordinating and Tasking Office (CaTO).

Emergency Preparedness OCU (CO3)

7. The Emergency Preparedness OCU coordinates and wherever possible ensures emergency preparedness across the organisation. The OCU’s four core areas of responsibility include Emergency Procedures; Business Continuity; the strategic link with London Resilience and the MPS Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) policy and coordination. The OCU also manages the Consequence Management strand for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Firearms Command Unit (CO5)

8. The Firearms Command Unit is a specialist unit of superintendents and inspectors who authorise and command firearms operations by determining strategic priorities and implementing tactical plans to contain threats presented by armed individuals and protect the public. The Firearms Command Unit authorised 426 firearms operations between 29 March 2010 and 28 September 2010. The unit has also taken responsibility for designing the national firearms response plan for the London 2012 Olympics.

Public Order and Operational Support OCU (CO11)

9. The Public Order and Operational Support OCU have responsibility for a diverse range of specialist policing activities. These extend from public order and event policing, public order training, officer safety policy and training, supporting Borough Operational Command Units (BOCUs) with advice and guidance and a host of other specialisms including:

• Mounted Branch
• Air Support Unit
• Dog Support Unit
• Marine Policing Unit

The MPS plans for and polices over 4,500 events across the capital each year, the largest and most significant of which – such as New Year’s Eve, Notting Hill Carnival and the recent State Papal Visit - are planned within the Public Order and Operational Support OCU. One of the OCU’s main roles is to assist event commanders, BOCUs and specialist OCUs with support, advice and guidance in event policing.

Olympic and Paralympic Policing Coordination Team (OPC, CO12)

10. In 2009 the MPS and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) formed the OPC. Although having a national remit, the OPC remains part of the MPS, internally called CO12. The unit is funded by direct grant from the Home Office Olympic Security Directorate (OSD). The role of the OPC is to coordinate all those Olympic safety and security related projects that have been commissioned to the police by the OSD. The OPC leads on ensuring the police, nationally, have the right number of staff, with the right skills and the infrastructure they need to be able to deliver a safe and secure Olympic Games. It also supports AC Allison in his wider role of National Olympic Security Coordinator.

Traffic OCU (CO15)

11. The Traffic OCU (CO15) is responsible for policing London’s ‘fast moving roads’, investigating over 300 fatal and ‘life changing’ collisions per annum, working with external bodies and road users to improve road safety and supporting BOCUs when locally identified instances of danger or anti-social use of the roads are identified. The Traffic OCU has also developed the Safe Driving MPS-wide policy which aims to ensure that MPS drivers are safe on the roads, and the OCU investigates police collisions independently of line management, recommending remedial action and/or sanctions as appropriate.

Traffic Criminal Justice OCU (CO16)

12. The Traffic Criminal Justice OCU is responsible for the enforcement of road traffic laws when offenders are reported by police officers or identified by road safety camera activations. It undertakes over 55,000 traffic prosecutions per annum. The Traffic Criminal Justice OCU also provides serious casework to deal with fatal and life threatening collisions and police collisions. The OCU processes all MPS fixed penalty notices (over 140,000 per annum) and penalty notices for disorder (over 23,600 per annum) and runs the traffic safety camera enforcement with the London Safety Camera Partnership.

Specialist Firearms Command (CO19)

13. The Specialist Firearms Command (CO19) provides armed support to unarmed officers through the deployment of Armed Response Vehicles, which respond to over 13,000 calls for assistance from the public and unarmed colleagues per annum. It also supports specialist units in Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD) and Specialist Operations (SO) through the provision of a firearms intervention capability to mitigate armed threats presented by criminals and terrorists. The Specialist Firearms Command was engaged in over 800 pre-planned firearms operations last year.

Territorial Support Group (CO20)

14. The Territorial Support Group is a pan London unit with the capability to respond immediately to critical and major incidents and public disorder anywhere in London, to support boroughs and target high crime areas, to provide the MPS’ response to CBRN incidents and to undertake tasked anti-terrorism patrols. The TSG is subject of specific discussion further on in this report.

Headline Measures and Exception Reporting

15. Table 1 below shows CO’s range of headline measures and its financial year-to-date performance against the targets. This section reports by exception on these headline measures and also focuses on the two headline measures which are key performance indicators (KPIs) contained within the Policing London Business Plan.

Table 1 - CO Headline Measures

16. Headline Measure 7 - ‘Number of blameworthy police collisions in 2010/11’ shows current performance is below the target of a monthly average of 152.25 collisions or less. The current FYTD performance is an average of 170.21 collisions per month.

