Performance report: autocrime

Report: 05b
Date: 14 February 2002
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report follows on from the report presented to the July meeting of the Committee and provides an update on performance since April 2001. The report follows through the specific issues raised in the last report, and includes an update on current initiatives.

A. Recommendation

Members note the report.

B. Supporting information

MPS target

1. MPS has set a reduction target to reduce autocrime by 5% for 2001/02 and has also set a judicial disposal target of 5%. The latest performance information (April – December) shows that the level of offences has increased by 3.6% compared to the same period last year and the judicial disposal rate stands at 4.2%.

2. Charts 1 and 2 (see Supporting material) give a monthly breakdown, comparing MPS performance 2001/02 to 2000/01. The charts show no significant changes in autocrime trends.

Borough performance

3. April to Dec 2001 figures show that four boroughs are currently meeting the 5% reduction target in autocrime; Kingston 16%, Ealing 10%, Wandsworth 5%, and Harrow 5%.

4. Although not currently achieving the MPS target a further seven boroughs are achieving a reduction in autocrime, with Brent borough achieving zero growth. Autocrime has increased on 20 boroughs and the % increases range from Tower Hamlets at 1% to Southwark at 21%.

5. Five boroughs are currently achieving or exceeding the MPS Judicial Disposal target of 5%.

6. The Boston Box charts in Appendix 1 (see Supporting material) show the current autocrime rates per 1,000 population and the judicial disposal rates of the 32 MPS boroughs, compared with each borough's performance last year.

Kingston Borough

7. Kingston is the only MPS borough that is meeting both MPS autocrime targets. The borough has attributed it success to Operation Allsorts. Although the initiative's main aim is to reduce street crime in the Kingston town centre area the borough believe the initiative has also had a significant impact on autocrime, as the autocrime hotspots are also located in the town centre area.

8. Total notifiable offences on Kingston currently show a 2% reduction, street crime has increased by 20% (currently April-Dec 272 offences) and burglary is showing a 11% reduction.

9. The autocrime performance of Kingston is displayed in Chart 3 (see Supporting material). The chart shows that autocrime offences peaked in May 2001 and since that time there has been a downward trend.

Hammersmith and Fulham

10. In the July performance report Hammersmith & Fulham borough were highlighted as a borough that had a significant increase in its autocrime figures. In response the borough has been running operation Pacman. The tactics include a range of intelligence led operations on 'known suspects' including vehicle decoy operations at identified autocrime hotspots.

11. Chart 4 (see Supporting material) shows that the borough has maintained a downward trend in offences since July 2001. To date the boroughs autocrime performance show a 11.6% increase compared to last years figures.

Operation Arrow

12. Operation Arrow was a two year Home Offence funded initiative with the primary aim of identifying ways to effectively tackle motor vehicle crime. Throughout the initiative the three boroughs involved (Camden, Islington and Southwark) have been utilising various individual strategies in a bid to identify good practice.

13. The funding provided by Arrow (£597,000) was spent mainly on police overtime but has also funded activity through;

• Youth Offending Teams, to deliver diversion, reparation and constructive leisure activity
• NACRO, to deliver youth outreach and peer group research
• Local Authority Traffic Wardens to leaflet hotspots
• Local Youth Clubs to provide constructive leisure

14. Although the crime figures have risen on all three pilot boroughs, the true success of the initiative will only be established in April 2002 when the Home Office sponsored evaluators' report back to the MPS with their findings.

15. Southwark borough has carried out preliminary analysis of their performance during Operation Arrow. Their findings show that the trends for theft and damage to vehicles remained relatively constant, with police activity having the largest impact on theft from motor vehicle offences. As the table below illustrates theft from motor vehicles accounts for 44% of overall vehicle crime in the MPS.

16. Vehicle crime reduced quite significantly during the first year of Arrow, with the borough achieving the MPS 2000/01 target to reduce autocrime by 8%. Southwark believe that with more funding, they would have been able to sustain a dedicated team, an analyst and a researcher preventing them being diverted to other policing priorities and increasing the impact of the operation.

Five year target

17. The government has set police forces national targets to reduce vehicle crime. The MPS set an ambitious five - year target to reduce vehicle crime in London by 31% by the end of March 2004 based on 1998/99 levels. Progress towards this target has been poor; in order to achieve the target reductions of around 20% in each remaining year would be required. The volume of vehicle crime in London needs to reduce if the government is to achieve their target.

18. The Home Office has recently launched a Targeted Vehicle Crime Initiative to provide up to £10 million of additional funding over three years to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships suffering the highest levels of vehicle crime. (based on the number of vehicle crimes per 1000 population) The Home Office anticipates the initiative will make significant contribution to the achievement of the national five-year vehicle crime reduction target. Eight MPS boroughs are included within the proposed initiative.

19. The MPS has submitted an alternative proposal to the Home Office, proposing that rather than funding the eight identified MPS boroughs, funding should be provided to a central point, (Territorial Policing (T.P.) H.Q.) to be allocated on a needs basis to all 32 boroughs.

20. If the Home Office approve the MPS proposal they intend to launch Operation Catseye as its strategy to drive down autocrime within London. The initiative will be based on the MPS policing model, and will incorporate the good practice and learning identified from operation Crackdown, Strongbox and Arrow. Although financial management and tasking of resources will be centrally controlled they will be borough focused. Boroughs will be invited to submit proposals on how the additional money would enhance existing efforts and have maximum impact on the local vehicle crime problem. The MPS are currently awaiting a decision from the Home Office regarding their proposal.

Forensics.

21. The liquidation of the MPS removal contractor Bells, has resulted in difficulty for us forensically examining vehicles. Bells not only provided the means of vehicle removal, but also the premises at which the examinations took place. The Vehicle Recovery Scheme in which stolen vehicles are recovered and then forensically examined, is currently being run by four private garages. The MPS is trying to secure sponsorship funding from the Association of British Motor Insurers with a view to widening this scheme.

22. The MPS has been increasing the amount of level 1 trained scene examiners and aims to have 201 fully trained examiners by July 2002. In December 18,853 autocrime offences were recorded. Once the additional examiners are available it is anticipated that the number of identifications and intelligence products produced by the forensication of motor vehicles will increase.

C. Financial implications

1. Borough operations are currently being funded from existing budgets.

£597,000 Home office funding was used for Operation Arrow.

2. The MPS is looking to the Home Office to provide £8 million funding for operation Catseye and the ABI to provide £2 million sponsorship.

D. Background papers

Autocrime Performance – PSPM papers, March & July 2001.
Driving Down Vehicle Crime by David Skelton , PRS Consultancy Group.

E. Contact details

Report authors: David Paterson, Corporate Performance Analysis Unit, MPS.

For information contact:

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

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