31. Second supplementary memorandum
submitted by the Metropolitan Police Service
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
TO THE
METROPOLITAN POLICE
SERVICE FOLLOWING
THE EVIDENCE
SESSION ON
14 SEPTEMBER
1. The Metropolitan Police Service states
in its memorandum that "Londoners are more likely than almost
everyone else to rate their police as doing a good job."[39]
However, the Mayor of London states in his memorandum that "London
has the highest rate of crime for any region in the UK. Londoners
are more worried about crime than any other comparable population".[40]
How can these comments about Londoners' view of crime and the
police be reconciled?
The MPS does not consider that these two sets
of comments are mutually exclusive. Whilst Londoners believe that
their police are "doing a good job" it is clear that
there are still challenges in the areas of fear of crime and the
level of crime in London. However, the MPS has made an enormous
amount of progress in both these areas in recent years. Last year
total crime across London fell by 1.8%—almost 20,000 fewer
offences—with falls of 4.2% and 7.1% in street crime and
burglary respectively. Fear of crime in London has also declined
in recent years with the Mayor's most recent Annual London Survey[41]
showing that fear of crime is beginning to decrease, with 22%
of respondents considering fear of crime to be a major problem.
This was down from 32% in 2002 and 27% in 2001.
The MPS would point out that significant progress
is being made in reducing crime. In comparison with other European
cities, London comes out on top in a number of categories including
crime. The analysis confirmed London as the only city in Europe
able to compete on the world stage with places such as New York
and Tokyo.[42]
2. What is your response to HMIC's recent
report on a future strategy for civilianisation? How much scope
is there for a unified system of pay and conditions within the
police service?
The MPS believes that, within certain parameters,
there is a great deal of scope for converging the terms and conditions
of police staff and police officers in the Service.
The MPS believes that modernisation of the police
service employment framework should tackle the issue of equalising
workforce conditions between warranted officers and other staff.
The service is currently required to operate separate human resource
systems for police officers and police staff, which do not assist
a culture of integration and shared effort, and certainly multiply
bureaucracy. The MPS looks forward with interest to the conclusions
of the Morris Inquiry commissioned by the MPA on the subject of
the MPS disciplinary framework, and the Taylor review looking
more generally at this subject; it would welcome observations
on unifying the present separate disciplinary systems for police
officers and police staff.
3. What are your views on the retention of
the office of constable? Does the fundamental distinction between
officers of the Crown and other police staff continue to serve
a useful purpose?
It is the view of the MPS that it is essential
to policing by consent in this country that the historic independence
of police constables is maintained and that the preservation of
the status of "office holder" is probably the best method
of preserving that position.
Police officers must remain, first, free from
national or local political influence and, secondly, free from
operational interference. To subject officers to the control of
the Crown—in practice the government of the day—in
the way that employees are subject to the control of their employers,
would be constitutionally wrong.
The MPS does not advocate retention of the historic
status of the office of constable for its own sake, but because
we believe the public rightly regards the independence which that
office guarantees as one of the great strengths of our police
service across the country, of profound significance to the maintenance
of a liberal democracy.
Consequential to our belief that it is vital
that the status of the office of constable as not being a direct
employee of any body is preserved, it is also important that any
merging of employment terms does not do this "by the backdoor".
Were a rationalisation of terms and conditions to take place,
the MPS would suggest that the independence of the office of constable
be enshrined in primary legislation. The MPS firmly believes in
the importance of the principle of operational independence and
the Police Service must be free to investigate and prosecute anybody
in the country. However, we also recognise the importance of being
required to offer an explanation as to why the police service
takes such actions—ie operational independence but not independence
from scrutiny and explanation. Such independence would be compromised
were the office of constable to be removed.
4. Do you anticipate that there will be significant
variations between forces in the proportion of CSOs employed and
the use made of them?
The MPS does anticipate variation in the numbers
employed across the country. That is based on the principle that
forces and authorities are responsive to local needs which are
not all similar. Localism will demand creativity and a community
based response. Local forces are best placed to tailor their workforces
to meet demand.
5. Do you think it was appropriate for the
Government to announce the recruitment of a further 20,000 CSOs
before completion of a proper evaluation of the effectiveness
of the first 4,000?
The MPS has conducted evaluations of the effectiveness
of PCSOs and is confident they have been proven to be a success.
PCSOs are now deployed in four main roles: Security, Community,
Transport and most recently Parks OCU.
The MPS currently deploys 1,791 PCSOs in these
four roles. The primary role for PCSOs remains Community Engagement.