17. To address this performance issue the Safe Driving Three (SD3) project is being implemented, under the direction of Commander Roads Policing. The project aims to bring together various work streams relating to police driving already being worked on within the MPS and seeks other ideas for areas of improvement. The six main strands of SD3 are:

• Driver training and selection
• Driver standards and policy
• Management information
• Command and control
• Fleet and transport technology
  
• Prevention and organisational learning

18. Headline Measure 8 - ‘percentage reduction in number of people killed and seriously injured (KSIs) in road traffic collisions’ (RTCs) is an MPS KPI and is a national and mayoral target. It forms part of the Policing London Business Plan and is reported to Performance Board on a monthly basis. To achieve this target the MPS must reduce KSIs by 50% by the end of December 2010 on a baseline figure of 6,639, which equates to 277 KSIs per month.

19. The current FYTD performance for Headline Measure 8 is at -53%, which is 3% better than the end of year target. The current trend therefore indicates that if performance is sustained the target should be met by the end of the year.

20. Headline Measure 9 - ‘The number of motorists disqualified from driving at court’ FYTD is 1645. A monitoring exercise is currently being carried out to identify a base line for this measure. Once this is complete at the end of the financial year a target for next year can then be set.

21. Headline Measure 11 - ‘percentage compliance with 10 working day road traffic collision target (updating victims)’ shows current performance is below the FYTD target of 95%. Current FYTD performance is at 89.2%.

22. Performance against this measure is challenged and has been raised at the CO Confidence and Satisfaction working group as it relies entirely on information being provided by colleagues within Territorial Policing (TP) boroughs. To improve borough timeliness in the delivery of Collision Accident Record Books (CARBs) from the reporting borough to CO and compliance with the Short Message Format (SMF), the Traffic Criminal Justice OCU now produces monthly management reports, which are circulated to all Area and BOCU Commanders. These reports highlight good and poor performance and initiate improvement activity where necessary.

23. Headline Measure 14 - ‘percentage of Police Service delivery project milestones delivered on time’ is the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games measure. This KPI also forms part of the Policing London Business Plan and is reported to Performance Board on a monthly basis. The original target was set at 95% of project milestones to be delivered, however on the 27 July 2010 Performance Board agreed that the Olympic and Paralympic Policing Coordination team (OPC, CO12) would adopt a Risk Exception approach to its future reporting to Performance Board. The first report was submitted to Performance Board on 26 August 2010, setting out the initial risks and tolerances against which future reports will be prepared.

24. Headline Measure 17 - ‘percentage of victims of crime updated on the progress of their cases at least once a month’ currently does not have a FYTD figure as measurement has not commenced to date. There were historical issues around the definition of victims in relation to traffic collisions and offences which have now been resolved. Further to this specific training on the Crime Reporting Information System (CRIS) was required for staff; however data should be available from October 2010 as the training has now been provided.

25. Headline Measure 18 - ‘we will ensure the efficient, effective and economic use of CO resources through the delivery of the CO Improvement Plan’. The development of a single headline measure in relation to the CO Improvement Plan is currently under consideration. The CO Improvement Plan is currently being finalised with a governance structure introduced and scoping work initiated. Monitoring of performance will commence as activities are brought on-line.

Territorial Support Group (TSG/CO20)

26. The TSG was formed in 1987 and comes under the auspices of Central Operations. It is a pan London unit with the capability to respond immediately to major and critical incidents and to public disorder anywhere in London, to support boroughs and target high crime areas and provides the MPS’s response to CBRN incidents and anti-terrorism patrols. TSG officers can expect to be employed often at very short notice on a variety of tasks, many of which are listed below. They will receive training on a regular basis to enable them to perform their duties as effectively as possible. The following are the main areas of business, including specialist skills and capabilities, of the TSG:

• Response to critical and major incidents anywhere in London
• Level One response to public disorder (Level One qualified officers are trained to the highest level of public order policing)
• Policing preplanned and spontaneous events, including sporting events, which require Level 1 public order capability to address public safety
• Arrests of violent suspects on behalf of other MPS colleagues
• Cell re-location of violent prisoners in support of MPS custody officers
• Rapid entry to secure evidence and occupiers of premises
• Licensing/clubs raids
• Large scale and complex premises searches
• Deployment of Taser in appropriate supervised non-firearms incidents
• Support to specialist units in preplanned operations and by call-out to incidents (e.g. Counter Terrorism Command SO15, TP Crime, etc)
• Surveillance capabilities, particularly in support of volume crime operations and investigations
  
• Providing assistance to high crime boroughs and specialist OCU's,
• Providing tactics and resources to combat terrorist and domestic extremism capability.
• Providing the MPS CBRN operational response.
• Reducing priority crime by providing a menu of tactics, including high visibility patrols (HVP), Q cars (unmarked vehicles having pursuit capability), surveillance capability, and unarmed rapid entry capability.

27. The specialist skills and training of TSG officers detailed above combined with their mobility and flexibility of deployment will be vital to the policing plan for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games.

28. The TSG consists of 754 officers and 34 police staff, incorporating all ranks from constable to chief superintendent. Of the 754 officers serving in the TSG, 465 of the officers have served in the TSG for three or more years. There is regular turnover of TSG officers through recruitment from across the MPS. This ensures an appropriate balance of experience. The officers are allocated to five geographical bases from which the operational delivery of the TSG services takes place: Paddington, Finchley, Chadwell Heath, Catford and Clapham.

29. The TSG provides a first line response to critical and major incidents and public disorder. This is achieved through the deployment of the Commissioner’s Reserve, ensuring five Police Support Units (PSUs) comprising one inspector, three sergeants (PS), 18 constables (PC) are on duty every day between 8am and 4am, to be tasked by the chief inspector MetCall. The primary responsibility of the Commissioner’s Reserve is to respond to critical, major and public order incidents. Whilst awaiting and available for that fast-time tasking to such incidents they are posted to priority boroughs to focus on priority crimes identified by MPS Performance Board and tasked through MPS Corporate Tasking, including violence, robbery and burglary. The officers deployed on the Commissioner’s Reserve have to be ready to respond to critical, major and public disorder incidents (which take priority over all other taskings) at short notice, even when posted to specific priority crime tasks. When tasked to a critical or major incident or public disorder, the units are required to regroup within 15 minutes and deploy to the scene. This quick change in focus means the officers in the TSG have to be very adaptable and ready to respond at all times to significant changes in role and deployments.

30. Separate to the Commissioner’s Reserve the Borough Reserve will deploy each day from Monday to Saturday with four PSs and 24 PCs (two PSs and 12 PCs on Sundays). Borough Reserve postings are again targeted at priority boroughs to focus on priority crimes such as robbery and burglary. Further specific crime postings tend to be focused on a specific problem on a borough, again tasked through Corporate Tasking. For example officers could be requested to concentrate on gang crime or carry out surveillance on a prolific burglar. Unlike the Commissioner’s Reserve, Borough Reserve units are not the first reserve for response to critical, major and public disorder incidents, and their postings are therefore much less likely to be subject to short notice disruption.

31. A recent development in capability within the TSG has been the introduction of Taser, an electronic stun gun, which is carried only by officers posted on the Commissioner’s Reserve. The MPS has tightly controlled and limited the deployment of Taser in London. The TSG were chosen for Taser deployment because they are specially trained in public disorder and CBRN threat response, are pan London units, are trained to the highest level of response to violent incidents, work in teams and are most importantly closely supervised at all times ensuring immediate control at incidents. 400 TSG officers have been trained in Taser use. Every Taser deployment, including those where Taser is not discharged, is reviewed by senior officers.

32. For officers to be authorised to use Taser they need to be facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they would need to use force to protect the public, themselves and/or the subject(s). When Tasers are drawn most subjects immediately become less violent and more compliant when the capability of the Taser is explained to them, or when the laser target is illuminated on the subject, and these options form an important part of the training in use of Taser. Other tactics for dealing with violent people which involve direct physical contact can result in unintended and unnecessary injuries to both the subject and police officers. Taser offers a safer solution by maintaining distance control and is safer for the subject, the public and the police.

33. Prior to the introduction of Taser the TSG conducted an extensive Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) to consider the wider impact of the use of Taser. A full and comprehensive communication strategy was implemented both pro-actively targeting groups and advertising the presentation widely; this resulted in over 60 presentations across the MPS, to specific interested public bodies and numerous community groups. When Taser was introduced to the TSG, it developed a training package that has been evaluated by a number of outside agencies. Taser International travelled to the UK from the United States and have endorsed the training package as the best in the world. Amnesty International have also endorsed the training package as fit for purpose, following their attendance on one of the two day courses.

34. Between 10 December 2007 and 11 October 2010 the TSG have deployed Taser at 530 incidents. At these 530 incidents Tasers were drawn on 257 occasions but only fired 110 times.

TSG performance

35. Three of the Headline Measures for CO detailed above in Table 1 fall directly under the responsibility of the TSG. These are:

• % of objectives set via the tasking process that are met by TSG - target of 70%
• % of postings achieved (3 days of safer neighbourhood activity every 5 weeks per operational unit with a minimum of 6 officers) - target of 80%
• % of TSG deployments deployed to recommended level - target of 95%

36. Current performance against these KPIs is excellent with the FYTD performance for all three at 100%. These measures show that the TSG are able to consistently meet the corporate tasking objectives and manage staffing levels successfully to ensure units are fully deployed at all times, whilst being able to maintain effective response to spontaneous critical, major and public order incidents.

37. In the financial year 2009/10 the TSG increased its performance in terms of arrests compared with the previous year. Table 2 shows that the total number of arrests increased by 918. Specifically crime arrests increased by 1832 and other arrests increased by 1095.

Table 2 - TSG arrest figures for 2008/09 and 2009/10

38. In the financial year 2009/10 the TSG increased its performance regarding arrests for knife and gun offences by 7% on the previous year. In total over 800 arrests were made by the TSG specifically for knife and gun offences.

