The Metropolitan Police Borough
Commander (BC) delivered a presentation on the Metropolitan Police
Service Turnaround Plan 2023-25 and the Baroness Casey Review Final
Report. This detailed:
- The contents of and
context behind the Baroness Casey Review, which had been
commissioned by the Metropolitan Police to review its culture,
standards and practice, following the murder of Sarah Everard by a
serving Police Officer, who had used his warrant card and his
powers to abduct a female on the streets of London in
2021;
- How the review had
been compiled, through considering Police data, outcomes and
organisational processes, and Police Officers speaking with
Baroness Casey to reflect the services provided by the Police, and
its culture;
- The acceptance of the
Metropolitan Police as to the outcomes of the review and its
resolute stance to work towards improving these
outcomes;
- Other influencing
factors as to the outcomes of the review, such as austerity, demand
on policing and incorrect choices around resources;
- Next steps, such as
around addressing cultural issues within the Police, driving out
discriminatory behaviour, identifying those officers who should not
be a part of the Police and encouraging officers to come forward to
report negative behaviour;
- The importance of
listening to, and better connecting with local communities, to
better understand their needs and with more work needing to be
undertaken to address this;
- The further work that
needed to be undertaken to protect women and children, with more
work around making public spaces safer needing to be
delivered;
- There were many good
Police Officers in the service and work would need to be undertaken
to both support and motivate them, as the community needed good
policing; these officers would be instrumental in helping the
Police to address poor behaviour;
- The Baroness Casey
Review was an opportunity to bring about real changes within the
Metropolitan Police, with the Police fully behind this;
- Some of the positive
work that was already being undertaken to address issues, such as
around violence against women and girls and increased vetting of
Police Officers through the Police National Database;
- The Metropolitan
Police Turnaround Plan 2023-25, which centred around nine key areas
that the Commissioner wished to address and which also linked in
with the areas of concern identified by Baroness Casey;
- How the Police
planned to use the findings of the Baroness Casey review to have
wider discussions around the Metropolitan Police Turnaround Plan,
to provide a better policing service, safeguard victims, reconnect
with communities and devise tailored borough-based
approaches;
- Some of the positive
work already being undertaken through the Turnaround Plan, such as
the recruitment of Borough Neighbourhood Superintendents to support
neighbourhood policing, and of 600 Police Community Support
Officers (PCSOs) across London; and
- The importance of
partnership working in addressing issues and to deliver a better
service.
A Councillor emphasised the
importance of the Police recognising and facing the issues that had
been raised through the report, such as issues of the BAME
community being profiled and stopped; these issues had to be
acknowledged initially, before these could be fixed. There were
many great Police Officers; however, everyone needed to work
together to resolve problems. A Councillor also raised issues
whereby another Councillor had raised other issues at a Safer
Neighbourhood Team meeting, which had subsequently been taken and
rejected as criticism of the Police, as well as occasions whereby
they had raised issues with patrolling Police Officers and had been
made to feel a nuisance as a ward Councillor raising
these.
It was also felt that
tri-borough arrangements had weakened communications with
long-established communities, with more localised connections
needed, as well as the idea that cuts had resulted in less Police
Officers as part of the neighbourhood policing service. Members
acknowledged the importance of close partnership working and
utilising available resources, as well as highlighted the need for
more consistent and better staffed police teams.
In response to questions from
Members, the BC stated that:
- He had already had
conversations around how the Police could strengthen their
relationships with Councillors, as elected representatives of the
community and who were pivotal in information sharing. Future
Councillor involvement on Ward Panels, where information could be
disseminated and decisions made around the prioritisation of
resources, was essential.
- The Police did not
currently have the mechanisms in place to really listen to what was
going on in the community and bring this altogether to make
decisions around policing; some of this was due to the
Police’s own practice and approach to problems, which needed
to be improved. The Borough Superintendents would look to
strengthen relationships with Councillors and the Ward Panels, to
share intelligence and community information, seek advice and
discuss priorities.
- The Police
Commissioner had acknowledged the issues outlined by Baroness
Casey, including the cultures, behaviours and incidents
underpinning these. How the Police engaged with its communities
through the lens of race, faith and other demographics would be
key, through listening to their needs.
- Whilst there were
less Police Officers than previously, the Police was working to try
to ensure greater consistency within neighbourhood Police
teams.
- Police engagement
with local communities recently had also been very positive so far,
with many community members coming forward to speak to Officers
around issues that they had faced and on which they wished for
support.
