Specialist Crime Directorate management information

Report: 11
Date: 13 October 2005
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report gives a summary of Specialist Crime Directorate’s (SCD) performance against their key objectives from 1 April 2005 to 31 August 2005.

A. Recommendation

That members note the report.

B. Supporting information

1. This report provides management information on Specialist Crime Directorate’s performance against its objectives for the period 1 April 2005 to 31 August 2005 inclusive. The data has been reconciled by the Performance Information Bureau (PIB) and should match the information contained in the corporate report’s submission.

2. The report gives brief commentary on performance against the Directorate’s key objectives and core performance indicators. It comments on the performance data provided and any difficulties in achieving the agreed targets.

3. A summary of the key points for members are as follows:

• There has been an increase of 166 or 10.7% in gun enabled crime offences recorded in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). There were 1,715 offences compared with 1,549 for the same period during the last financial year. Specialist Crime Directorate had responsibility for the investigation of 476 or 27.8% of offences committed in this crime category. Lambeth is the Borough with most gun enabled crime offences in this reporting period with 118 recorded (Southwark last year with 122 offences). Richmond upon Thames had the least reported both this and last year with 7 and 11 respectively. Eleven of the Boroughs account for 58% of reported offences.
• The overall MPS gun enabled crime detection rate is 22.6%. There have been 388 detections. It is slightly down when compared with the last financial year. The Specialist Crime Directorate has detected 167 or 35% of the offences it investigated. Of these 163 were sanctioned detections providing a rate of 34%. There is a MPS sanctioned detection target of 20%. This reporting period the overall sanctioned detection rate is 19.1%.
• There were 121 Trident offences during this reporting period. This is an increase of 43 or 55% on last year.
• Trident’s non-fatal shootings detection rate is 13.3%. Of 113 offences, 15 have been detected. This compares with a detection rate of 30% (70 offences/21 detections) for the same reporting period last year. Offences have increased by 43 or 61% and detections decreased by 6 or 28%. The Borough with the highest number of offences is Lambeth with 22 or 19%. Eleven Boroughs account for 91 or 81% of all offences. There has been a weekly average of five offences for the financial year to date compared with four for last financial year.
• Trafalgar’s non-fatal shootings detection rate is currently 27.7%. This is a slight improvement on last year. Of 47 offences, 13 have been detected. This compares last year’s detection rate of 25.9% (27 offences/7 detections). Offences have increased by 20 or 74% and detections increased by 6 or 86%. The Borough with the highest number of offences is Hackney with seven. 13 Boroughs have not had a Trafalgar shooting.
• Both Trident and Trafalgar have suffered since July with difficulties in obtaining assistance from armed surveillance and specialist firearms officers. Virtually all Trident and Trafalgar proactive and arrest operations depend on such specialist assistance. In addition, there were some difficulties earlier in the year in recruiting suitable qualified investigators. This, combined with court and other commitments, meant that the shooting teams have been understrength. Now that the armed specialist teams are available again and recruitment is healthier, we expect to see an increase in detections and in proactive operations against the most violent and prolific offenders.
• We are concerned at the apparent increase in younger people carrying and using firearms. Anecdotally it appears that the carrying of firearms is becoming less socially unacceptable amongst people in their late teens and early twenties. Trident and Trafalgar are being supported in their enforcement efforts by other Directorate Operational Command Units (OCUs) as well as by increased operations led by Boroughs. Longer term solutions lie in Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships and in pan–London and Central Government schemes. Trident and the Directorate are working closely with these agencies to raise awareness and generate co-ordinated gun crime prevention initiatives, such as education programmes.
• There were 251 commercial robbery offences investigated by Serious and Organised Crime OCU. Of these 116 were detected, providing a detection rate of 46.2%. This compares with a detection rate of 41.5% (236 offences/98 detections) for the same period last year. Offences have increased by 15 or 6% and detections increased by 18 or 18%. The Boroughs with the highest number of offences are Hackney and Newham with 18 each. Sutton has not had any these crimes.
• This financial year has seen a change in offending in relation to commercial robbery, whereby the number of offences committed in South London boroughs has been reduced. This transfers attention to those boroughs within North London which appear to be experiencing higher levels in comparison. However these Boroughs are experiencing relatively normal levels when compared historically.