39. A key function for the TSG and one which figures significantly in borough taskings is conducting stop and searches whilst on patrol. The TSG have very high arrest and seizure rates when conducting stop and searches,, demonstrating the effective use of intelligence and borough briefings. In the last two financial years the TSG have arrested or seized items from over 25% of people from the stop and searches they have conducted. In comparison borough officers usually have a rate of around 10%. Table 3 details the TSG stop and search performance in comparison to the Boroughs of Lambeth and Westminster.

Table 3 - TSG stop and searches for 2008/09 and 2009/10

TSG stop and searches for 2008/09

40. The TSG monitor stop and searches within their monthly management report, looking specifically at proportionality regarding people from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. The vast majority of TSG postings are to London’s highest crime and disorder boroughs, which are predominantly its inner London boroughs. These boroughs also have, in general, the most diverse ethnic communities in London, with higher proportions of their population coming from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. In the current year to date (January 2010 to August 2010) 48% of people searched by TSG officers were identified as being from a Black background. 29% of people searched were identified as being from a White, North European background. 15% of people searched were identified as being from an Asian background. 6% of people searched were identified as being from a White, South European background. The remaining 2% of people searched were identified as being from other backgrounds, such as Chinese, Japanese, Arabic or North African.

41. In comparison to the TSG during the period of July 2009 to July 2010 the MPS total stop and searches were 555,699. Of these searches conducted 44,343 arrests were made, which represents an arrest rate of 8%.

42. It is currently not possible to draw direct comparisons with TP’s stop and search statistics in regard to the ethnicity of those stopped and searched as their data is gathered corporately by the Performance Information Bureau (PIB) and is monitored by number of people searched per 1000 population basis. However the performance unit in the Business Development and Support OCU (CO1) is currently working with the MPS Performance Information Bureau (PIB) to get CO stop and search data produced corporately so it can be monitored in the same way as and compared with TP.

Examples of TSG work and achievements

43. In August 2010 officers from the TSG (Catford) were working on Southwark Borough. Following a local intelligence briefing they were using stop and search powers to effectively target suspicious individuals. During a patrol the officers carried out stop and searches on two men. The first man was found to be in possession of a lock knife and a quantity of cannabis. The second man was found with £3500 in his possession and was arrested on suspicion of money laundering. Also found on one of the men was a set of keys, which the suspects, following questioning could not account for. The officers felt this was suspicious so they took it upon themselves to try every door within the 13-storey block of flats they were outside. Eventually on the 12th floor the officers suspicions were found to be correct as the keys opened a flat door, which inside contained a cannabis farm. A third man was located within the address and also arrested. The persistence of the TSG officers involved in this case meant that from a basic stop and search procedure three dangerous criminals were taken off the street as well as offensive weapons and a cannabis farm was closed down.

44. In July 2010 officers from the TSG (Paddington) were patrolling in North West London in an area, which had been recently subjected to a large amount of gang violence. Following up on this local knowledge the TSG officers observed two men acting suspiciously, carrying a distinctive holdall. As the officers approached the two men they ran into a block of flats. After a foot chase one of the men was found hiding in a stairwell and the holdall was located near by. Within the holdall a 12” carving knife and a sledgehammer were found. The second man was seen trying to enter one of the flats, but officers managed to corner and detain him. After the arrest a loaded shotgun was found next to the suspect. The TSG officers on the scene called for the assistance of the Specialist Firearms Command (CO19) to conduct an armed call out and extensive search of the premises the suspect was trying to enter. Whilst this situation was developing a hostile crowd had gathered outside of the block of flats so two further TSG PSUs attended to prevent any public order incidents from developing. A second address linked to the suspects was also identified during initial investigation so further officers attended to conduct a search of this premises. A further two men were seen running from this second address and they too were caught and arrested. This incident demonstrated the versatility of roles that the TSG officers are capable of fulfilling during a standard patrol. Offensive weapons were removed from an area known for gang violence and a potential large-scale public order incident was prevented.

45. In July 2010 officers from the TSG (Clapham) were on patrol in Lambeth Borough. During the patrol the officers identified a vehicle, which was known to be used by individuals involved with drugs. The officers stopped the vehicle, which contained four men and conducted a full search of both the vehicle and the men. During the search of the vehicle officers looked in every possible space where items could have been secreted. This diligence by the TSG officers paid off as underneath the gear lever a large roll of bank notes were hidden inside a sock along with a quantity of drugs. On inspection the money was found to be marked with a blue dye. The officers on scene suspected that the bank notes might have come from a commercial robbery and contacted the SCD Reserve Desk for guidance and advice. They were advised to arrest all four men on suspicion of robbery. This success was the result of the TSG using existing intelligence known about the vehicle, persistent searching of the vehicle and seeking advice from internal partners regarding the offences the suspects should be arrested for.

