Minutes.

Minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 13 October 2011 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1.

Present

Members

• Reshard Auladin
• Toby Harris
• Tony Arbour
• Chris Boothman
• Jennette Arnold
• Jenny Jones
• Joanne McCartney
• Caroline Pidgeon

MPA officers

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

MPS officers

• Maxine De Brunner (Commander, Territorial Policing)
• Phil Woolf (Director of Business Performance)
• Carl Bussey (Acting Commander, Crime and Customer Strategy)
• Christopher Bourlet (Safer Neighbourhoods OCU Commander)
• Neil Allen (Inspector, ASB Policy and Strategy)
• Audrey Teodorini (Detective Inspector, Central Jigsaw Team).

34. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

34.1 Apologies were received from Cindy Butts.

35. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

35.1 No declarations were received.

36. Minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee 8 September 2011

(Agenda item 3)

36.1 Members agreed the minutes for the above meeting, subject to noting that paragraph 23.3 be taken to read ‘...Another Member noted that she had received a variety of responses regarding stop and search and that some parents of young black men support its use’ and that the resolutions to agenda item 5 be amended to include: ‘3. That the MPS will continue to report the user satisfaction rate of victims of road traffic collisions to the MPA’.

Resolved - That the minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee held on 8 September 2011 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

37. Urgent actions and operational issues

(Agenda item 4)

37.1 The Chair agreed to receive an urgent report (‘Alteration of minutes’) in accordance with Subsection 4.2.4 of Part A of the MPA Standing Orders. He stated that the reason for urgency was that the MPA had been asked to disclose its decision in relation to this matter to the parties involved and it was therefore of the upmost importance that the minutes amount to an accurate record of the decision taken.

37.2 The Chair noted that this report had been marked with an exemption, but proposed that Members could avoid discussing it in part 2 of the meeting if they could agree the minute without further comment.

37.3 All of those Members who were present for the deliberations at hand affirmed that the amendment contained within the report amounted to a correct record of events.

Resolved – that the minutes of the meeting of 14 July 2011 (part 2), approved and signed by the chairman at the meeting on 8 September 2011, be amended in order to correct an inaccuracy subsequently discovered.

38. Report from the sub-committees of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee

(Agenda item 5)

38.1 Members noted the report without further comment.

Resolved - that the report be noted.

39. Headline performance report

(Agenda item 6)

39.1 The MPS introduced this report, which measured the current performance of the MPS against a number of key performance indicators. They noted that one indicator (anti-social behaviour) was still being developed, that two indicators were green (violence and killed or seriously injured on the roads), two were red (property crime and rape sanction detection), and that the remaining four indicators were amber (user/victim satisfaction, confidence in police, Olympics, and efficient use of assets).

39.2 Members were updated on the serious disorder which occurred during August. They were informed that over 3,600 offences had now been recorded, most of which were property crimes. The MPS noted that almost 2,800 people had now been arrested and that over 20,000 hours of CCTV footage remained to be reviewed.

39.3 The MPS reported that offences across the violence portfolio were down by over 10% on the previous year –amounting to 6,839 fewer victims of crime. They assured Members that rape sanction detection had become a focus at Performance Board and that a full report would be presented to the November meeting of SOP. The MPS are now working with the CPS to analyse failed cases. The satisfaction of rape victims with the MPS’s handling of their cases remains near to 95%. They also noted that property crime had seen an increase of 3.4% and that this has primarily been driven by increasing theft from the person. The MPS have sought to target the theft of mobile phones and on school routes in response to this increase.

39.4 A Member expressed concern that rape sanction detection figures were deteriorating and sought further reassurance from the MPS as to their plans in mitigating this. She also suggested that one trend in personal robbery was that of smart phones at transport hubs and bus stops. She noted that TfL planned to introduce an application which would enable passengers to receive real-time updates on available buses, and cautioned that the MPS should consider the safety implications of this.

39.5 The MPS responded that SOP would be provided with a full report on rape in November. They noted that more incidents of rape were being recorded and more suspects arrested, and confirmed that the numbers of offences, arrests, and charges would be included within the report. In relation to the second point, the MPS noted that they had campaigned with Safer Transport teams to promote the message that phones should not be used in public where possible (particularly around transport hubs). They agreed that bus stops were a potential area of vulnerability and committed to taking this back to TfL.

39.6 A Member referred to paragraph 21 of the report and asked whether ‘no further action decisions’ were made by the MPS, CPS, or jointly.

39.7 The MPS replied that new guidance issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions has placed greater responsibility on the police in taking no further action decisions. Sapphire Unit (SCD2) is now responsible for the investigation of rape and the CPS have also established a central specialist unit. Whilst the CPS is currently considering a backlog of cases – due to an increase in recorded offences - it is envisaged that this will be addressed shortly.