• The venues being targeted are betting shops and other types of commercial premises. Partnership agreements have been established within each key borough with liaison officers at the relevant Flying Squad office. In response to the trend, betting shop workers' union ‘Community’ have launched a joint crime prevention campaign with Scotland Yard's Flying Squad. This initiative gives employees’ advice on what to do before, during and after a robbery has occurred. Opportunities for this initiative to be extended to unions representing staff working in other types of commercial premises are being actively pursued and it is anticipated that more will follow.
• The Flying Squad has obtained mobile RAID control units to be deployed to support repeat victims of commercial robbery, particularly in cases of smaller traders who have less sophisticated security support. Raid-control is a partnership initiative between the Police, the trade association for the security industry (British Security Industry Association) and representatives from the insurance and retail sectors, and other trade associations. To receive Raid-Control Certification from the police, premises must achieve the required standards in the following compulsory elements:
  • Robbery Awareness Training
  • Cash minimisation
  • Time Delayed Systems
  • Image Capture Systems (Cameras)
  • Indelible Staining and Note Marking Equipment
• During the period of April-August 2005, the Serious and Organised Branch have seized 36 firearms, 649 rounds of ammunition, 380 kilos of Class A drugs, £1.1m cash, arrested 361 individuals and achieved convictions leading to 671 yrs imprisonment.
• There have been 16 confirmed disruptions of criminal networks financial year-to-date. These have been the subject of a robust and auditable quality assurance process. There are another 18 claims in the system awaiting evaluation by the challenge panel. At the moment they are limited to Specialist Crime. We are working with colleagues in Territorial Policing and Specialist Operations to extend the process to include their business groups.
• The target for value of assets identified by Court order for seizure has been exceeded. At the moment it stands at £14.6m, which is £9.6m more than end of financial year amount. Discussions are underway to suggest a revised target to the Authority in light of its achievement so early on in the reporting year. This is a particularly difficult area to set targets as a single large seizure can easily distort the total.
• Of the 3,612 offences investigated involving intra-familial abuse by the Child Abuse Investigation Command, 2,136 were detected. This provides a detection rate of 59.1%, which is 9% above target. This is an improvement on the same reporting period in the last financial year where there were 503 more offences and 234 less detections (4,115/1,902). That gave a comparative detection rate of 46.2%.
• The homicide detection rate is 86.9%, this compares with 88.4% for last year’s reporting period but the 85% target is being achieved. There were 84 homicide offences with 73 detections. Of these 61 have been detected since the start of financial year (April 2005) and provides an in-year detection rate of 73%. There were twelve detections of pre-financial year homicides.
• There have been two less homicides than compared with same reporting period last financial year. This is equivalent to a 2.3% decrease. The figures include the thirteen victims from the bomb explosion on the bus on July 7. The victims from the underground explosion were reported to British Transport Police.
• Trident Major Investigation Teams have had nine homicide offences to investigate. There is no change to the previous For Year To Date total (9). The detection rate is 56% with five homicides detected.
• Child Abuse Investigation Command Major Investigations Teams have investigated two homicide offences. A decrease of one on the last financial year to date total. The detection rate is 50% with one offence detected.
• Our recent performance levels are likely to have been impacted by our contribution toward the corporate response to events of July 7 and 21 (Operation Theseus). At its height, 478 staff from across the Directorate were abstracted on a full-time basis. Their specialist skills were utilised and assisted in the investigation. This figure has subsequently reduced to around 105 staff involved in the ongoing enquiry.
• From the beginning the impact of Operation Theseus has been monitored through all OCU Commanders reporting back to the SCD Command Team via the Tactical, Tasking and Co-ordinating Group mechanism and by conducting dynamic risk assessments of individual investigations, lines of enquiry and operations.
• Its impact on Directorate business has been managed with OCU commanders conducting regular risk assessments. Examples of this were investigations conducted by the homicide commands where only key witnesses were interviewed, Family Liaison Officers unavailable to support families at murder trials, deferral in chasing fugitives, high-profile investigations postponed e.g. Operation Worlingworth and Major Investigation Teams unable to continue or take on new investigations. Throughout this time, homicide OCU Commanders redeployed non-operational staff to pursue essential enquiries where appropriate.
• Within other Metropolitan Police Service OCUs the planned initiatives that supported our activities to combat gun enabled crime such as Neon, Radon and Hermes were cancelled. In addition, the absence of specialist surveillance teams resulted in Trident/Trafalgar having to cancel pro-active operations e.g. Operation Helioatry. Across the Directorate, many investigations were pared down to the most essential lines of enquiry only. Those that involved Investigations with life-threatening implications were however always pursued.