46. In February 2009 officers from the TSG (Finchley and Chadwell Heath) were asked to assist local borough officers from Islington with tackling an illegal rave attended by over 2000 people. When the TSG officers arrived on the scene bottles and other debris was being thrown at officers already on site. The two TSG units worked together in a coordinated response clearing approximately 1000 of the revellers away from outside the premises. The officers then condoned off an area outside of the premises into which the remaining revellers inside could be escorted safely out of the building and into a sterile area. Throughout this operation the TSG officers were faced with a barrage of debris being thrown at them, which included bottles, roof tiles and house bricks. This public order situation was managed exceptionally well by the two TSG units who through a coordinated response were able to quickly resolve the situation and prevent injuries to the public and officers, as well as quelling the disorder.

47. In November 2009 officers from the TSG based all across London worked together with Greenwich Borough officers to police an event at the O2 Arena. Recent events at the O2 Arena had been affected by alcohol and drug problems. The TSG set up a proactive operation designed to eliminate anti-social behaviour at the end of events caused by drugs being mixed with alcohol. Over 200 searches were conducted at the event, with 50 positive results and 31 arrests. There were five arrests for possession with intent to supply class A drugs, 25 for possession of class A drugs and one for possession of class B drugs. This successful operation evidences how the TSG support boroughs with pre-planned and intelligence led policing.

48. In July 2009 officers from the TSG (Clapham) were called to assist Newham Borough officers who were dealing with a large-scale disturbance. When the TSG officers arrived on scene a large and violent crowd had gathered at the scene following the fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old man. The TSG officers used their public order skills and experience to disperse the crowd quickly and safely. The TSG officers were then tasked to assist local officers investigating the stabbing. This including the searching of various premises and making a series of arrests. Once these initial enquiries were completed the TSG unit was asked to respond to an urgent request for assistance else where on the borough. Following this quick response the unit was returning to their base when they received a request to re-attend the initial location of the stabbing. Once on scene they were required to enter two further addresses at which two men were arrested on suspicion of murder. The TSG officers then completed full searches of the premises and at the request of the investigating officers gathered forensic evidence such as clothing, fingernail swabs and hair cuttings. This tour of duty demonstrates the versatility TSG officers have as they carried out more than four different functions in a short space of time, all in support of borough and SCD colleagues responding to and investigating serious violent crime.

49. In August 2010 officers from the TSG (Clapham) volunteered to assist Lambeth Borough officers who were dealing with an arson attack and assault. The officers attended the scene to find a woman had been attacked by a man who had broken into her flat and seriously assaulted her. One of the TSG officers escorted the female to safety and administered first aid as she was bleeding from a serious head injury. In the mean time other TSG officers began to search the block of flats for the suspect who had lit a fire outside one of the flats in the block. Neighbours identified the suspect as being locked inside another flat so the officers attended and forced entry in to this flat. Within this flat the suspect had set fire to a sofa. The officers used personal protective equipment to assist them to safely detain the suspect. One of the officers then tackled the fire within the flat and extinguished the sofa before the flames could spread. Outside of the first flat the original fire had started to take hold so the rest of the officers on scene evacuated the other residents. Before the London Fire Brigade had arrived on scene the TSG officers were advised that there were still residents inside one of the flats. Without thought for their own safety three officers communicated with the residents and then tackled the fire with extinguishers, successfully reaching the residents inside the flat and securing their safety. The TSG officers resolved this serious and dangerous situation successfully with the suspect being detained, the victim being cared for and potential life threatening fires being extinguished quickly.

TSG complaints performance

50. Historically the TSG have attracted a large number of complaints against police from members of the public. This was always attributed to the fact that the TSG are the officers who conduct the most stop and searches, they are the officers who usually respond to incidents of violence and police large public order events. The areas of London that they are tasked to work are the most challenging in the MPS. The type of activity they undertake is targeted at the most difficult individuals or groups of individuals (gangs and seasoned criminals). In public order situations, the TSG are deployed at high level points of conflict due to their public order skills. They are deployed as a team, in carriers, containing eight people. There are instances of “carrier” complaints where officers who are simply on board the transport are subject to complaints. This multiplies the numbers by a factor of eight compared to borough colleagues who patrol singly or in pairs.

51. In the last two years the TSG senior management team (SMT) have implemented plans to maintain the professionalism and high work rate of the TSG whilst reducing the number of complaints the TSG officers attract. To do this they have worked closely with the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) Prevention and Reduction Team (PaRT). The PaRT runs the Professional Standard Support Programme (PSSP), which aims to reduce the number of public complaints and misconduct matters and highlight behaviour that potentially opens up the MPS to criticism. PSSP offers support and guidance to public-facing OCUs by reinforcing learning about professional standards, spreading good practice and delivering key messages relevant to everyday work. The PSSP does this by delivering a mixture of bespoke training and briefing sessions, dependant on the analysis of how the OCU has performed, together with input from the DPS Intelligence Command and the views of the local DPS Single Point of Contact (SPOC).