39.8 The MPS were asked whether they direct specific resource to preventing and investigating the rape or abuse of victims of human trafficking. The MPS agreed to supply a report on this to a forthcoming meeting of SOP.

39.9 A Member referred to paragraph 23 and noted that 24% of respondents (to a victim confidence and satisfaction monitoring form) were not initially given a reference number. He asked what this number enabled the MPS to do. The MPS replied that the form details the basic information of the victim and enables an evaluation of victim care provided. They noted that this number helps the MPS to address any issues raised.

39.10 A Member noted that much of the review of 20,000 hours of disorder CCTV would be done at a borough level. She asked whether these boroughs, and Haringey in particular, would receive additional resource in order to do so. She also asked when a public consultation on the MPS estate was likely to be held – in light of previous reassurances that this would be done during the autumn of 2011. Finally, she asked whether the ‘finalisation of match-funding agreements...resulting in reduced income’ referred to the ‘buy one officer get when free’ scheme which had been made available to local authorities.

39.11 The MPS responded that Operation Withern had led to a high number of arrests and that this has contributed to significantly lower rates of crime over the previous month. They noted that this suggests that the right people had been targeted. Members were reminded that whilst Haringey did see large scale disorder, it was not the worst affected borough – based upon numbers of offenders. They confirmed that Operation Withern is now being delivered via ten hubs across London, which will include officers from the affected boroughs and others. In relation to the consultation on the MPS estates strategy, this will be completed shortly. Finally, they confirmed that match-funding was a reference to the ‘buy one officer get when free’ scheme, and that this had required greater additionality than first projected.

39.12 A Member noted that whilst the violence portfolio may be reducing, the number of people killed on the roads and those left with slight injury were both increasing. She asked what conclusions the MPS had drawn from these trends.

39.13 The MPS informed Members that as with all violent injury the line between death and survival is slim. As such, fatality rates will fluctuate. A Member stipulated that reductions in injury could be due to improvements in medical care, whilst increasing fatality rates indicated people were getting hit faster and harder. She requested further detail.

39.14 A Member noted that Waltham Forest continued to underperform in a number of important areas – motor vehicle, robbery, and knife offence sanction-detections, for instance. He noted that not only were these rates low overall, but they were consistent outliers when measured against neighbouring boroughs. Another Member suggested that this poor performance was due to the borough remaining under-resourced and under-establishment.

39.15 The MPS noted that Waltham Forest and four other boroughs are now the subject of a Gold Group focused on improving performance and achieving best practice. They suggested that improved use of CCTV and imaging were emerging as important themes and that the move to shared services within TP would ensure the application of a more even officer deployment matrix.

39.16 A Member replied that the MPA had now received a number of explanations but that this pattern of underperformance remained. He noted that the suggestion that CCTV use was of interest but that Members would require more information – is it a problem of capacity to analyse available CCTV or to evaluate it? Is closer working with the local authority required? Another Member mentioned that if performance in Waltham Forest had been significantly improved due to Operation Connect this would suggest that there was a persistent resourcing issue.

39.17 The MPS agreed to take these points away and to provide a more complete analysis shortly.

39.18 Members welcomed a reduction in firearms discharges and asked whether this may have been the result of ongoing operations – such as Withern – and whether partnership work endorsed by the Home Office in the wake of the disorder was having a positive impact. They requested to see a breakdown of firearm discharges by borough.

39.19 A Member asked that figures relating to the number of functional speed cameras and numbers of those switched off be distributed to Members.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

ACTIONS:

1. MPS to prepare a report addressing the rape or abuse of victims of human trafficking.
MPS
2. MPS to provide further explanation as to increased numbers of killed and or with slight injury as a result of road traffic collisions.
MPS
3. MPS to provide a briefing regarding underperformance in Waltham Forest – addressing the issue of officer levels, use of CCTV, any outcomes from Operation Connect, and any other potentially causative factors.
MPS
4. MPS to provide breakdown of firearm discharge figures by borough, outlining any potential explanations for these reductions.
MPS
5. MPS to provide figures relating to the number of functional speed cameras and numbers of those switched off (by borough). MPS

40. Thematic Performance report

(Agenda item 7)

40.1 The MPS informed Members that they once had the lowest level of user satisfaction amongst all of the UK’s police forces. Since then, the MPS has worked tirelessly to extract best practice from other forces and the private sector and have measured their performance against tangible action plans. The MPS has now introduced an information card which spells out what service someone can expect from the organisation when reporting crime – in order to provide officers with meaningful guidelines and to manage the expectations of customers. Following primary investigation, customers are now sent a letter which informs them what this investigation would have entailed. Terminology referring to ‘screening out’ has been removed.