4. Since the last report to the Planning, Performance and Review Committee there have been notable success and some challenges for Child Abuse Investigation Command. On 3 June 2005, three defendants were convicted of child cruelty. The case received extensive media coverage and an opportunity to publicise the work of Project Violet. This success was tempered by a ‘Community Partnership Project‘ report being inappropriately released to the BBC Today Programme and further sensationalist reporting in some newspapers.

5. There was a vociferous reaction to the media reports from African community leaders, which was addressed at a meeting with Assistant Commissioner Ghaffur. The report is now in the process of being circulated to key community leaders and professionals on a restricted basis.

6. Phase 2 of the Community Partnership Project is being planned in partnership with central government, the London Child Protection Committee (LCPC) and the Greater London Association of Directors of Social Services.

7. Phase 1 of Project Violet is ongoing and seeks to form partnerships within faith communities whilst developing effective education and prevention programmes. A Detective Inspector, who has extensive strategic relationships within such communities, is currently working alongside church leaders and child protection agencies to implement child protection policies.

8. Similar abuse cases are being identified through a flag on the Crime Reporting Information System (CRIS). The process of employing further staff to provide a proactive capability in prevention, gathering intelligence and enforcement is underway; but has been slightly delayed because of Operation Theseus.

9. The MPS (Project Compass) is now working with Department for Educational Services (DfES) to address the issue of children missing from education brought to the fore by recent publicity on the Adam enquiry. DfES will be working with local authorities, the MPS and the London Child Protection Committee to design a more comprehensive framework to provide information and reassurance on the movement of children within the United Kingdom and between educational establishments. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Bryan has the national lead for missing persons and is addressing this issue with DfES to ensure consistency across the United Kingdom (UK). Within London, we are working with the LCPC to come up with an appropriate definition of “missing from education” and a risk assessment process to ensure data is handled appropriately thereby ensuring we safeguard children effectively.

10. A selection of significant operational successes is highlighted below. They all have tended to involve working in partnership with either other MPS Units or external agencies.