52. As a result of the strong leadership and personal commitment shown by the TSG OCU commander and senior management team, and following the TSG taking part in the PSSP, the number of complaints attracted by TSG officers has reduced significantly over the last two years. Chart 1 shows public complaints, measured in terms of officer allegations for TSG officers/staff by rolling twelve month period, i.e. Jun-08 is the twelve months from August 2007 to June 2008 and Jun-10 is the twelve months from July 2009 to June 2010. It can be seen that there is a long-term downward movement. Total officer allegations have gone down from 1658 for the rolling twelve months to June 2010 to 931 in the latest twelve months, a decrease of 43.8%.

Chart 1 - TSG public complaints by rolling twelve months

53. The total complaints for the whole of the MPS for the same period rose from 18,227 to 18,762, an increase of 2.9%.

54. Complaints received against the TSG regarding ‘Failure in Duty’ have shown a dramatic fall of 35.2% over the last year. Per 100 officers they have dropped from 45.1, which was the highest rate in the MPS, to 31. This now means that the TSG are no longer in the highest ten B/OCUs in the MPS in this category.

55. Complaints received against the TSG regarding incivility have also decreased substantially from 31 per 100 officers to 19.7 per 100 officers – a reduction of 36.4%.

56. Any officer who is identified as a possible risk through the DPS Complaints Intervention Scheme (an officer who attracts three complaints or more in a 12 month period) is given specific attention to ensure issues are identified and tackled in the most appropriate way. The TSG currently have 27 officers on the Complaints Intervention Scheme (23 with three events, one with four and three with five or more). Compared to last year this is a 59% reduction against the last period when the TSG had 66 officers on the scheme (38 with three events, 16 with four and 12 with five or more), demonstrating proactive and effective management of these officers by TSG senior officers.

57. The TSG senior management team recognise that this performance, whilst significant, is only the first step to improving the professional standards of TSG officers and that they need to continue to monitor their complaints performance and keep in regular contact with the DPS to ensure the good work is continued. The TSG have already volunteered to work with the PaRT on the next tranche of the PSSP which will be focusing on incivility, confidentiality, failures in duty and safer driving.

TSG review and development plan

58. Following lessons learned by the MPS from the G20 public order incidents the TSG SMT decided that a comprehensive review of the TSG should be conducted. The rationale behind the review was to review the strategic priorities of the TSG in terms of its service delivery to ensure that it was fit for purpose and meets the needs of its customers. The intention is that this review will bring about improved service delivery, enhance TSG performance, reduce costs, improve communication both internally and externally and improve and enhance the reputation and image of the TSG. A new superintendent’s post was created in March 2010 to be the strategic lead on this review and to implement any changes identified. A large number of issues were identified and a development plan was created to tackle them. Specific actions and tasks were identified and allocated to individuals to lead on.

59. The key issues identified in the review were communication and knowledge of the TSG both internally and externally. To balance the limited understanding of the TSG internally and externally following recent high profile media reports the TSG have introduced for the first time, two communication strategies. One for dealing with internal communication and another for dealing with external communication, the guidelines within these strategies are now used when all contact is made, internally or externally, to provide a properly informed and accurate picture of the work of the TSG, its capabilities and its achievements.

60. It was felt that BOCU Commanders had a limited understanding of the TSG functions and were confused around the TSG responsibilities and the significant contribution the TSG makes to achieving the MPS objectives of safety and confidence across London. To address this issue presentations for the BOCU Commanders have been conducted, outlining the key issues facing the TSG and supplying clarity of the MPS management board expectations and direction of the TSG, together with information about their priorities and capabilities.

61. Public order policing was identified as an issue within the review and a number of actions have been identified to tackle this. In liaison with the MPS Public Order Training Centre (POTC) the TSG are developing the training for TSG officers from constable to inspector rank. This training will ensure that they are all clear about the strategic direction, tactics and legal issues facing the MPS in modern day public order policing and the high standards of conduct expected of officers in public order situations.

62. In partnership with the Public Order and Operational Support OCU (CO11) the TSG have designed a new presentation regarding the planning for and policing of public order events. This interactive presentation includes audience participation and is titled ‘The Situation Has Changed’. It aims to dispel any misconceptions around how public order events are planned and policed by putting participants in the role of decision maker. This presentation is currently being delivered to community and advisory groups at borough and pan-London level to inform and clarify their understanding of the role of the TSG and the MPS approach to public order planning and policing.

63. Other issues raised in the review included TSG structure, resources, standing orders, corporate tasking process, planning, performance measures, finance, policies and career management. Each of these issues are being tackled through strong SMT leadership to ensure the TSG move forward in a way which maximises the professionalism of TSG officers, ensures that the TSG continues to be focussed on delivering against corporate priorities, and takes into account learning to improve internal and external confidence.