40.2 Members were also informed that the MPS is adopting a greater focus on victim-led outcomes. Many boroughs have visits for all victims of crime, but increasingly visits are offered as opposed to mandated. Furthermore, the organisation now has an increased emphasis on identifying and managing repeat victims and offenders – during Operation Autumn Nights, for instance.

40.3 The Chair expressed concern that this report, which related to the violence portfolio, made no mention of domestic violence. The MPS noted this point with regret.

40.4 A Member asked when Operation Connect would be evaluated, whether a cost-benefit analysis would be part of this evaluation, and who was responsible for covering the cost of the scheme. She also asked whether the Victims Charter would still be met in the absence of Victim Focus Desks.

40.5 The MPS responded that Operation Connect is currently being evaluated and that the MPA would receive this when completed. They noted that Connect was not a reinvention of the wheel but rather a delivery model which maximises the utility of existing partnership working. They informed Members that continuity will be maintained post-Connect. Regarding the Victims Charter, the MPS replied that crime recording processes had been modified (e.g. email addresses now provided as standard) in order for the officer in charge of an investigation (OIC) to be in a position to provide victim support as part of overall service provision. They noted that the MPS had been criticised for providing inconsistent contact from various parts of the organisation – as opposed to those with knowledge of the investigation – and suggested that the proposed change would rectify this. The MPS confirmed that this proposal would be consulted on following approval at Governance Board and prior to implementation.

40.6 A Member asked whether, in light of an increase in violent knife crime, Blunt 2, knife arches, and stop and search had proved to be successful. She asked whether and when the Commissioner’s mooted change of approach to ensure stop and search is intelligence-led would be implemented, and whether implementation would likely lead to fewer stops. She also noted that the MPS had previously referred to a phone-number for the reporting of suspected knife carrying and asked whether this had been established, and if so, whether levels of reporting had been consistent across all age groups.

40.7 The MPS noted that Blunt 2 was launched in 2008 to coincide with a campaign within schools to put across the message that carrying weapons is criminal and stupid. Since this time, the MPS has worked to refine the use of stop and search. They stated that whilst all of these tactics have been affective in the short-term it is a fact that the MPS may only police with the consent of Londoners and that they will shortly need to reconsider their engagement strategy. However, Members were reminded that over a thousand stop and searches had recently been performed without a single complaint. The MPS are now conducting research on the roll-out of the Commissioner’s plans for more targeted stop and search. Finally, they confirmed that work was ongoing on the establishment of a dedicated phone-line for reporting those suspected of carrying weapons.

40.8 A Member noted that the targeting of those with previous convictions may in fact be illegal, to which the MPS responded that they were not developing plans to stop and search on this basis.

40.9 The Chair reassured Members that whilst stop and search remains a contentious field, the Chair of the MPA and its Community Engagement and Citizen Focus Sub Committee are proactive in monitoring its use.

40.10 Jennette Arnold requested for it to be noted in the minutes that she could not offer support to the view expressed by some Members that stop and search is a failing tactic. Whilst she agreed that the MPS should take all efforts to ensure the full support of those communities affected by its use (young people in particular), it has proved to be an invaluable tool in policing London.

40.11 A Member noted references in the report, and in the MPS’s responses regarding Operation Connect, to partnership working. He asked what processes and escalation procedures are in place to facilitate better working where partnerships are failing for whatever reason (e.g. difficult personalities). The MPS responded that they produce assessments as to the quality of all strategic partnerships, and a number of levers are available where relationships are proving difficult – by raising poor performance with local authority Chief Executives, for instance. They informed Members that reviews of CPEG working are shared on a formal and routine basis with the MPA’s Chair, although other areas would be raised by exception only. A Member replied that it may prove important for the MOPC to seek ways of understanding, influencing and improving such partnerships.

Resolved – that the report be noted.

41. Anti-social behaviour update report

(Agenda item 8)

41.1 The MPS noted that anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a key driver of community confidence and a key quality of life issue (which has a disproportionate impact on vulnerable people). As such, they recognise the importance of ensuring that the right systems are in place minimise risk. This report outlines the process of professionalisation and standardisation in relation to MPS ASB prevention.

41.2 Members were informed that the Home Office field trials were piloted in four London boroughs. The MPS took the decision to consider all five key areas highlighted by the Home Office during these pilots, these were:

• Use of effective call handling systems;
• A common set of principles for tackling ASB;
• Usage of a risk assessment matrix / tool;
• Use of IT systems that help promote a quicker response to ASB; and
• An approach to community engagement that ascertains concerns, priorities and harm at neighbourhood level.