• A woman who was found guilty of setting up sham marriages to help Indian men skip immigration procedures was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. Following an investigation by Operation MAXIM, part of Covert Policing (SCD11), a 42 year old woman, was found guilty of one count of facilitating an illegal immigrant into the UK, and one count of perverting the course of justice. She also pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring with others to facilitate illegal entry into the UK. Her method was to arrange marriages for Indian men wishing to enter or remain in the UK by recruiting young British Asian women to take part in the scam. She was paid over £10k per marriage. The marriages took place both in the UK and in India. Working with her husband, she lured British brides by promising them temporary work as models in India. The motivation appeared greed, financial and personal gain and she ruthlessly manipulated vulnerable young women into taking part in these sham marriages. One victim, a young woman who had fallen out with her family met the offender. She indicated working as a model and suggested accompanying her on a trip to India. Once there, the woman took part in a photo shoot involving what appeared to be a staged wedding. However, the ceremony was in fact genuine, and the woman soon discovered that she had married her co-model. The marriage had clearly been arranged to allow the 'groom' to obtain leave to remain in the United Kingdom. Following the marriage the woman was abandoned in India.
• A man was sentenced to eight and a half years’ imprisonment for committing 102 residential burglaries across London. Forty-six of these occurred in Kensington and Chelsea. The Borough Forensic Manager assisted in the investigation by the exceptional work carried out earlier by the three Forensic Scene Examiners, receiving nine forensic identifications from seven of the burglaries. These hits linked multiple crimes across the borough, and played a large part in persuading him to admit further offences across London and pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.
• Two kidnappers have been convicted at court and sentenced to 20 years and 17 years respectively. A 40 year old man had been kidnapped in the early hours of the morning and a demand for £80k was made to his ex-partner. He was beaten and kept bound and gagged in a locked cupboard in a run down flat on an estate in South East London. Relentless demands for money were reinforced by death threats. Police were called and a full kidnap response was initiated. Fifteen minutes after identifying the location of the hostage, Armed Officers intervened and found the hostage bound up in the back of a car. One of the kidnappers failed to heed the officers warning after he was pursued from the scene, and having turned aimed at the officers he was shot twice in the stomach. When the gun was later examined, it was found to have seven rounds in the magazine and one round in the breach. The ex-partner was rushed to hospital where she remained for 24 hours with dangerously high blood pressure. The kidnapper who was given first aid at the scene by a police officer, and was in hospital for a further week recovering from his injuries. The hostage said later that he was minutes from being killed and had resigned himself to his fate. The ability to respond at such speed depends on close co-operation between hostage and crisis negotiators, covert deployments, armed officers and Serious and Organised Crime’s (SCD7) kidnap and intelligence units.
• Two men were sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to offences of kidnap, blackmail and false imprisonment. They had kidnapped a 30 year-old Latvian man in Stratford, east London. He was held for over 24-hours during which time he was assaulted by both defendants. Officers from the Kidnap and Specialist Investigations Unit commenced a covert investigation, which resulted in the safe release of the hostage. Following this, officers from Specialist Firearms Unit (SO19) arrested both men. The trial Judge commended all officers involved in the investigation and subsequent court proceedings. In sentencing, the judge said that this offence was “a well planned offence and not a spur of the moment decision. They were merciless in their treatment of the victim and there had to be a deterrent value in the sentence.” The lead officer praised this as an example of effective co-operation between the Kidnap Unit, Firearms teams and others involved in the safe release of the hostage.
• A man was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation of a minimum sentence of twenty years in connection with a linked series of 21 robberies on Ladbrokes Betting Offices, and 21 linked firearms offences. These offences were committed across London and the Home Counties and investigated by Barnes Flying Squad. Intelligence analysis of the suspect’s modus operandi allowed offences likely to be part of this series to be quickly identified. He had a previous conviction for manslaughter whereby he discharged a sawn-off shotgun whilst committing a robbery at a betting office. He had been released from prison in 2001.
• In July, the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit part of Economic and Specialist Crime (SCD6), secured the conviction of a gang of Romanian cash machine card fraudsters. The gang of five were caught by a surveillance operation following a tip-off from banks and cash machine network operator LINK, who had identified a number of cash machines that were being targeted. The gang of four men and a woman fitted false fronts and pinhole cameras to a number of cash machines across London. The camera captured the personal identification numbers of unsuspecting customers while a skimming device built into the false front captured the electronic details of the cards. The information was then downloaded onto a computer and turned into counterfeit cash cards within hours. The fraudsters then made rapid withdrawals from as many accounts as possible overnight. They had cloned 1,233 bankcards and netted £643k. The gang members received a total of 22½ years’ imprisonment and were recommended for deportation.
• During May, five men were sentenced to a total of 25 years’ imprisonment following a joint operation involving officers from Operation Grafton, Central Task Force (SCD7) and Thames Valley Police. The men were arrested following for a series of high value thefts from Heathrow. Five men were detained after forcing their way into the premises in an attempt to steal a multi-million pound consignment of mobile phones.
• Two men who committed a series of armed robberies in Ealing were jailed for a total of 15 years. They were convicted of several armed robberies against betting shops and off licences and arrested following an intelligence-led investigation by the Finchley Flying Squad (SCD7). Two firearms were recovered as well as a stolen BMW estate. One man was convicted of seven robbery offences and seven offences of possession of a firearm with intent. He was jailed for a total of nine years. The other man was convicted of two robberies and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent and jailed for six years.
• Officers from the Middle Market Drugs Project, part of Serious and Organised Crime (SCD7) have seized 40 kilos of cocaine following an operation in north London. The drugs, which have an estimated street value of £1.6m, were discovered in an attic following a search of residential house in Finchley as part of a planned operation. Officers arrested a 20-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man at the scene.

