Comparison between New York Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Service

Report: 16
Date: 18 April 2002
By: Commissioner

Summary

There are many similarities between the cities of New York and London. Consequently comparisons are frequently made between the costs of running the two cities' police forces and between the results they achieve. The MPS recognises the value of using New York Police Department (NYPD) as one of its ongoing benchmarks to help identify good practice. To this end staff are currently working on the development of valid comparisons between costs, methods of working and results. Early work has highlighted the danger of making simplistic comparisons: not only are there governance, social and economic differences between New York and London which must be taken into account, but there are basic differences in the way the two forces are funded, in the range of services they provide and in the way crime and disorder is defined. Nevertheless, a recent broad-brush comparison has indicated that the scope of costs met from the NYPD's budget is narrower than for the MPS, leading to considerably more funds being available for policing.

A. Recommendations

Members are asked to note the contents of this report and the arrangements for working further on the comparisons between the two budgets set out at paragraph 7.

B. Supporting information

Relevant similarities and differences between the two forces/cities

1. There are many similarities between London and New York, to the extent that New York Police Department (NYPD) has been identified as one of the forces which the MPS should use as an international benchmark. However, there are also fundamental differences in the way the two cities are governed and in how the forces are financed and structured, which must be explored in detail before the two forces can be fairly compared on a level playing field. Some of the more obvious differences between the cities are discussed in the paragraphs below; others will be researched over the coming months as part of the ongoing international benchmarking work. The MPS intends to involve as wide a group of agencies as possible in this work, and to undertake some independent academic analysis to underpin its findings.

Differences in governance arrangements

2. Governance arrangements in the two cities vary considerably. For example, New York's mayor has executive responsibility for service provision in general, including policing, whereas in London the MPA holds the responsibility for strategic direction of policing , the Mayor influences policing largely through the budget, and general service provision is overseen by boroughs; there is a different mix of government, state and city controls and financing arrangements; New York has only five boroughs compared with London's 32 and these do not set local police objectives. In addition, New York city's budget is of quite a different order - $34billion compared with $7 billion here-and covers housing, education and refuse collection. The budgets in New York are far less stable and fluctuate more with the state of the economy: the city is exposed to year to year changes in the yields of local taxes that can be induced by changes in the regional and national economy.

City profiles

3. Whilst the two cities have similar population sizes (New York about 8 million, London 7.1), very diverse populations, and areas demonstrating extremes in deprivation and wealth, the MPS covers a much bigger area (620 sq miles to NYPD's 320), is much less densely populated , and has a different range of policing problems e.g. the policing of football matches seems to require greater police input than do baseball games. In addition, London has many capital city functions which increase its policing needs e.g. frequent national demonstrations; protection duties for Royalty, diplomats and parliament and politicians.

Differences in what is included in force budgets

4. A range of police services is provided to each city in different ways, and it is not always clear which services are covered by the published budgets and which are not. Much more detailed work will be required to assess this. For example, the MPS budget supports some traffic wardens (others are provided by local authorities); some river services (others are provided now by HM Coastguard); murder investigation and serious fraud investigation, as well as some national and international functions such as Special Branch, Royalty and Diplomatic Protection, and investigation of terrorist offences . Other agencies that contribute to policing in London to a greater or lesser degree include: the City Police (at a cost of some £60m), the Royal Parks Police, BTP, Customs and Excise, and NCS and NCIS: it is no simple matter to assess the contribution of the latter two national agencies to tackling London's crime. Similarly in New York an assessment of the contribution of the FBI and DEA to New York's crime base is not straightforward, and there are 15 or more other agencies operating in the city. These include, for example, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the New York City Parks Enforcement Patrol, the New York University Protection scheme and the New York City Hospital Police department. A separate force protects the UN and associated diplomatic community.

5. Support functions are likewise funded in different ways in the two forces. For example: the Command and Control system in New York is shared by the Fire Department whereas here it is fully funded by the MPA; forensic services here are bought in from the Home Office whereas NYPD provides these internally.

Financial comparison

6. A statement covering the relative funding of the two forces, based on information published by New York City , is attached at Appendix 1. This comparison shows the MPS as having a budget of £1 billion less than the NYPD, on a comparable basis, given the current level of understanding of the NYPD financial regime. The comparison should be viewed only as identifying the potential scope of divergence in the level of funding. Differences in accounting treatments, plus the extent to which costs attributable to policing activity are met by other New York City budgets, detracts from our ability to undertake a more precise evaluation.

7. Members are advised to exercise caution when considering this statement as in its unsophisticated form it masks the differences in composition and funding of the two forces, compounded by the different pattern of agencies and forces involved in delivering policing in each city, as discussed above. The comparison is complex and its validity has been challenged by others. We are confident that the basis for the comparison is nevertheless appropriate and have some support from several quarters including Tony Travers of LSE. There remains a number of areas of definition which have yet to be completely clarified and we intend to work with partners over the next few months to resolve these matters. For example, a small cross party group has been proposed by Oliver Letwin MP to share information and reach an agreed interpretation. KPMG, who are involved in the audit of both New York and the MPA, will assist in bringing these matters to a conclusion

Comparisons between the performance of the two forces

8. Clearly the NYPD has been able to demonstrate considerable improvements in its performance over the last few years, and much of this will undoubtedly be due to increased police strengths and overtime expenditure. The MPS is of course anxious to explore these improvements in detail to see if there are lessons for London, but this could take some time since it will be necessary also to examine demographic and economic changes, tactics, and crime reporting rates which may also have affected the figures over the period. For example, in London we have been positively encouraging the reporting of racial incidents over the last few years. It will also be important to track the NYPD figures over the next couple of years to see if the improvement can be sustained when funding levels reduce, as looks likely.

9. As has recently been commented on in the press, the absolute levels of crime also appear to be lower in New York, except in the category of murder where New York levels are over three times those in London. Again the MPS is anxious to explore the reasons for these apparent differences, but much care will be required to ensure that full account is taken of the differences in counting rules. For example,

• Where a burglar enters and steals from ten occupied rooms in a London hotel ten offences will have been committed, in New York this will be recorded as a single offence.
• A Hierarchy Rule applies to New York crime statistics. This means that where a number of offences are committed only the most serious is recorded; in London each crime would be recorded and accounted for in crime statistics. For example, if a murder also involved a sexual offence and theft, only the murder would be recorded in New York.

Demographic differences must also be taken into account (e.g. percentage of youths in the population, the number of unemployed) for comparisons to be meaningful.

10. The media has also published lists of measures which NYPD utilises to help curb crime. For example, extending stop and search measures and allowing police to be more assertive; putting extra police on foot patrol; and recruiting more police from ethnic minority backgrounds, as well as focusing on performance delivery. The MPS is already working towards implementing many of these measures, and would adopt several others if it had sufficient resources (NYPD had some 39,300 officers in 2001 compared with our 25,600). Nevertheless, we intend to explore the US experience in some detail to ensure that all appropriate good practice is identified.

C. Financial implications

None.

D. Background papers

None.

E. Contact details

Report author: Bob Alexander, Director of Finance and Sue Merchant, Business Change Group, MPS.

For information contact:

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

Appendix 1: Outline comparison - financial year 2001/02

New York Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Service

Notes:

1. Financial year for NYPD runs June to May.
2. Different accounting/ constitutional arrangements between Services
3. Significantly more responsibilities within MPS Special Payment used as a proxy.

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