They noted that systems improvement consisted of implementing more effective case management (on the CRIS platform for high-level ASB and vulnerable victims) and awareness building amongst staff (regarding appropriate partner organisations, for instance).

41.3 In response to Members’ questions, the MPS noted a significant reduction in the percentage of Londoners who ‘worry about ASB’. The presenting officer expressed a personal belief that this was attributable to the relationship building and intelligence function of Safer Neighbourhoods teams.

41.4 A Member expressed irritation that in some cases victims as opposed to perpetrators are required to move houses. Another Member asked why hate crime is not recorded as ASB. The MPS responded that often the victim wishes to move, although sometimes perpetrators will be evicted. In relation to hate crime, they noted that by introducing CRIS recording for high-level instances of ASB such substantive crimes were increasingly being picked up on (and investigated).

41.5 The MPS assured Members that they were confident that resources would be made available for what would be a low-cost and highly valuable new approach to ASB.

Resolved – that the report be noted.

42. Public protection update report – Operation Jigsaw

(Agenda item 9)

42.1 The MPS introduced this report regarding Operation Jigsaw, the organisation’s response to registered sex offenders and serious violent offenders. This operation is managed by the Central Jigsaw Team and on each borough. They noted that there are currently 8731 MPS records on the Violent and Sexual Offender Register (ViSOR) (12% of the national total), and that whilst this figure is set to increase due to the introduction of Violent Offender Orders (VOOs) and Registered Terrorist Offenders (RTOs), it has begun to plateau since launch.

42.2 Members were informed that there are currently 135 wanted/missing MPS Registered Sex Offenders, and that this figure has remained relatively static over the previous three years (despite a steady churn). Most of these peoples are missing due to a change of address, 45 are believed to be outside of the country. The Central Jigsaw Team dip-sample and quality assure the work of each borough team and provide additional guidance where required. All KPIs are currently being met.

42.3 A Member noted that the number of Level 3 offenders managed seemed extremely low (13 of 4651 offenders). The MPS responded that these levels are not a direct indication of the seriousness of the risk posed by the offender but rather the level of resource required in managing them and the authorization required to do so (e.g. when requiring the use of a surveillance team).

43.4 A Member stated his understanding that the MAPPA process is only activated upon the conviction of an offender. However, he suggested that a multiagency approach would be appropriate in other circumstances – when a mentally ill person is considered to be at risk of offending but is not treatable and therefore not detained, for instance.

43.5 The MPS replied that MAPPA provides a statutory minimum in offender management. However, many boroughs have introduced proactive monitoring of vulnerable adults within Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs (although the emphasis of this work is on safeguarding the vulnerable person from risk as opposed to preventing them from causing harm). They also noted that whilst outside the MAPPA Process, ViSOR can be utilised to manage such cases.

43.6 The MPS agreed to provide a more detailed report on offender management in response to Members concerns.

Resolved – that the report be noted.

ACTIONS:

6. MPA to commission a report regarding offender management. MPA/MPS

43. Public protection update report - Operation Compass

(Agenda item 10)

43.1 Operation Compass is the MPS’s strategy for identifying and investigating missing persons. The MPS drew Members’ attention to paragraph 11 of the report which detailed internal reporting arrangements and the accountabilities of each borough. They noted that the organisation has been working closely with care and foster homes to ensure that children who have taken ‘unauthorised absences’ are not reported as ‘missing’. This work has led to a reduction in reporting of 56% in Haringey, for instance.

43.2 A Member noted the disproportionate number of ‘black’ persons reported to be missing. She noted that the term ‘black’ was very generic and asked whether the MPS collected more precise ethnicity data. She suggested that this would be helpful in identifying appropriate cultural and religious organisations who may offer support to the families of missing persons.

43.3 The Chair noted recent media reports relating to the trafficking of children from the African continent for slavery and child sacrifice, and affirmed the requirement to work with community groups to contribute to a full intelligence picture.

43.4 The MPS responded that generic support is offered to families – as opposed to support which is tailored to cultural groups. The Missing People charity is actively promoted throughout the MPS. The MPS agreed to supply further detail as to the ethnicity of missing persons if this information is available.

Resolved – that the report be noted.

ACTIONS

7. MPS to provide breakdown of ethnicity of missing persons (if available). MPS

44. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 11)

44.1 A resolution was put to exclude the press and public from the meeting during remaining items on the agenda as they were likely to disclose exempt information as described in Schedule 12(a) of the Local Government Act 1972, paragraph 3.

Resolved – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during discussion of the remaining items on the agenda.

45. Minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee 8 September 2011 (PART 2)

(Agenda item 12)

45.1 Members agreed the minutes for the above meeting.

Resolved - That the minutes of the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee held on 8 September 2011 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

Summary of action items; status if known:

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