11. The following are examples of developmental initiatives and recognition:

• An innovative team of detectives drawn from Economic and Specialist Crime (SCD6) and the City of London Economic Crime Department has saved the banking industry over £35m since January. The Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit is also on track to save £100 million over a three-year period exceeding the expectations of their industry sponsors. The team was formed as a pilot in April 2002 with some Home Office funding. The team was so successful that when Home Office funding was withdrawn in April 2004 the banking industry (through APACS, the UK payments association) sponsored the team for £2m per year. The unit consists of 19 police officers, nine drawn from SCD6. Headed by a Detective Chief Inspector from the City of London force, the operational lead is a Detective Inspector from the MPS. There are three operational teams and a newly formed Intelligence Cell.
• The new look Scotland Yard’s Wanted site was relaunched. The website, which publicises suspects wanted by the MPS in connection with serious arrestable offences, has led to a number of convictions as a direct result of information appearing on the website. Features include a dedicated 24-hour phone number to contact if anyone recognises a wanted person on the site and the opportunity to view a suspect wanted in your particular area of London. It also shows images of drug dealers wanted by Scotland Yard and includes persons wanted by international police forces believed to be living in the London area. Since its launch, the Wanted site has proved a major success in catching criminals. The Operation Artemis team, part of Covert Policing (SCD10) are responsible for the site. Their key function is to proactively assess and develop intelligence around persons wanted for murder and other serious crimes by the MPS. In many cases, these individuals have been previously identified by the investigating teams for some time but had never been located. Many of these cases are historical. Some go back over 10 years. The intelligence gathering facilities available now were not available then, and it was all too easy for an individual to leave the country and disappear. The unit’s aim is to re-examine the intelligence and try to identify opportunities to locate these individuals wherever they may be hiding. The unit is presently helping to develop intelligence around a number of people wanted by Child Abuse Investigation Command (SCD5).
• A Detective Awareness Seminar was held at Hendon under the badge of the Crime Academy (SCD20). It was well attended, with nearly 200 officers from across the Directorate and a handful from Territorial Policing. Its aim was to provide officers with an overview of a number of key issues vital to those undertaking investigative roles. During the day, presentations were given on a range of topics including Operation MAXIM, the impact of the Proceeds of Crime Act and advances in forensics. Representatives from different OCUs put up exhibition stands to give officers the opportunity to learn about work carried out in different areas of the Directorate.
• Officers from the Computer Crime Unit, part of Economic and Specialist Crime (SCD6), attended the Secure Computing Magazine's Annual 2005 Excellence Awards at the Riverside Plaza Hotel, Victoria Embankment. They were presented with the prestigious award for their outstanding work in the field of internet safety in front of 500 people from the IT security industry world. The officers involved were not aware, before attending the event that they were to receive such an award. In recent months, the unit had built relationships with industry, academia and the Specialist information security press.
• A third Directorate-wide staff survey has been approved. There is a three-week period for staff to respond between Monday 5 and Friday 23 September. It takes advantage of the latest software available through the corporate computer network. An electronic link is sent to all staff. This improves the speed and accuracy of processing, also the quality of the analysis. The results will feed into the Directorate’s Excellence Model, planning process, discussions by the SCD Communication Board and general review activity. They form some of the targets within one of our strategic objectives. The last two years have seen a 19% response rate. We are hoping to increase this to at least 25% this time around.
• The Metropolitan Police are due to receive a large proportion of extra funding made available through the Home Office's Incentivisation scheme. This is due to the MPS’s involvement in the recovery of £84 million worth of criminal assets during 2004-05. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which received Royal Assent in July 2002 and was implemented on 24 February 2003, has given prosecutors and law enforcement agencies additional powers to investigate and recover criminal assets. Last year using the powers provided by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the MPS obtained a total of £24.6m in confiscation and forfeiture orders and identified a further £22m for potential confiscation/forfeiture. This has led to over £4m being returned to the MPS through the incentivisation scheme. By investing in financial investigation, we can significantly increase this figure in 2005/6 and continue to have a considerable impact in disrupting the activities of criminal networks.
• As a result of the major changes implemented after the Laming report in 2003, the Child Abuse Investigation (SCD5) is now an all-detective command. The command only recruit substantive detectives for the ranks of Sergeant and above and has an expectation that all constables that join the command obtain detective status.

List of abbreviations

MPS

Metropolitan Police Service

OCU

Operational Command Unit

SCD

Specialist Crime Directorate

DfES

Department for Education and Science

LCPC

London Child Protection Committee

UK

United Kingdom

C. Race and equality impact

There are no explicit equalities items addressed. The activities that form this report and the data content are arrived at with a regard to delivering Specialist Crime policing services to an equal standard for all Londoners. The performance report should fully comply with equal opportunities policies and associated Metropolitan Police Authority/MPS Diversity issues.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications as all of the data featured in this report is already produced regularly by the MPS.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Raymond Marshall, Specialist Crime Directorate, Information and Planning Unit.

For more information contact:

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

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