Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner of Police regarding Quarter 2 performance against measures set out in the Policing Plan 2018-2021 and the following points were made.

·         The Assistant Commissioner provided Members with some context to the report, noting that the Force was dealing with a national increase in crime, which itself could be the result of improved processes for recording crime. The Force had recently appointed a Gold Commander to oversee crime reduction initiatives, and measures adopted to date had led to some signs of a decrease in the number of crimes reported.

·         In response to a comment from the Chairman, the Assistant Commissioner agreed to review how descriptors for performance measures could be improved to make it easier for Members to scrutinise the Force assessment of those measures and their trends.

·         In response to a question from a Member regarding Measure 1 (Number of crimes committed in the City) and the charge rate for robbery, the Assistant Commissioner noted that the Chairman had been provided with a granular breakdown of data which could be shared with Members. He acknowledged that the Force could improve its rates of detection.

·         In response to a request from the Chairman regarding Measure 5 (Capability and Impact the Force is having against countering fraud), the Assistant Commissioner agreed to provide data on long term trends at a future meeting.

·         In response to a question from a Member regarding Measure 6 (Capability and Impact the Force is having against countering violent crime) and whether the Night Time Economy (NTE) could be looked at as a theme in countering violent crime, the Assistant Commissioner agreed that a briefing note could be given to Members of the Police Committee on steps the Force was taking to tackle crime associated with the NTE. He added that the impending Christmas and New Year period would be a challenging one from a NTE perspective.

·         In response to a question from a Member regarding Measure 7 (Capability and Impact Force is having in policing City roads), the Assistant Commissioner confirmed that the Police Cycle Team had been reinstated.

·         The Chairman commented that whilst Measure 8 (Capability and Impact Force having in providing protective security to the City) was graded Satisfactory, there remained work to be done in this area to ensure improvements were made.

·         The Chairman requested that the forthcoming briefing note to Members include Measure 6 (Capability and Impact the Force is having against countering violent crime) Measure 8 (Capability and Impact Force having in providing protective security to the City) Measure 9 (Capability and Impact Force is having against countering acquisitive crime) and Measure 10 (level of satisfaction of victims of crime with the service provided by City Police).

·         The Assistant Commissioner noted that the poor level of performance with relation to Measure 10 (level of satisfaction of victims of crime with the service provided by City Police) was disappointing and one that was being looked at. It was a national issue and one that tended to centre on the speed of contact with the victim by the Police.

·         In response to a question regarding Measure 11 (percentage of people surveyed who believe the City of London Police are doing a good or excellent job), the Commissioner of Police noted that this survey was live until the end of November 2018.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.