How can the MPS improve the judgement of officers

32/09
20 November 2009
MPA briefing paper 32/2009

Author: Bill Griffiths, Director of Leadership Development - MPS

This briefing paper has been prepared to inform members and staff. It is not a committee report and no decisions are required.

Summary

At Full Authority on 29 October 2009, the Commissioner agreed with Members that it was important to continue to encourage and empower staff to be innovative, but it was equally important to ensure good judgement in the decisions they make. The following briefing sets out how the MPS seek to address this issue.

Discussion

This point is at the heart of good policing and the exercise of sound judgement in all situations - what Lord Scarman described as ‘the daily art of discretion’ - is core to the maintenance of public confidence. We are all individually the product of our experience and the self-reflection that ensures we learn. However, experience could be described as the worst teacher because it often gives the test before the lesson. Our answer is to simulate in HYDRA/MINERVA as much of the likely experience as we can in order to develop the learning in a safe environment.

One of the positive developments arising from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry was the establishment of a deliberately wide-ranging definition for critical incidents as:

‘Any incident where the effectiveness of the police response is likely to have a significant impact on the confidence of the victim, family or the community’

In this context:

• Effectiveness means the professionalism and integrity of the police response
•  Significant impact is judged from their perspective, not ours
•  Confidence really means the long term effect on public confidence of poorly handled critical incidents when they play out in the media

All of the training on critical incidents in the last 10 years, particularly that provided through HYDRA in our immersive learning suites, reinforces that the early identification of incidents that are, or have the potential to become, critical should be responded to appropriately, speedily and proactively.

A practice advice on critical incident management was published by the NPIA in 2007 and it represents 9 years of professional good practice in the MPS and elsewhere and was based on the 7th version of the guide that the MPS developed.

In the HMIC thematic inspection ‘Leading from the Frontline’, the MPS was cited as good practice in the training of sergeants and inspectors in critical incident management. That practice has now been adopted by the NPIA in its review of Core Leadership Training which commences in April (the Met will provide this locally).

Current situation

We have a comprehensive and current Standard Operating Procedure that reflects the national guidance and readily can be found on MPS intranet.

Hydra/Minerva is our mechanism for learning and is the nearest thing possible to a ‘flight simulator’. Thus it provides experiential learning opportunities at all levels that hone the alert system and ‘nose’ for incidents that are or can become critical.

Exposure to immersive learning operates at these levels:

• Student constables - 3 x 1-week modules
•  Sergeants and inspectors - one day in policing skills module
•  Detective constables - module under development
•  DS/DI/DCI - one week at each level
•  Multi-Agency Critical Incident Exercise (MACIE) - joint child abuse investigation exercise 2 days
•  Senior Management of Critical Incident Training (SMoCIT) - strategic 3-day exercise for SMTs - currently under design of version 3
•  ACPO - 2 days CT exercise

However, no one system can provide the panacea for every situation or incident in the 10,000 or so that are reported to us each day and it is indeed a question of professional judgement and proper supervision. When things still go wrong, as we know they will in any system involving human interaction, we have the Debriefing Centre under Jonathan Crego that is charged with extracting the learning from experience within the spirit of the Taylor Report.

Conclusion

The Met has led the field in this aspect of policing and we have a great deal of experience to call upon. We are not complacent but believe we have invested wisely and comprehensively in improving the judgement of officers. As ever with a learning organisation, it is work in progress and we will continue to debrief incidents and change processes or adjust training where that is necessary.

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback