Agenda item

Commissioner & Chief Officers to be heard.

Members received the public update of the Commissioner.

Shoplifting

A question was raised on the recently published figure that suggested the City of London had seen an 85.7% increase in incidents of shoplifting against the previous year.

The Commissioner confirmed that the City of London Police was not invited to comment on this before publication and would challenge whether it was correct. It was suggested that there had been an increase of approximately 12% (22 more offences) when compared to the previous year.

The City of London Police used the THRIVE model to assess response (Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigation, Vulnerability and Engagement). Retail units had been providing positive feedback on the proactive approach and  responses received by the City of London Police, despite the overall increase in cases.

It was noted that the confidence in the response could have, in turn, lead to increased reporting. This metric was therefore not necessarily fair measuring the effectiveness of the Force.

Strategic Planning and Performance Committee would continue to monitor rates of shoplifting.

Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting and Analysis Procurement

In opening remarks, the Commissioner noted that work was underway to streamline the 60 categories of crime that victims had to pick from on Action Fraud. In response to this, the Board sought assurance that this was being done in such a way that ensured the Force’s ability to benchmark new data against old data.

Testing was ongoing and consideration would be given to the use of data for benchmarking. It was also noted that thought was being given to linked crimes (for example: Crypto-crime can lead to sextortion and blackmail.)

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.