How the Metropolitan Police Service uses and delivers equality and diversity in its response to gun crime

Report: 07
Date: 7 February 2008
By: by Assistant Commissioner Specialist Crime on the behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report describes how the MPS uses and delivers equality and diversity in its response to gun crime by explaining the background to the current MPS gun crime strategy; giving a statistical breakdown of current gun crime data, particularly as it relates to diversity; describing the strategic and operational response and how these link to specific communities and a look at future developments.

This report should be read in conjunction with the accompanying report from Trident – agenda item 8.

A. Recommendations

That members note the report.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. The MPS Gun Crime Strategy 2004–2007 was developed and implemented following a 24% increase in the total number of gun enabled crime offences between 2001 and 2003. The MPA also completed their own scrutiny of gun crime in 2004, which was conducted in order to improve the way the MPS responded to gun crime. That scrutiny highlighted a correlation between drugs and gun crime in some London boroughs and also noted that there was a lack of information regarding the criminal use of firearms, which hampered the process of understanding whether this relationship was significant. The report made seventeen key recommendations. These recommendations informed the development of the three year public document ‘’Tackling gun crime in London 2004-2007’’. The MPA Gun Scrutiny Committee reconvened in 2006 and produced further draft recommendations, which have been taken into account as the strategy developed throughout 2007.

2. Within the MPS gun enabled crime is tackled by a number of different commands.

1. SCD 7 Serious and Organised Crime, has responsibility for tackling serious, large-scale firearms trafficking, armed robbery, kidnaps and criminal networks engaged in gun crime.
2. SCD 8 Trident investigates shootings involving both fatal and non-fatal injuries where the suspects and victims are both members of the black community.
3. SCD 8 Trafalgar investigates shootings in all other communities across London where the injuries are non-fatal. The responsibility for investigating those incidents where the injuries are fatal falls to SCD1 Homicide and Serious Crime.
4. Central Operations (CO) provide further support through CO19 Firearms who are responsible for providing specialist firearms support to all parts of the MPS tackling gun crime.
5. CO14 Clubs and Vice Unit have responsibility for dealing with gun-enabled crime linked to or within late-night licensed venues.
6. The Violent Crime Directorate (VCD) is the MPS lead on Operation Alliance, which specifically deals with gang violence and the associated criminality.
7. BOCUs will in turn deal with gun enabled crime on their own boroughs and seek support from within SCD or CO should the level of offending exceed their own capacity to effectively address the problem.

Overview of Current Problem

3. The following tables provide an overview of the issues facing the MPS in respect of gun-enabled crime. The definition of gun-enabled crime is a crime where a firearm has been seen during the offence, or an object is presented as a firearm but obscured from view or physical evidence such as a bullet, injury or damage is found at the scene. The offence in question must be either violence against the person, sexual offence, robbery or burglary. The definition of firearm in this context is wide ranging and involves imitation firearms, stun guns and CS spray.

4. The data presents ethnicity by accused and victim together with data for non-fatal and fatal shootings. The statistics for calendar year 2006 have been compared against those for the calendar year 2007. Current data identifies a gender bias with 96.3% of accused and 63.2% of all victims being male.

Table 1 - Persons Accused of Gun Enabled Crime within the MPS for 2006 and 2007 broken down by Ethnicity

Table 2 - Victims of Gun Enabled Crime within the MPS 2006 and 2007 broken down by Ethnicity

5. The data identifies that 54.1% of all accused persons and 26.7% of all victims in 2007 for gun-enabled crime are from black communities.

6. The following tables breakdown the data in terms of shootings - real gun crime - reflecting the overall numbers of both victims and accused where injuries were both fatal and non-fatal.

Table 3 - Victims of non-fatal shootings for 2006 and 2007

Table 4 - Victims of fatal shootings for 2006 and 2007

Table 5 - Persons Accused of fatal and non-fatal shootings 2006 and 2007

7. An analysis of the data identifies the following statistics: In terms of non-fatal shootings, in 2007 34.6% of all victims are from black communities, compared to fatal shootings for the same year, where it rises to 75%. In terms of those persons accused of gun crime where a shot is fired, 53.8% are from black communities.

8. It is clear from these figures that persons from black communities are disproportionately represented as both victims and accused in terms of gun-enabled crime - particularly in respect of actual shootings - when specifically taking into account that they represent 10.1% of the overall population of London. Further research conducted by the Gun Crime Tactical Delivery Unit highlights that the age of both victims and accused is decreasing with the average age for both being 19 years.

9. In terms of the ethnicity codes used in this report, the 16+1 self defined codes are used within the MPS. As victims and accused persons self define their ethnicity using the 16+1 codes, it has been found that the information provided lacks accuracy. Due to this the 6+1 codes are used as they are found to be more accurate reflection. However, the MPS are conducting a review to improve the accuracy under the 16+1 codes and it will be our intention to use these codes within future reports.

Strategic Response

10. The MPS Gun-Enabled Crime Strategy is progressed via an integrated delivery plan and managed via a three-tiered meeting structure:

1. The quarterly Gun Strategic Committee chaired by Commander Sue Akers. This committee oversees the co-ordinated delivery of the strategy through a framework that involves intelligence, prevention, enforcement and reassurance. It is attended by leads from relevant central departments, including forensics, technology and research and development.
2. The monthly Priority Boroughs Gun Crime Meeting chaired by Commander Shaun Sawyer. This is attended by Senior Management Team representatives from each of the twelve priority gun crime boroughs i.e. Brent, Croydon, Greenwich, Ealing, Hackney, Haringey, Newham, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and also the relevant SCD OCUs – SCD7, SCD8, Gangs and Guns Delivery Unit and SCD3.
3. The fortnightly Gun Crime Intelligence Meeting currently chaired by the head of the Gangs and Guns Delivery Unit. This is attended by representatives of priority Borough Intelligence Units (BIUs), central departments, such as SCD8 (Trident/Trafalgar), SCD7 (serious and Organised Crime/Flying Squad), CO19 (Firearms), CO14 (Clubs and Vice) and the City of London Police.

11. The current control strategy aims to reduce gun-enabled crime through improving our understanding of the intelligence picture and maximising our effectiveness through co-ordinated activity, both internally and externally. A comprehensive delivery plan drives this activity across business groups, and links the ACPO Criminal Use of Firearms (CUF) strategy to Borough action plans.

12. The Gun-Enabled Crime Strategy is also co-ordinated with other relevant MPS strategies covering youth violence, criminal networks and drugs, Operations CURB (a proactive operation to tackle youths under the age of 20 who are involved in serious violence) and BLUNT (which develops knife crime strategies and supports boroughs in the delivery of knife crime reduction operations) and initiatives such as the Five Boroughs Alliance and the Tackling Gangs Action Programme, and with the multi-agency Guns Gangs and Weapons Reduction Board.

Operational Response

13. MPS Boroughs have well-established links and responses to community concerns arising from general policing issues and specific incidents. Examples of how these apply to and support the response to gun-enabled crime can be seen below.

14. Operation COALMONT was a co-ordinated response between CO, TP and SCD to combat the ongoing problem of gun-enabled crime in the boroughs of Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham. Analysis indicated that the majority of these offences were linked to street robbery and gang culture. There had also been significant national media coverage of the murder of three teenagers in Southwark and Lambeth boroughs over an 11day period in February 2007.

15. In the short and medium term the operation focused on investigation, high visibility patrols for reassurance and disruption, intelligence-led targeted proactivity and the development of intelligence on key nominals by SCD7. The long term focused on the Five Borough Group Offending project, now known as Operation Alliance, which maximised opportunities to build links with external organisations, delivered an unequivocal message to those involved in gun crime that they would be targeted and identified opportunities to reinforce existing partnerships and links within the community. A cohesive tactical plan was developed to deliver the objectives of the operation and to measure and respond to the impact of activity on the community.

16. Specific account was also taken of community impact in the following ways:

1. Representatives from local communities were invited to take part in mobile armed operations
2. Public meetings were held where members of communities had the opportunity to express concerns and obtain answers to questions
3. Police resources were assigned in accordance with local needs e.g. Lewisham requested mounted branch for a particular estate as this was more likely to engage the youths than other police patrols.
4. Community concerns and responses were reported back to the Gold Group, to Central Operations who were running the armed operations and other central resources, and to Corporate Tasking.
   Following the conclusion of the operation there was a combined reduction of 20% across the three Boroughs in recorded gun enabled crime offences, comparing figures prior to, and following, the operation.

