Violence in London

Report: 11a
Date: 3 March 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report sets out proposals for a new response to violence in London. It represents significant progress in achieving the Commissioner’s vision of greater cross-business group working. The proposal is for the establishment of a Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Violent Crime Directorate with responsibility for ensuring that resources and expertise from every part of the MPS are brought together to make a bigger impact on the problems of violence faced by Londoners.

A. Recommendations

That member

1. note the report; and
2. endorse the proposal for cross-business group working and the establishment of the Violent Crime Directorate.

B. Supporting information

1. This report sets out current progress and thinking in relation to joining up the MPS approach to violence following a Management Board decision to prioritise this at their away day on 31 January 2006. The proposal represents significant and further progress towards the Commissioner’s vision of cross-business group working.

2. There are clear opportunities to drive performance improvements in relation to violence. These opportunities lie in Deputy Commissioner’s Command (DCC), Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD), Central Operations (CO), Specialist Operations (SO) and Territorial Policing (TP) working to build shared intelligence and tackle dangerous people and places through the combined and co-ordinated capabilities and expertise of each of the business groups.

3. The MPS can look to impressive achievements in relation to serious violence. Examples such as ‘Operation Trident’ and Homicide Prevention Unit work illustrate areas of excellence. The performance against terrorism doesn’t need rehearsing. The arrival of safer neighbourhood teams has begun to engage the MPS with local concerns around anti-social behaviour. The priority now is to move into the ground that saps Londoners’ confidence – public space violence that creates feelings of vulnerability and may affect perceptions about the extent to which the MPS controls the streets.

4. The underlying principle of this proposal is that violence is committed across a continuum. Recognising the links between perpetrators and different forms of violence, the repeat nature of victimisation and the geographic focus of violence requires a response that is not constrained by organisational silos. The MPS will identify violent people, violent locations and patterns of victimisation, and intervene on the axis that will deliver most impact.

5. This proposal will engage the whole MPS, as appropriate, in addressing this priority. To make that engagement effective it is intended to establish a Violent Crime Directorate that will develop the intelligence, own the control strategies and be accountable for their delivery. Commander Violent Crime will ensure that the widest range of appropriate capabilities and resources are brought to bear on identified problems. Success is not predicated on changing structures and command lines; success depends upon the organisation, as it is, working together in a different way. Since each of the business groups have a contribution, the governance of this work will sit with an Operations Board upon which they will all be represented (at Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) level), and a Strategic Board, chaired by the Deputy Commissioner.

6. The MPS Violent Crime Directorate will be located within TP, given that accountability for performance in relation to the bulk of violent crime sits there, but will operate on behalf of the organisation as a whole and will be held to account by the Operations Board.

7. At this time it is proposed that the intelligence effort, and subsequent control strategies relate to dangerous people, dangerous places, and victims. The ambition is to achieve sustainable solutions rather than short-term suppression alone.

Violent crime directorate purpose

8. To reduce the incidence and fear of violent crime in London.

Violent crime directorate objectives

9. To ensure the MPS works together to reduce specifically the incidence of:

• Gun enabled crime.
• Knife enabled crime.
• Personal robbery.
• Alcohol-related violence.
• Increase the number of offences brought to justice in relation to all types of violent crime.
• Reduce the number of victims of all forms of violence.
• Increase confidence, trust and satisfaction among victims of domestic violence and hate crime.
• With partners, to ensure the effective management of potentially dangerous persons.
• Increase overall confidence, trust and satisfaction in the MPS.
• To meet PSA targets 1 and 2 in relation to violence.

10. This will be achieved through:

• Providing a clear, intelligence and evidence based analysis of violent crime in London.
• Mapping current activity to identify gaps and to develop and implement solutions through the Control Strategies.
• Co-ordinating the response/tasking of MPS business groups along the continuum of violence – in particular, interventions into high impact neighbourhoods.
• Providing support to boroughs in delivering their local strategies. In particular, through links with Safer Neighbourhood Teams and through tasking of the proactive team (current Race and Violent crime Task Force) to target and arrest potentially dangerous persons.
• Having particular regard for the context of citizen-focussed policing, effectively engaging with and responding to the range of diverse communities. This will include the corporate priority of violence against women.
• Working with Criminal Justice partners to ensure the most effective and timely criminal justice outcomes.
• Working in existing local and national partnerships tackling violence and identifying new opportunities for a wide range of partners to contribute to delivery of the objectives.
• Continuing to develop the understanding of the drivers and predisposing factors behind violence.
• Identifying and sharing good practice.
• Ensuring minimum standards of service delivery are consistently achieved.
• Ensuring we provide appropriate levels of support and protection to victims of violence.
• Further developing and implementing the RAMP (risk assessment) process into boroughs.
• Raising public awareness/education – marketing – maintaining a high profile for activity and success.
• Influencing opinion formers and decision-makers in relation to legislative change, resource levels etc.

Targets

11. Currently proposed targets for violence 2006/07:

12. Targets around violence for 2006/07 agreed by the MPA will form the baseline targets for the unit. However, prior to launch a suite of measures will be put together that captures as best we can the qualitative/perceptual issues as much as the numeric. This proposal will be circulated through the Operations Board.

Governance

13. Strategic Board will consist of the Assistant Commissioners and any partners considered appropriate by the Board. They will sign off the strategic assessment and control strategies and ultimately hold Commander Violent Crime to account for their performance.

14. Operations Board will consist of all DAC’s, Commander Dick (given her specialist role), Vanessa Nicholls, Interim Director of Strategy, a Directorate of Public Affairs representatives from: British Transport Police, Territorial Policing, and others as felt appropriate by the members. The role of Operations Board will be to ensure delivery of the control strategies, to set priorities, to commit resources and capabilities from their business group to the solution of identified problems and to hold Commander Violent Crime to account for progress against the cross-cutting themes (Criminal Justice, Performance, Diversity and Citizen Focus, Partnership and Media/Marketing).

15. The Operations Board will make joint resource bids to the Together Tasking process, where they will be tested and determined against other corporate priorities for resources.

Branding/marketing

16. It is proposed that the new unit be known as the MPS Violent Crime Directorate.

17. Directorate Public Affairs is fully engaged in planning. Operations Board will agree a media strategy prior to launch.

18. An internal marketing strategy will also be put in place. This will include an intranet site, exposure in The Job and on the front page of Aware.

19. There are a series of key internal audiences e.g. Borough Commanders, Specialist Crime Directorate; senior management teams, staff support associations with whom more detailed engagement will be required.

Launch

20. It is proposed that 21 March is the best day to launch the Violent Crime Directorate. This coincides with the showing of an ITV documentary looking at the MPS approach to street crime in Southwark.

21. Work is under way to organise an MPS wide ‘arrest/high profile activity day’ in order to achieve the desired media profile. It anticipated that the day could produce a mixture of media opportunities from early morning arrests to policing operations in the nighttime entertainment environment. All business groups will have an opportunity to contribute.

22. In April six more boroughs will go live with the Home Office Violent Crime Project. This presents a good opportunity to reinforce the launch.

Dangerous places

23. The work identifying challenged neighbourhoods, represents a key opportunity to model this new way of cross-business working. At the heart of the approach to deal with ‘dangerous places’, this work is being progressed with a view to early delivery of an integrated MPS response. Wards have been identified and detailed analysis of drivers, perpetrators, violence patterns etc has been tasked to the relevant boroughs. The product will then be reviewed at a cross-business group meeting (at commander level) in order to design a package of intervention that will exploit the particular contributions of each business group.

Structure - Violent Crime Directorate

24 This proposal rests on better use of existing resources by combining and coordinating our considerable expertise in this area. The existing TP Crime Directorate units of the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force (proactive teams), Community Safety Unit Delivery Team (domestic violence and hate crime), Sapphire (rape), Jigsaw (dangerous offenders) and Compass (vulnerable missing persons) along with their current Command and Intelligence structures will form the basis of the Violent Crime Directorate. In addition, it is suggested that the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) is aligned to the VCD, as its primary objective is the reduction of Robbery, a violent crime.

25. The intelligence function will be fulfilled by the creation of a violence intelligence cell within the Violent Crime Directorate. This unit will be created from existing TP intelligence assets, supported by the Homicide Prevention Unit, key people from DCC2 (Dr Betsy Stanko) and linked to SCD5 intelligence asset.

26. The intelligence unit would generate intelligence requirements that would be tasked through the DAC Operations Board to intelligence units in the various business groups. The proposal is consistent with current and future work towards a Force Intelligence Bureau.

27. The priority task is to draw up detailed terms of reference for the intelligence function and to identify the resource for and process of intelligence development within the structure.

28. TP Crime Directorate will remain, comprising of - the crime squad and BCU Intervention Team, Prolific and Priority Offenders Unit, Core Desk, Authorising Officers and Source Units (except those contained within the RVCTF). In addition, Operation Emerald (Criminal Justice) and the new Performance strand will form part of TP Crime. The existing Crime Squad intelligence unit dealing with volume crime will also remain.

Resources

29. Detailed resource plans remain to be drawn up. In outline terms, there will be only a small requirement for realignment of existing resources.

30. The management structure would be a Commander, Detective Chief Superintendent, and Detective Superintendent - Public Protection and Detective Superintendent - Intelligence. There is a requirement for an additional (temporary) post of Superintendent Support for the first six months in order to ensure successful implementation. This post would be critically reviewed at the half-year point.

31. At Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) level, existing posts allow for Intelligence, Sapphire, CSU, and Jigsaw. Under savings agreed for Financial Year (FY) 2006/07, a Detective Chief Inspector post was given up - TP Crime Squad and the RVCTF subsequently managed by a single DCI. The proposal separates out these two teams again and therefore an additional DCI post is required to lead the proactive element of the Command.

32. In order to support the role of Commander Violent Crime, to service the control strategies and the Operations Board process there is a need for a secretariat of five staff. The police/police staff mix can be determined.

33. The intelligence asset will be formed from existing TPCD units.

34. The existing NMPCU structure remains, as this is a national unit and funded primarily from Home Office.

35. The realignment is in discrete units and therefore current Budgeted Workforce Targets (BWTs) would simply move across.

Accommodation

36. At launch, given the timeframe, it is proposed that units remain in their existing locations. The priority will be to co-locate the intelligence assets. There is no firm proposal at present but consideration is being given to the Empress State Building (ESB) and to freeing up capacity at Notting Dale (although this appears unlikely at this stage). There will be a ‘virtual’ co-location with SCD5 assets at Cobalt Square.

37. In time the ideal would clearly be to have the Directorate located in one place. That will not be achieved by launch but work can begin now to achieve that end.

Independent Advice

38. I have met with the chairs of a number of Independent Advisory Groups (IAGs). Their collective view is that this represents a really positive development and that they would wish to support Commander Violent Crime with advice through representatives from each group coming together to perform that role.

Other organisations

39. Once Members have had the opportunity to discuss this report early engagement needs to take place with, among others,

• Greater London Authority/Mayor’s Office
• Government Office for London
• Home Office
• Number 10
• HM Treasury
• Prime Ministers Delivery Unit
• Office Deputy Prime Minister
• Police Standards Unit
• Association of Chief Police Officers - crime business area
• City of London Police
• Transport for London
• British Transport Police

40. Arrangements for meetings will be made as soon as members have had the opportunity to discuss the proposal.

41. In addition, there are numerous other faith and community based organisations with whom we will want to meet e.g. Community Security Trust, Evangelical Alliance, Hindu Forum of Britain, Muslim Safety Forum.

Staff Associations

42. On Friday 24 February a briefing was held for all staff of TP Crime Command at New Scotland Yard. The purpose was to outline the plan and set out the future for different parts of what is currently one command but will become two. To that briefing were invited representatives from the Police Federation, the Superintendents Association, SAMURAI and Unions representing police staff.

3. Following that briefing there will be a further meeting with representative organisations to manage the realignment of people but also to secure their active engagement with the violence agenda.

44. An early priority for VCD is delivering the Strategic Assessment, writing control strategies and mapping current service delivery against them. As part of this process it is proposed that there is a stakeholder conference at which the MPS can engage a wide audience in discussing violence in London. This represents another opportunity to achieve some profile, and buy-in across the stakeholder group.

Leadership Academy

45. The Leadership Academy (LA) is ideally placed to develop approaches to joined-up working in this area. Strategic Management of Critical Incident Training (SMoCIT) is a powerful vehicle for bringing together different parts of the organisation to work through how they contribute towards the overall solution of problems. LA is able to deliver a number of SMoCIT events that would bring together senior teams from the different business groups in a Hydra environment. This process would serve the purpose of increasing knowledge about other parts of the MPS, demonstrating how the various contributions fit together, building networks and improving levels of knowledge of the totality of critical incident management. The exercise can be designed around a violence scenario. SMoCIT is also a powerful medium through which to engage independent advisors, MPA members and others.

46. This training is developed and ready to go. Members will be aware that SMoCIT was a foundation stone of the MPS response to McPherson and achieved national profile. Irrespective of the violence focus, a recent Performance Needs Analysis (PNA) highlighted that there is an urgent need for a refresh of this training around the MPS.

47. The issue is that the MPS training requirement for 06/07 is already excessive. In mitigation, this training would, in the first instance, be targeted at senior levels of the organisation (i.e. superintendent and above). This is a group who are not the intended recipients of the bulk of the already identified training requirement. Such a programme presents an opportunity to engage the work around violence with the values/behaviours work launched by the Commissioner a few weeks ago.

C. Race and equality impact

1. It is recognised that manifestations of violence impact differently on different communities. In particular, the MPS corporate strategy recognises the particular issues affecting the safety of women in London.

2. The objectives of this work will, if achieved, reduce the levels of violence suffered by all communities in London. There are five crosscutting themes, one of which is Diversity and Citizen Focus. This will ensure that responses are appropriate to the needs and aspirations of the communities in which the problem is located, and that communities are fully engaged in the process. One of the proposed control strategies relates to victims. This will ensure that our response to victims is appropriate irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, age or faith.

3. Commander Violent Crime will have the MPS lead for hate crime, thus ensuring continuing focus and continuing development of responses.

4. A performance framework will be constructed to enable us to monitor the proportionality of interventions and service to members of different communities across London. This will be supported by the provision of independent advice, a mechanism for which has already been agreed.

D. Financial implications

1. The financial implications assessed at this time amount to the region of £285k. This is the cost of the staff required in addition to current BWT in TP Crime Command. In consultation with Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing (ACTP), the author is confident that these costs can be met within TP budgets. The costs do not represent growth since realigning staff currently performing similar roles elsewhere within Territorial Policing can provide the posts.

2. Other costs, such as those associated with moving accommodation, cannot be determined until relevant decisions are made but are anticipated to be containable within the overall MPS budget. In the short term, existing equipment such as vehicles and IT are sufficient for purpose.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author: Commander Steve Allen, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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