How the MPS communicates

Report: 6
Date: 7 September 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report outlines the work of the Directorate of Public Affairs in communicating with London’s diverse communities.

A. Recommendations

That

1. The Board notes the contents of the report

B. Supporting information

Background

1. The Directorate of Public Affairs (DPA) provides professional communication services to support the Metropolitan Police Service mission of ‘Working Together for a Safer London’.

2. Our aim is to ensure that information reaches target audiences in the most appropriate way and taking into account diverse communities, traditionally 'hard to reach' groups and those internal and external customers who have specific requirements;

3. We do this by:

• supporting and raising awareness and understanding about the MPS.
• promoting corporate priorities for 2006/07 and organisational achievements.
• enhancing the way we communicate internally.
• developing local communication across the organisation.
• offering professional communication, leadership, support, co-ordination, advice and expertise to staff.
• providing a comprehensive service to the media 24-hours a day.
• targeting specific media where appeals and information to individual communities are needed.

4. More detail is provided in the DPA Business Plan, which is attached at Appendix 1.

5. While the DPA are responsible for corporate communication via media and marketing, a large part of the Met’s engagement with communities happens at a local level and is led directly by boroughs.

6. The DPA is a support function, which provides communication advice to the rest of the organisation and each piece of communication activity is the result of detailed discussion with the lead branch. Nothing is produced or delivered without sign off from the lead branch.

7. The Directorate currently employs 67 staff, 24 of which are male and 43 female. We employ 10 part time staff and one member of staff works compressed hours. Taking full time equivalent figures we employ 7 members of staff from black and minority ethnic communities and one member of staff has a recorded disability.

8. The total DPA budget for 2006/07 is £6.3m of which £2.8m is spent on paid for communication and marketing projects. The remainder is spent on staffing and running costs.

9. The DPA monitors diversity across the directorate and the issue is a standing agenda item at both Senior Management Team meetings and Senior Information Officer meetings.

10. Our key equality targets are:

• to seek to make the DPA more representative of London’s diverse communities;
• to continue to identify and develop positive relationships with existing and emerging minority media;
• for all marketing and publicity campaigns to consider how audiences are targeted and ensure that communication strategies take into account the requirements of different communities and the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

Targeting audiences

11. The key to effective communication is to clarify the message and the target audience and then to select the most appropriate communication medium available reach them.

12. The DPA communicates in two main ways: directly via marketing activity and indirectly through the media.

13. In order to ensure that our activity is reaching the right audience in the right way we carry out research to inform and guide our decision making.

14. In the past, to inform our marketing activity for Trident, we have carried out qualitative research to better understand the media habits, lifestyle and motivations of our target audiences. We have also carried out qualitative research within Muslim audiences to identify the most effective ways of engaging and communicating with them and to better understand community perceptions to the MPS and anti-terrorism.

15. In 2003 we carried out research to enable us to understand how to adapt our communication activities to better target audiences who may not access or rely on mainstream media. One of the conclusions which that research reached was that minority audiences were just as likely to consume mainstream media as non-minority audiences and that other factors such as experience of crime, relevance of message and local environment were more relevant when targeting audiences.

Communicating with minority audiences via the media

16. Although the DPA employ two press officers with some responsibility to deal with diversity issues and audiences, there is an expectation on the whole Directorate to consider all of London’s diverse communities when planning any communication activity. In addition, where the target audience for any communication is a clearly defined community or group of communities we would, as a matter of course, use the most effective means of targeting that community.

17. One press officer supports the Diversity Directorate. She is also the daily contact for minority media editors and journalists and has recently created a BME media group and held an informal networking event for them. Members receive our statements by email and are invited to briefings.

18. Following the recent publication of the CPS decision into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes we targeted the South American media both in London and Internationally to brief them around the issues. We also arranged phone-ins and interviews with the Deputy Commissioner and representatives from the South American media.

19. The other press officer works on the Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD) press desk and she communicates the work of SCD to minority audiences. An example of her work is a recent press briefing she held for the African media and a news agency for women’s magazines on the subject of female genital mutilation.

20. Our local press offices also play a key role in engaging with minority media when a particular operation requires it. Recent examples include: using Ghanaian TV to identify a drugs mule who died outside Sutton hospital; making specific appeals to Tamil, Vietnamese and Somali media followings murders of people from those communities; and, using a Turkish daily newspaper to appeal for information about a missing 14 year old from that community.

21. Our local press officers also hold regular events for editors from minority local newspapers or radio stations as well as working closely with Independent Advisory Groups to seek advice on how best to target particular communities.

22. Experience has taught us that when there is a major incident as well as general demand for information, there are specific communication needs from the communities who have been directly affected. In advance of all operations the lead officer is required to carry out a comprehensive equality impact assessment. The DPA is consulted when there is a communication requirement. Our role is to offer advice and where necessary facilitate communication with those potentially affected.

