Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Board considered a National Lead Force update report of the Commissioner of Police.

Crime Statistics Returns to National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB)

The Commander noted that all police forces in England and Wales had provided returns to the NFIB which would allow an overall fraud crime figure for a 24-month period to be produced. He cautioned that the time to conduct an investigation from a reported crime to an outcome meant that quarterly crime figures should be interpreted with caution.

Economic Crime Prevention Centre

In response to a question from a member, the Commander replied that a typical problem facing small and medium enterprises was that they lacked software security and were not receiving advice from the Federation of Small Businesses - therefore advice on fraud prevention needed to be disseminated further. 

Volume Fraud Task Force

The Commander noted that the inclusion of fraud in the Crime Survey of England and Wales from 2015 would likely raise the number of fraud crimes to 3m. This would produce a problem of a perception that fraud was increasing whereas what has happening was improved reporting of fraud.–

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Commander confirmed that the NFIB was co-operating well with partners such as the Metropolitan Police, Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and the National Crime Agency.

RESOLVED, that

·         A commentary on Crime Statistics Returns to the NFIB be reported to a future meeting;

·         An update on economic crime affecting SMEs be submitted to a future meeting.