17. Operations Dasset and Aiko are the MPS co-ordinated response to specific Turkish and Kurdish organised criminal activity, which impacts at both a national and international level. The primary criminal activity of the identified Turkish/Kurdish Organised Criminal Networks (OCNs) is the trafficking of heroin with associated criminality including murder, blackmail, firearms offences and violence within the community.

18. Operation Dasset co-ordinates the operational activity with cross agency partnership with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The Met Intelligence Bureau (MIB) provides the intelligence and analytical product with the proactive engagement being provided by SCD 7. SCD 8 Trafalgar and Trident provide the reactive response to the associated shootings. Current information suggests that there is collaboration between Turkish OCNs and OCNs and gangs that Trident are proactively targeting. Successes include the seizure of significant quantities of heroin and firearms and significant disruptions of a number of key OCNs.

19. The Violent Crime Directorate (VCD) co-ordinates Operation Aiko, which is the multi-agency response to the affected communities and provides co-ordination with partners in those communities. The main terms of reference are to review community engagement strategies ensuring consistent approach, identify risks to the people of London from crime within the Turkish/Kurdish community and devise/implement measures to manage those risks and ensure the impact of crime is properly identified, evaluated and addressed.

20. Gun crime intelligence is co-ordinated across three levels; Level 1 borough; Level 2 cross border and Level 3 national.

1. Level 1. The key priority boroughs for gun crime have specific resources assigned within their Borough Intelligence Units to work on gun enabled crime. These resources are linked via the fortnightly gun intelligence meetings where they share information and discuss trends and emerging threats with central departments. Issues impacting across borders are picked up at this meeting, which is currently chaired by the head of the Gangs and Guns Delivery Unit (GGDU).
2. . Level 2. Officers from the GGDU monitor intelligence and identify issues that need to be flagged to central units, identifying cross-border connections and emerging trends. GGDU maintain an awareness of SCD7, SCD8 and MIB activity in order to inform their activity. Information is fed into the organisation as appropriate e.g. the seized firearms database in MIB or passed to Operational Teams within SCD7 and SCD8.
3. . Level 3. The MIB Gun Desk support specific Level 2 and 3 operations, particularly concentrating on detecting and disrupting firearms supply. The MIB also supply an officer to the National Firearms Intelligence Cell, which works with SOCA to implement the ACPO intelligence strategy. The MIB gun desk will develop intelligence gained from the forthcoming National Ballistics Intelligence System - which is discussed later in this report.

21. SCD3 (Serious Crime Prevention and Partnership) is substantially engaged with partners in long-term prevention and partnership work, particularly focussed on gang offending. Elements of this include;

1. Support for the Guns, Gangs and Weapons Reduction Board and it’s associated action plan to address the fear, harm and level of gun and weapon enabled crime in London’s communities.
2. Development and co-ordination of research to identify good practice in prevention of gun enabled crime and firearms supply, with a focus on how these issues impact differently on distinct communities
3. Development and support for the proposed Operation PATHWAYS – which will be discussed later in the report.
4. Enforcement of the new legislation under the Violent Crime Bill in relation to the supply and use of realistic imitation firearms

22. The MPS are also engaged in long-term work with organisations such as the Wave Trust who recently released research that links causes of violence to abuse and neglect of children in their first three years of life. From the Wave Trust report ‘’Violence and What To Do About It’’ 2005, available at www.wavetrust.org evidence is emerging of the importance of early intervention in these cases. MPS statistics show that gun crime victims and perpetrators are getting younger. This particularly affects black communities in certain areas. A greater priority should be placed on early intervention supporting children and families at risk.

Future Developments

23. Operation Pathways is part of the MPS response to the problem of increasing youth violence. In 2007. 26 people were murdered who were under the age of 20. A proportion of these homicides are gang or group related. Pathways builds on Operation Ceasefire, a tactic used in Boston, USA, to tackle gun violence. The basic framework of Operation Ceasefire centred around the hypothesis that there was a very small, very active target population that were responsible for the majority of the violence and that these individuals predominantly acted as part of a group. Analysis in London, suggests that even though there is not the structured gangs that were present in Boston, there are certainly a small number of individuals responsible for the most serious violence and that the majority of these individuals are part of gangs and commit violence offences as part of their gang identity.

24. The purpose of Pathways is to provide a sustainable reduction in serious violence using three principles.

1. The moral voice of the community and working with and empowering communities to use problem solving to tackle the issues.
2. Help for those that ask by offering multi-agency, co-ordinated exit strategies for gang members.
3. Consequences for violent behaviour. Targeting the most violent individuals and gangs with zero tolerance and holding gangs collectively responsible for violence committed by individual members.

25. The project is to be implemented on three levels; national, pan London and local. The initial project will provide local delivery in the Five Borough Alliance (Croydon, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark), but with a view that the process can be implemented elsewhere in London.

26. The MPS is at the forefront of the development of NaBIS - the National Ballistics Intelligence Service. This is a database for all recovered firearms and ballistic material that will be linked by a national network, with an on going project to link all systems across Europe to exchange ballistic searches and intelligence.

27. The predominant feature of NaBIS is to link guns to ammunition and ammunition to ammunition. Normally unless suspects are arrested with firearms it will be rare to identify suspects from firearms or ammunition even with DNA and fingerprint analysis. However, since the surrounding intelligence will be linked to ballistics data there are intelligence opportunities from linked incidents, which may assist in identifying potential suspects for further investigation. The MPS are developing an in house capability for the forensic examination of firearms, which will significantly reduce costs to the organisation for this type of work. The system will allow gun criminals to be identified more quickly thereby reducing the harm they cause.

Acronyms & abbreviations:

ACPO

Association of Chief Police Officers

(B)OCUs

Borough Operational Command Units

CDRPs

Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership

CO

Central Operations

CUF

Criminal use of Firearms

CY

Calendar Year

GGDU

Gangs & Guns Delivery Unit

HMRC

Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs

IAGs

Independent Advisory Groups

MAPPA

Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements

MPS

Metropolitan Police Service

MIB

Met Intelligence Bureau

MPA

Metropolitan Police Authority

NaBIS

National Ballistics Intelligence Service

OCNs

Organised Criminal Networks

Operation Blunt

Which develops knife crime strategies and supports boroughs in the delivery of knife crime reduction operations

Operation COALMONT

A coordinated response between Central Operation, Territorial Policing and Specialist Crime Directorates to combat the ongoing problem of gun-enabled crime in the boroughs of Southwark, Lambeth and Lewisham
Operation CURB – A proactive operation to tackle youths under the age of 20 who are involved in serious violence

Operation PATHWAYS

 Is part of the MPS response to the problem of increasing youth violence.

Operations DASSET and AIKO

are the MPS co-ordinated response to specific Turkish and Kurdish organised criminal activity, which impacts at both a national and international level

PPO

Persistent & Prolific Offender(s)

SCD

Specialist Crime Directorate

SOCA

Serious & Organised Crime Agency

TP

Territorial Policing

VCD

Violent Crime Directorate

C. Race and equality impact

1. The specific equality and diversity issues relating to this report are acknowledged. The delivery of a reduction in gun and gang activity is a challenging one for the MPS, however there are structures in place, such as the Trident and Operation Blunt Independent Advisory Groups (IAGs) to mitigate the risks associated with this challenge.

2. In addition, race and equality impact is always considered for operations and projects concerning gun crime.

3. Although it currently meets the MPS target for black and minority ethnic police officers, Trident is working with the IAG and Black Police Association to raise the levels of black and minority ethnic police officers still further so that the OCU can be more representative of the black community it primarily serves. Current plans include gaining formal organisational support for positive action in the form of secondments for black and minority ethnic officers during their detective development programme

4. Specifically, MAPPA, the PPO scheme and the Challenging Wards Programme address race and equality impact via their engagement with local CDRP’s, whilst other operations and projects have specific local engagement with the voluntary and community sectors, for example in the Five Borough Group Offending Project and the Guns, Gangs and Weapons Reduction Board.

D. Financial implications

1. Whilst this report illustrates the MPS current response to guns, gangs and weapons, it’s purpose is not to go into any detail as to the financial implications of any suggested changes.

2. Any future response within the MPS will be funded from existing MPS budgets.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Commander Sue Akers, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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