23. As a matter of course for major incidents we now put in place a press officer to work closely with the Diversity Directorate in addressing specific community communication requirements and issues. This is outlined in our major incident plans and was put in place following the recent anti-terror arrests. Presentations on the importance of this role have been given to colleagues working in communication across the organisation at recent training courses.

Targeting minority audiences

24. The marketing and advertising activity carried out within the DPA demonstrates how we are able to target specific communities where it is relevant to the campaign. We employ a media buying agency and an advertising agency, which advise us on the best way to communicate with specific audiences. They ensure that we get the imagery, messages and tone right as well as ensuring that the advertisements appear in the right media to ensure that the target audience is exposed to the message and that we achieve value for money.

25. We aim to build on research and best practice. Our Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) media contact list drew on the list compiled by the Commission for Racial Equality and is regularly updated. Contacts are shared between the MPS and Home Office and Foreign Office. We are also linked into the National Union of Journalists’ guidelines about race reporting.

26. We are regularly in touch with other government departments (OGD) and other organisations including the Central Office of Information (COI) to share information and insight about campaigns, audiences and apply any relevant learnings to our own communication. For example, we have recently taken part in the Home Office research debrief sessions to learn more about Muslim communities; their attitudes, lifestyle and the issue of extremism and to contribute to the Home Office’s ongoing work in these areas.

27. We also attend communication conferences for the public/commercial sectors which allow us to learn from the experiences of other commercial business. Subjects vary from learning about new technological advances, online targeting and targeting the youth market to research and evaluation techniques.

28. This information allows us to tailor our messages to our target audiences and reach them using the communication channels with which they engage.

29. Since 1999, we have been communicating with black communities around Operation Trident in order to increase confidence in police activity and encourage people to report information about shootings to the police. To achieve this we have concentrated our effort in the six London boroughs where gun crime is most prevalent and have worked in partnership with media owners who are credible to this “hard to reach” audience. This has resulted in radio stations such as Kiss and Choice speaking about the issue of gun crime in a way that the target audience can engage with. Tracking research shows radio was a particular success for the 2005/06 campaign with almost half (43%) claiming to have heard the radio ad or informercials.

30. We have also targeted Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Communities with messages around same sex domestic violence. These adverts were placed in the gay media and the launch was held at a ‘gay’ bar in Soho with members of the LGBT media invited to the launch. This strand, within the wider Domestic Violence campaign, received positive feedback from the LGBT community.

31. Following the events of July 2005 we produced leaflets targeted at communities who may have felt vulnerable. These leaflets were produced in 14 languages: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil and Turkish; 3 of which; French (French speaking African), Somali and Syleheti are in audio formats because they are spoken languages within the relevant communities.

32. Last year saw perhaps the most innovative example of how we seek to target a ‘hard to hear audience’. To support operational activity around Operation Blunt (The MPS anti-knives initiative) we identified young Londoners between the ages of 11 – 15 as being the prime target audience. Research told us that dictatorial messages from the police would not impact on this audience so we chose a medium with which we knew they would engage and produced a ‘mock’ computer game depicting a knife fight. At the point of impact the computer graphics became real film footage and the audience were made aware that this was an anti-knife message and were directed to a website where further crime prevention information was relayed. Over 15,000 DVDs were distributed during the campaign and our “microsite” saw 16,161 unique visitors (December 2005). This DVD is now being used as an educational tool by police forces nationally.

33. This year, in addition to a further Operation Trident campaign, we will be targeting London’s Chinese, Turkish and Kurdish communities to encourage them to come forward with information about criminal networks operating within their communities.

34. We also work closely with independent advisory groups and staff associations where appropriate to test and seek input to our communication strategies within relevant communities before we implement them. For instance a borough SN team recently developed materials targeting the Jewish community to report hate crimes. There was some concern about the content/design and therefore they were referred to the Jewish Staff Association for advice. We also attend community consultation forums to pick up intelligence about how messages are being received and feed that into our communication plan.

35. Our interaction with staff association includes:

• Responding to advice from the Association of Muslim Police about scepticism in the Muslim community voiced in the BME media about Operation Overt. We set up interviews with the chair of AMP and TV, radio and print including Islam Channel, Geo TV, Al Jazeera, BBC Asian Network, Sunrise and Eastern Eye.
• Supporting the Hindu Association’s media work around a recent visit by the Deputy Commissioner to the Hindu temple.
• Playing a central role in supporting the Directorate of Professional Standards’ response to damaging media coverage misrepresenting an internal report about corruption and disproportionality. Key to this was briefing all the relevant staff associations.

Making information accessible

36. Making information accessible is an issue for the whole of the organisation. This is why we have been working with the Diversity Directorate and the Central Office of Information's Informability team to update and review the MPS Accessibility Policy.

37. Below is the introduction to the draft Policy that is currently in consultation with the Disability Independent Advisory Group.