To this end, the majority of this financial year's growth has
been directed at supporting the creation of Safer Neighbourhoods
Teams. Eleven of London's 32 Boroughs have provided additional
funding for the purchase of Community PCSOs. To date, 113 extra
officers have been deployed in this way. Numbers are steadily
increasing and by the end of the year the MPS will employ 2,019
PCSOs.
The MPS continues to monitor and evaluate the
impact of PCSOs. We have established effective dialogue with both
the Police Federation and PCS Union who represent the majority
of PCSOs. Two external and one internal evaluation have been conducted.
The most recent was undertaken by Portsmouth University into the
effectiveness of PCSO deployments in Westminster and Camden (see
Appendix). The consultancy firm Accenture conducted another in
the London borough of Bexley. These evaluations clearly demonstrate
the positive impact that PCSOs are having on public perceptions.
This work was focused on looking for benefits that applied primarily
to non-police organisations and in three particular areas—economic,
social and environmental. Welling was the first site studied.
Some of the headline findings from Welling are:
— At Welling Secondary School, the
presence of the Safer Neighbourhood team on site has reduced vandalism
dramatically. The window repair bill has reduced by 60% and they
have saved the equivalent of over £14,000 in security costs.
— McDonalds in Welling has reported
major benefits in terms of reduced vandalism repair bills and
improvements in staff morale as a result. Blockbusters on Fore
Street, Edmonton, have seen a decrease in stock loss from £1,600
a month to £400 a month from May 2003 to May 2004.
— (quote from Accenture report) "Figures
indicate an increase of just over 8% in the number of people shopping
in Welling town centre. An early interpretation could be that
it is a positive reaction of local residents to the Safer Neighbourhood
programme".
— "An increase in retail sales
for a high street off licence was reported by the manager as a
direct result of the SNT dispersing group of youths in and around
the store."
In addition the University of Leeds has conducted
a detailed evaluation of PCSOs in Leeds and Bradford city centres.[43]
6. What funding arrangements would you like
to see in place for the recruitment of further CSOs?
The MPS would wish to see guaranteed funding
of PCSOs in order to ensure clarity in planning for the future
and enable a systematic approach to financial management of the
organisation.
7. What is your view of the Government's recent
proposals to further extend the powers of CSOs?
The MPS believes that the suggestions in relation
to extending the powers of civilian staff underlines the need
to clarify the intended role of Police Community Support Officers
(PCSOs). Initially it was proposed that PCSO would be the "eyes
and ears" of the police service and provide reassurance by
a visible presence. It could be argued that giving more powers
to PCSOs would reduce their visibility. It would also shift their
ethos from one of engagement to enforcement. Therefore we ask
careful consideration is given to the future role of PCSOs as
the proposals in this section are clearly moves towards enforcement.
8. Do you support the Government's proposals
for change to police powers, announced last month? Do any of the
proposals give you cause for concern? In particular, what is your
view of the proposal to abolish the distinction between arrestable
and non-arrestable offences?
The Metropolitan Police Service fully supports
the modernisation of police powers and welcomes the opportunity
to contribute to the Consultation Paper, Policing: Modernising
Police Powers to meet Community Needs. The MPS acknowledges that
legislative change and reform of police procedures go hand in
hand to modernise the whole criminal justice system and ultimately
reduce crime and the fear of crime. Without a modernisation of
the framework of powers that govern how the service operates the
reform process will be incomplete.
The MPS endorses the simplification on the power
of arrest and believes this will make it easier both for the police
service and communities to understand. While any and every arrest
should be justifiable as necessary and proportionate the MPS does
not wish to see the process become more bureaucratic.
The alteration of the standard of proof to justify
an arrest from a constable having "reasonable grounds to
suspect" that an offence is being or about to be committed
to "having reasonable grounds to believe," is a fundamental
change to the current system. The MPS is concerned that it may
mean that a constable will in future, require more evidence to
support the higher threshold of "belief" rather than
the present criterion of "suspect". This may lead to
a lack of clarity for officers making arrests which will have
the opposite effect to that intended. The MPS seeks clarification
of the intention that underlies this suggestion and would welcome
further exploration of this subject.
The MPS has prepared a separate response to
the consultation paper that it will be more than happy to provide
to the Committee.
2 November 2004
39 See Ev 150 Back
40
See Ev 132 Back
41
Carried out by Mori, published 16 January 2004. Back
42
Eurostat (European Union's official statistical body) comparison
of European cities produced every five years. Back
43
"Patrolling with a Purpose": An Evaluation of PCSOs
in Leeds and Bradford City Centres. Leeds University, 2004. Back
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