TSG partnership working

64. The TSG along with all of CO’s resources are tasked centrally through the CO Coordinating and Tasking Office (CaTO), linked to the Corporate Tasking process, ensuring that CO resources are effectively tasked against corporate and CO operational priorities. The wide range of deployments for the TSG ensure support to all MPS corporate priorities and make London a safer place.

65. The TSG’s main function is to provide support to the rest of the MPS as and when their specialist skills are required. They provide support to all of the operational business groups, including TP, SCD, SO and other OCUs within CO, including the Specialist Firearms Command.

66. The TSG have a service level agreement whereby each team must support their local boroughs’ safer neighbourhood teams by posting six officers to SNTs for a minimum of three days per month. The TSG SMT has made a commitment within the TSG development plan to ring fence these officers and commit to the SLA. All officers from chief inspector down have also been given Performance Development Review (PDR) objectives specifically relating to neighbourhood policing.

67. Externally the TSG provide training and guidance to partners outside the policing world. In particular the Dedicated CBRN Units (DCUs) provide a number of presentations to organisations who require information and training on CBRN issues in relation to emergency preparedness. In July 2010 one of the DCUs gave a PowerPoint presentation and discussion regarding the MPS response to CRRN to 45 senior members of security staff from various buildings in Canary Wharf. Also in July 2010 at the request of the Aviation Security OCU (SO18) another DCU presented to Airport Duty Managers from Heathrow regarding CBRN response.

68. The majority of operations the TSG carry out are planned and organised by other OCUs and business groups, with the TSG being brought in to provide capacity and the capability to carry out specialist tasks. All pre-planned operations that the TSG are tasked with via CaTO are assessed for community and equality impacts by the OCU bidding for TSG support prior to CaTO being contacted.

TSG community impact

69. The TSG does a lot of work to emphasise the positive impact of its policing in keeping London safe and to give an accurate portrayal of its work to balance the way it is often portrayed in the media. Each team is aligned to a London borough for community engagement work and they are given a three day window every five weeks during which they deliver community based initiatives. These include presentations to various groups, participation in established community programmes, working with SNT and assisting with local operations. Since April 2009 the TSG have been involved in over 70 community and school events, many of which were spread over a number of days. Further detail on these events can be found in appendix two.

70. Part of the TSG review identified that, as a pan-London unit, the TSG does not have the equivalent of a borough Police Community Consultative Group. To tackle this issue the TSG are in the process of setting up a community reference group who will act as an open, honest and critical consultative body that can advise and engage with the SMT on TSG matters across all boroughs. The Public Order and Operational Support OCU (CO11) will also engage with this community reference group during the planning of public order activities on behalf of the MPS.

71. One of the aims of the TSG’s external community strategy is to engage with all sections of the community, committing time and energy into enhancing relationships between communities and the TSG. To achieve this aim the TSG are working across London’s diverse communities and are involved in many schemes and programmes including the specific examples detailed below.

72. London Youth Rowing (LYR) is an after - school youth group, which the TSG is heavily involved with, providing organisational support for events and coaching. The aim of the LYR is to introduce rowing into schools, which previously would not have considered the sport. The TSG support and engage with this group to remove both perceived and real barriers that exist between young people and police, provide an alternative lifestyle away from gang culture and to encourage a healthier way of life with a more positive attitude.

73. London Outreach is a project run by the Army Cadet Force in partnership with the MPS. The TSG have supplied officers on a volunteer basis to provide mentoring and training for over four years. TSG officers are assigned to groups of young people and become team leaders for week long courses in Wales. These adventure courses aim to raise the self-esteem of young people in London, building confidence and giving them a positive purpose. The participants in the project tend to have had limited opportunities in life and usually have had some contact with police during their life. The benefits to the TSG and the MPS are that barriers are broken down between young people and the police. TSG officers make particularly good role models for these adventure courses as their Level 1 public order responsibilities require them to be physically fit, healthy and many have an interest in outdoor pursuits.

74. Growing Against Gangs (GAG) is a new project designed as a primary intervention package aimed at addressing and challenging young peoples’ attitudes towards gang culture. The mission of GAG is to empower young people to make informed choices, boost self-confidence at a time of major life change and prevent young peoples’ involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour. The TSG is one of many partners in GAG along with other MPS OCUs including CO19, SCD1, and SO6. TSG officers present one of the sessions titled ‘gang myths and realities’, drawing on personal experiences as front line officers. GAG has already been delivered to three schools in Lambeth borough and all five of the TSG bases will be supplying suitably trained officers to assist as the package is rolled out across London. It is hoped that the TSG involvement in this package will improve the confidence level of young people in the police.