‘More than 1.4 million people in London are disabled and 20% of London households include a disabled person. Disabled people are more vulnerable to crime and more concerned about crime.

The MPS is committed to providing all Londoners access to MPS information.

All MPS information products, including leaflets, forms, campaign materials, training manuals and corporate documents must be made as accessible as possible to as wide an audience as possible.

Some of our audience is covered by legislation, such as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) & the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA 2005). However, the MPS believes that everyone has the right to expect a consistent and comparable level of service regardless of whether they are specifically covered by legislation.

In order to achieve this the MPS is committed to ensuring its mainstream printed products are as accessible and inclusive as possible and providing information in different formats when necessary.

People who may need information in alternative formats include:

• People with low levels of literacy
• Disabled people
• Ethnic minority groups

It should also be noted that some people would fall into more than one of the above categories.

The way we present information to our customers will differ according to their individual needs.’

38. The draft policy goes on to give guidance about what types of materials we should make accessible and at what point in the process. It also includes guidance on languages and translations.

39. Although the legislation governing accessibility does not require that we make all our publications accessible as a matter of course, there is a requirement to produce alternative formats if requested within a reasonable timescale. This is not without cost and has obvious budgetary implications.

Internal communication – getting key messages to staff

40. To develop staff engagement we organise Met-Get-Togethers where the Commissioner and Management Board regularly meet with 500 staff to discuss issues facing the organisation and answer questions. We put accounts of these meetings, sound files, and transcripts of speeches on the intranet, reaching a wider audience. Once a year we have a sign language interpreter present and invite members of staff with hearing difficulties. We have also chosen a venue which has an induction loop facility.

41. We draft, film and edit monthly intranet video messages in which the Commissioner talks about current issues and performance. The DPA manages a mailbox for the Commissioner, gets responses to questions, gauges developing communication needs and compiles best practice.

42. Central to our internal communication approach is the imperative for managers to discuss issues face to face with their staff rather than simply cascading emails. We support managers in this by producing a monthly Key Brief – essentially issues everyone should understand and a celebration of success – supported by posters and intranet stories. We provide senior staff with background material and work with them to improve their visibility to staff and drive their responsiveness through two-way communication. An intranet one-stop-shop houses all such corporate need-to-know information as well as toolkits.

43. We produce: 300 intranet stories monthly, each of which is read by 6,000 - 17,000 people. 5000 members of staff attend Met-Get-Togethers annually. We produce 12 editions of The Job annually and broadcast 14 intranet video messages annually.

Evaluation

44. Each campaign is evaluated through market research to ensure that the messages have reached the intended audience. In the case of Trident we have seen increasing recognition of campaigns over the years with a 69% recognition of the 2005 campaign. We are also aware of an increase in calls to Crimestoppers and a decrease in shootings at around the time of the campaigns appearing.

45. In the case of ‘Knife City’ 205 people filled in feedback forms and of those 84% gave the campaign approach a positive rating, with 62% saying it was a good way of getting the message across. Actionable calls to Crimestoppers increased by 30% over the course of the campaign and at least one person said they had been prompted to ring Crimestoppers by the marketing campaign.

46. Members of the DPA and others elsewhere in the organisation are invited to the tracking presentations so learning can be shared more widely.

Challenges/ barriers to communication

47. As highlighted above the production of DDA compliant and alternate language formats highlights significant financial implications, which have to be met within existing budgets.

48. Experience has shown us that we need to devote additional resources when dealing with minority media, as they often do not have the resources to cover MPS stories in the same way as mainstream media. They are often unable to attend press conferences or briefings. Therefore we need to get the information to them in a different way.

49. There has also been a proliferation of minority media titles. Our media buyers have identified: 57 key Black and Minority Ethnic Media titles, 15 key LGBT titles and 26 key disability titles. This work has been shared with colleagues in HR marketing who face similar challenges in targeting minority audiences for recruitment purposes. It has also been shared with the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate.

50. We are conscious that our resources do not enable us, on occasions, to engage as fully with these media all as we would like. There is also a limit as to what can be achieved through editorial coverage so advertising within the minority media is sometimes required. A recent costing for a proposed campaign within the key minority media was estimated at costing in the region of £110k.

Abbreviations

DPA

Directorate of Public Affairs

DDA

Disability and Discrimination Act

BME

Black and minority Ethnic

CPS

Crown Prosecution Service

SCD

Specialist Crime Directorate

LGBT

Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender

HR

Human Resources

C. Race and equality impact

This report examines the activity of the DPA in addressing minority and hard to hear communities and demonstrates the intention to make our communication accessible to all communities.

D. Financial implications

This report identifies additional costs associated with targeting minority audiences, which cannot fully be addressed within existing budgets.

E. Background papers

• The Metropolitan Police Service Corporate Communication Strategy

F. Contact details

Report author: Stephanie Day, Assistant Director of Public Affairs, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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