National Standards of Incident Recording

28/10
19 July 2010
MPA briefing paper 28/2010

Author: Jane Owen, MPA

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

Summary

This briefing paper is to inform members of the upgrade to the MPS systems to accommodate the National Standards of Incident Recording (NSIR) on week commencing 26th July 2010. NSIR standardises the way the MPS and other forces categorise incidents.

This paper summaries the benefits and the issues raised by this new system, including possible changes to the profile of incidents and antisocial behaviour (ASB) recorded by the MPS.

National Standards of Incident Recording

This briefing paper is to inform members of the upgrade to the MPS systems to accommodate the National Standards of Incident Recording (NSIR) on week commencing 26 July 2010. NSIR standardises the way the MPS and other forces categorise incidents. This paper summaries the benefits and the issues raised by this new system, including possible changes to the profile of incidents and antisocial behaviour (ASB) recorded.

Summary

The release of the NSIR technical changes will deliver a more consistent understanding of the incidents the communities of London tell the MPS about.

The accuracy of this information is vital to ensure that the MPS responds appropriately, supporting public safety and increasing public confidence.

Background

NSIR is intended to ensure consistent and accurate recording of non-notifiable crime and non-crime incidents. In the MPS this amounts to up to 75%-80% of all their core business.

The National Incident Category List (NICL) sits at the heart of NSIR. NICL has 60 categories under four themes of Public Safety & Welfare, Transport, Anti Social Behaviour and Administration. Each category has a nationally agreed definition which allows shared understanding and comparability of data.

Since this time the NSIR team have been working to integrate the remaining NICL categories into their Command & Control environment.

Benefits

Once in place NSIR will:

• Give a more accurate understanding of demand.
• Improve data to inform strategic decision making.
• Improve officer & public safety through better understanding the risks presented by reports of incidents.
• Improve performance when identifying pre-cursor incidents for critical contacts around threats to life, domestic violence & racial incidents.
• Help minimise risk of service failure in aspects such as analytical research and operational service delivery.
• Enable comparison with demand in other police forces.

The restructuring of the MPS Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) codes has also provided an opportunity to introduce new categories. At the point of taking a call from a member of the public the MPS will now more easily be able to identify and record whether there is a repeat caller or victim or if the victim is vulnerable. Previously this would have relied on the use of free text entries within the body of the report, making searches for these issues far more difficult.

Issues

When NSIR is released it is anticipated that there will be a short period of adjustment, though it is thought that the new process will quickly become business as usual.

Though NSIR standardises the way the MPS and other forces categorise incidents, it does not change the point at which a crime should be recorded or what type of crime is recorded. However, members should note that as the introduction of the new technology will standardise the process it may result in an alteration in the profile of crime and ASB in the MPS.

These technical changes only relate to the MPS’ ability to capture demand from within the command and control environment and will not resolve the problems of identifying and measuring demand that comes into the MPS from other sources such people who call directly to Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

If you have any queries please contact jane.owen@mpa.gov.uk

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback