Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Nicholas Bensted-Smith and Deputy James Thomson.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 18^th February 2022.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 18^th February 2022 be approved as an accurate record.

Joint Report of the Town Clerk and the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

Members received a report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner regarding the Committee’s outstanding references.

RESOLVED - that the Report be noted and that the action concerning the Attraction Survey be closed on the basis that the Police Uplift Programme (PUP), recruitment, and attraction is being scrutinised and monitored alongside the Workforce Plan at the Resource, Risk and Estates (Police) Committee (RREC).

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning Stop and Search and Use of Force in Quarter 4.

After officers provided an introduction, a number of queries were raised:

In response to a query concerning the differentiation in the dip sampling data, officers confirmed that, 20% of the samples were considered “best practice” in how stop and searches should be done, with the remaining 80%, whilst deemed professional and lawful, were not considered to be the best examples to utilise in a training environment. Noting Members’ interest in this area, officers would try to submit additional quantitative data in future which focused more on the identifiable trends; it was also pointed out that The Independent Advisory and Scrutiny Group (IASG) would be carrying out its 2022 Review and officers would present analysis around any disparities and common areas to the Committee in the autumn.

Separately, in response to concerns about the experience and feedback of those who are strip searched with a negative outcome, officers emphasised that any stop and search interaction (including those which involved a strip search) aimed for a positive experience with dignity and respect at the core. In the run-up to the meeting, the officer had gone through the records for Quarter 4 confirmed that in all video recordings, officers were professional, and he was felt assured that colleagues are striving to ensure that those being strip searched are being treated with dignity and respect. It should be noted that during the strip search the camera is turned off to safeguard the privacy and dignity of the individual.

The Chair requested that, in future, reporting around strip searches included statistics on strip search types and that it picked up on any distinct patterns according to each of these types;

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning Action Fraud Statistics for Quarter 4.

Reflecting on the work around communications, in particular the template letters, a Member remarked that it was encouraging and welcome that previous learnings have been acted upon and that improvements have been made.

The Chair added that, given its topicality, it would be helpful if some consideration could be given to the Force’s approach to crypto currencies and associated cases of fraud.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report.

Joint Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services and the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Joint Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police and the Director of Community and Children’s Services concerning the City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) Child Q Practice Review.

Several Members commented that the record of the treatment of Child Q in the Review was very alarming, and the performance of the Metropolitan Police Officers involved was lamentable, with particular concerns around the presumption throughout that Child Q was the perpetrator, a lack of an appropriate adult being present, the rationale for the strip search, namely, the suspicion that Child Q had been smoking/was in possession of cannabis, and, the finding that after the search was completed, she had been sent home on her own in a taxi. The learnings of this case needed to be swiftly absorbed and measures put in place to ensure that these types of occurrences were not repeated. It was vital that when the Police does have contact with children these interactions are dealt with properly.

The Chair added that it would be beneficial if all schools in which the City Corporation had a remit over had a dedicated Police Officer that could be called upon if a similar situation arose in the future.

In response to a query, officers confirmed that there had been nine recorded strip searches of individuals under the age of 18 by City of London Police Officers over the past 12 months. These were all males between 15 and 17 years old; the ethnicity breakdown was 3 black males, 2 Asians, and 2 white southern Europeans and 2 white northern Europeans. For additional scrutiny, officers were carrying out a deep dive of the strip search data over a longer three-year period, and the details would be submitted to the Committee for review

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning VAWG activity.

The Chair welcomed the update as very encouraging; she asked officers to ensure that they were doing all they could to promote the work externally.

She added that it was important that the right portals and avenues for girls and women to contact the Police were established and clear; positive early contact between victims and the Police were critical to ensure progress in this area.

A Member asked officers to ensure that they were engaged with the emerging plans for Destination City, particularly given the concerns of local residents that a likely result of the renewed drive to build up the night-time economy in the City, would be an increase in anti-social behaviour.

A Member queried a couple of points on the Reframe the Night campaign posters, referring to page 108 in the agenda pack, she pointed to her experience as a professor at university, where a common occurrence in recent years was for young men to choose to not step in to scenarios where young women were being harassed due to concerns that they themselves would be accused of wrongdoing.

Given that the activity in this area should not just be left to the Police to respond to, the Chair asked officers to identify areas in which the Corporation can potentially help with, for instance there was currently no women’s refuge in the Square Mile; whilst recognising that resources would be a factor, it was vital to see this as a situation which required the mobilisation of various different agencies and departments in the City to secure a real step change.

A Member added that it would be beneficial if the Police could work with and leverage the considerable reach and

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning the latest position regarding activity supporting the delivery of the Equality and Inclusion Strategy & Action Plan.

In response to a number of queries, officers emphasised that, whilst facing a challenging recruitment environment, a great deal of work was being undertaken to increase the number of female recruits and those from diverse backgrounds, with a renewed focus on improving outreach and the introduction of a buddying system. It was apparent that progress was being made in diversifying the civilian staff profile at a greater pace than warranted officers, however, there were inherent challenges particular to the latter category, not least the highly competitive recruitment environment due to the police uplift programme. In terms of outreach, a Member suggested that the Force could reach out to law school graduates, given their transferable skills and the steady pipeline of available talent due to the highly competitive nature of that industry. She added that she would be happy to reference the City’s recruitment opportunities to her students during her university lectures.  

It was also highlighted that the age profile of the Police Officer pool at the City was older than the average Force across England and Wales and this had a knock on effect for retention given more officers were closer to retirement. There had been a surge in retirements recently due to changes in pensions arrangements.

Alongside exit interviews, the Force also undertook retention interviews, whereby senior officers would sit down with individuals who had indicated that they were looking to move on to see if the Force could do anything to retain them, and if they were certain about departing, whether there was anything the Force could change for the future.

In terms of the challenges around

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning the work of the Forces Ethics and Integrity Lead, the Force’s Integrity Standards Board (ISB), regional and national activity of relevance, and the Integrity Standards dashboard and the Ethics and Integrity delivery plan for 2022.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report.

There were no public questions.

There was no other business.

MOTION – that under Section 100 (A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED, that under Section 100 (A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 18^th February 2022.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 18th February 2022 be approved as an accurate record.

Joint Report of the Town Clerk and the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Joint Report of the Town Clerk and the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning the Committee’s non-public outstanding references.

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning the Professional Standards Statistics for Q4.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding a series of PCR Case Summaries.

There was one non-public question.

There was no other business.