75. The Avenja Project is a partnership project run with the 7th Day Adventist Church and a local youth worker. It is based around TSG officers getting involved with football training for youths who are mainly from African Caribbean backgrounds. As well as football training officers give presentations to members of the church congregations. Bi monthly surgeries are held on a variety of subjects including stop and search, sexual offences awareness, gang violence, knife crime and peer pressure problems. This partnership brings benefits to the local community including seeing officers in a different non-policing environment, education regarding police powers and procedure and an open forum to discuss police action. The TSG involvement allows officers to build bridges and understanding of minority groups and gain the trust of a community who may have had a negative view of police.

76. The Swagga Partnership Project is a successful long-term partnership led by Second Wave young artists, (a community youth arts organisation) bringing young people and TSG officers together to address issues of violence, safety and gang intimidation the community. The project has won recognition and awards from the MPA for Good Practice in Community Engagement. This project gives TSG officers the opportunity to develop partnerships and different ways of thinking. This project also allows the TSG to gain the trust of the community who may have had a negative view of the police and TSG units. This project has allowed the community to see the police perspective on why the TSG do what they do. Many sections of the community have the belief that stop and searches are unnecessary and not justified. This interaction with officers in an open forum has helped to explain police actions in their community and in particular the key role stop and search continues to play in reducing knife crime and serious youth violence. In recognition of this work TSG 4 were runners up in the Police Review National Awards for Policing Diversity in 2008.

77. The TSG Summer Boxing Scheme was introduced in 2008, designed to teach young people basic boxing skills as well as dealing with topical issues such as knife crime and gang culture. The attendees are recruited from local schools, youth clubs and existing projects and the coaching is delivered over one to four day sessions. Over the last two years over 1,000 young people have completed the course and the scheme has now been adopted by the Police and Community Clubs of Great Britain and the Amateur Boxing Association of England. This scheme is the only officially recognised boxing scheme that is allowed to be delivered within schools in England.

Financial and resource implications for community initiatives

78. The TSG have no specific budgets for the community projects they are involved with. It is incumbent upon the officers arranging events and initiatives to identify funding if and when required.

79. For the TSG Boxing Scheme there is a cost of £10 per student, including insurance. Funding for this was originally obtained from the individual boroughs where the students lived. However for the current year the National Police Boxing Club have kindly offered to pay for each student via their charitable arm. In terms of facility and running costs the TSG were previously awarded £4,000 by the MPA, which was used to purchase trophies, t-shirts, refreshments and boxing equipment. Facilities used are either at established boxing clubs or local schools.

80. There are opportunity costs involved in all of the TSG community projects and there is always a need to balance the workloads to ensure that the TSG is able to complete its core operational policing responsibilities. All projects are monitored at SMT level, with the OCU Commander acting as the final arbiter as to which projects TSG officers will become involved in.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. The equality and diversity impact of the TSG operational activity is addressed in the body of this report.

2. The TSG and CO continues to monitor progress in achieving a more representative workforce profile through regular review of OCU Equality Development Action Plans. The current percentage of female police officers within the TSG is 10.96% (83 officers), 1.23% lower than the rest of CO. However 24.67% of all female police officers within CO are members of the TSG. The current percentage of black and minority ethnic (BME) police officers within the TSG is 6.37% (48 officers), 2.61% higher than the rest of CO. The vast majority of BME police officers within CO (46.53%) are from the TSG.

3. The TSG and the other OCUs within CO are currently completing the Equality Standard for the Police Service, which baselines equalities work across the business group. Once this process is complete the OCUs will be drawing up and implementing Equality and Diversity Action Plans to manage areas, which require improvement. CO as a business group is also in the process of developing a performance framework to monitor and drive performance through equality.

Consideration of MET Forward

4. The work of the TSG directly supports the ‘safer neighbourhood’ and ‘knife crime’ programmes outlined in Met Street and the ‘public order and civil liberties’ and ‘firearms and Tasers’ programmes outlined in Met Specialist. All work within the TSG, where possible, supports the other strands and programmes as well.

Financial Implications

5. As per the Policing London Business Plan the 2010/11 budget for CO is £195m. This is comprised of total expenditure of £236m and income and other grants of £41m. The TSG budget is £38m with a total expenditure of £47m offset by £9m of CT Grant funding. The TSG budget represents 19.5% of the total CO budget and at 31 August 2010 their projected spend for the year was £37.7m.

Legal Implications

6. This report is presented for information only, therefore there are no direct legal implications arising.

Environmental Implications

7. There are no environmental implications identified at this time.

Risk Implications

8. There are no risk implications identified at this time.

D. Background papers

• Appendix one - Public Complaints Recorded against TSG Officers, Recorded between 2007/08 to 2010/11
• Appendix two - Summary of community events attended by the TSG between April 2009 and September 2010

E. Contact details

Report author: Michael Rogers, Performance and Planning Improvement Manager, MPS

For information contact:

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

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