In response to questions from
the Barking and Dagenham Youth Forum (BADYF) co-optees, the BC
stated that:
- Anti-social behaviour
(ASB) could include a lot of different things, including street
harassment and making women feel unsafe. The horrific murder of
Zara Aleena in Redbridge had taken place shortly after the BC began
his role, with the BC and his team having worked since then to look
at improving women’s safety. This had included around 60
“walk and talks” with Police officers and women in town
centres and hotspot areas, where Police Officers had asked women
where they felt unsafe and why, and how the Police could look to
change this. There had also been innovative work around
communication plans, enforcement, installing public space
protection orders (PSPOs) and the first fine for harassing a woman
in the street, which had been undertaken by the BC and his team in
Redbridge. The BC wished to replicate this in Barking and
Dagenham.
- The Police had
increased their visibility in the town centres of Barking, Ilford
and Romford, with dedicated Town Centre teams in each. It was also
working more closely with Partners to address ASB.
- In terms of welfare,
Police Officers were better supported than previously; however,
many were under heavy pressure. In East London, there was a welfare
hub that officers could access, for example, if they had been
assaulted on the job or had dealt with a traumatic incident. The
Police would also look to signpost and offer financial and mental
health support to support its workforce; however, the Police were
seeing many of its staff suffering from mental health issues and
the nature of the job could be very difficult. The BC was working
with his team to ensure that staff were well supported.
- Over the next 12
months, the BCU was going to be focusing on public safety,
particularly around women and around tackling knife crime, through
increased engagement with the community around problem solving and
approaches to deterrence.
- In terms of current
accountability, the Police had Safer Neighbourhood Boards, Ward
Panel Chairs and the IAGs; however, it was felt that this was not
working effectively enough and the BC was working with Partners to
ask for advice around how to improve this. The Police also needed
to communicate what it was doing better, to the public.
- In terms of
recruitment, the Police was not able to fill all of the vacancies
that it had, despite methods to address this, such as through
Outreach teams in the community working to recruit local people.
More work needed to be undertaken to ensure that policing was an
attractive profession.
In response to further
questions from Members, the BC stated that:
- Getting the basics
right would play a large role in helping to rebuild trust within
the community, as well as better supporting victims of crime who
came forward to report these, with only 65% of victims stating that
they felt satisfied with the support and communication that they
had received. The Public Attitude Survey showed that the levels of
trust and confidence in the Police in East London, were quite high;
however, it was likely that this would decline following the
outcomes of the Baroness Casey report. The Police was very keen to
build trust within the community and would engage with local people
in order to do this; the BC was also already taking steps, such as
through engaging with Senior NHS partners around reducing waiting
times for those experiencing health crises.
- In terms of Police
visibility, the Police needed to get better at communicating to the
public the work of the local ward teams and where these would be on
specific days, in case the public wished to speak with
officers.
- Police abstractions
were an issue, with Officers being drafted to support other areas;
however, this was not happening as often as the community likely
thought. Police Officers were abstracted around 2-3 times a month
to support emergency response teams, and to Central London
functions, which the Metropolitan Police Commissioner had already
started to reduce and was looking to reduce further.
In response to questions from
the Parent Governor (Primary) Co-optee, the BC stated
that:
- The Macpherson Report
had led to significant change in the Metropolitan Police upon
publication and it was felt that the Baroness Casey Report went
even further than this in advocating for change. The Baroness Casey
Report needed to define policing in London for many years to
come.
- Much work had been
undertaken to put in place child protection measures; a data
protection review was also underway, which would result in more
resource also being channelled into this area of work. Public
Protection Units were under huge pressure, with the Commissioner
recognising that more needed to be invested in these; it was hoped
that the BC would shortly have more officers here, which would
provide a greater opportunity to ensure that the Police could
effectively protect children.
- Higher standards and
better neighbourhood policing were current key priorities. It was
acknowledged that as the Police targeted discriminatory behaviour
amongst its officers, more “bad news” stories and
convictions would likely appear in the press; however, this should
be taken to highlight that discrimination was being
addressed.
- “Walk and
Talks” had also taken place in Dagenham, but had been
undertaken primarily in town centres, as this was where the
majority of crimes had occurred. More “walk and talks”
would be undertaken in the future.
The Committee highlighted the
importance of partnership working and improving the relationship
between the Police and the local authority. It requested an action
plan for the new London PCSO recruitment, including when these were
expected and the timelines moving forward. The BC stated that these
were to be recruited around the end of the financial year, would
then need to be vetted and trained and would likely start in post
around Autumn 2023. Whilst some London boroughs would not see an
uplift in their PCSO staffing, it was hoped that this would not be
the case in Barking and Dagenham. The Chair asked the BC to return
in around six months’ time, to update on progress, steps
taken by the Superintendent and engagement with the community, what
else could be done, and future plans.