Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Board received a report of the Commissioner that outlined the quantitative and qualitative data performance of City of London Police as the National Lead Force for Fraud for the period April 2017 – December 2017.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that the decrease of 21% in the number of crimes identified for dissemination to police forces was attributable to the adoption of the new Management of Risk in Law Enforcement (MORILE) approach.  This involved a marginally lower volume of crimes subjected to investigation, but a significantly improved prioritisation of crimes investigated, leading to an overall net reduction in harm caused.  This was supported by the 11% increase in disruption requests figure presented within the report.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that the key enabler of the 11% increase in disruptions requests was the use of telephony, through Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) and the termination of UK phone lines.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that the Economic Crime Directorate was currently managing 36 different Organised Crime Groups (OCGs), more than the rest of the City of London Police combined.  The Chairman asked if some of these were being managed in partnership with other forces/agencies.  The T/Commander confirmed that many cases have both a Financial Conduct Authority element and a criminal element.  He explained that the ECD had managed to recoup £700,000 of £1.2m back in one particular case.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that following meetings with the minister for Economic Crime Ben Wallace, the ECD have been able to engage officer numbers into Protect.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that the Economic Crime Academy has made good progress as accreditation has proved useful for officers.

A Member stated their concern that the satisfaction level was based on all cases, rather than major cases.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that the figures for dissemination of crimes splits into three areas: National, Local and Regional, but that the figures presented focus on those of the City of London.  A Member asked whether disseminations are directed to the locale of the perpetrator or the investigation.  The T/Commander of Economic Crime confirmed that these signified the location of the perpetrator, and proved useful for intelligence purposes.

A Member noted that issues involving the facilitation of crime were not mentioned.  The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that there was a joint taskforce dedicated to this that carried out training to inform relevant private sector businesses against providing platforms unwittingly.  He explained that not all areas were included within these performance reports, though they are able to do so with any area at the request of Members.  The Member explained that it would be useful to have facilitation of crime reported on.  A Member agreed that this was the correct platform. (3)

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that, in contrast to other areas, funded units maintained their cadence during economic downturns as the funding is secured.  He explained that terror incidents have drawn staff from other areas into the front line, whilst funded units have remained protected.  The Chairman explained that this related to the Grand Committee plea regarding officer numbers, and that it was helpful to be given sight of resourcing issues on a practical level.  The Chairman asked what the recruitment plan was.  The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that there were now 12 inductees.  He explained that funds had been added to occupational health in an attempt to reduce delays, but that this was still challenging.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that there was a serious issue with new pensions regulation that meant those aged 50 were taking the opportunity to seek a significantly increased salary in the private sector alongside receipt of their pension.  The Chairman agreed that this was a serious issue.  He explained that we could now predicate for this happening, but it would nevertheless be a challenge to retain credible leaders.

A Member asked if the staff gap could realistically be closed within 12 months under the current plans.  The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that this would be very difficult.  The Chairman asked if there was any way that Members could alleviate the issue.  A Member suggested that their might be an opportunity to leverage the network of alumni within the private sector.  The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that there were around 30 Special Volunteers that can be called upon, though there was a question over their length of service.  The Chairman asked if it would be beneficial to take steps to ensure that leavers’ assistance is requested.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that the 87% increase in Non-Judicial Outcomes were attributable to the use of a new system that categorised 16 outcomes.  He agreed to circulate a description of these to Members. (4)

In reference to the reduction in Total Outcomes, the Chairman asked if this was a reputational issue, or if it was an indicator of resourcing challenges.  The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that this would not be a reputational issue as the effect of national downturn was evident.

A Member asked how website disruptions were measured.  The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that they were based on 6-month comparisons.  He also noted that some websites had been taken down due to the increased powers of the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (approximately 12,000).

The Chairman noted that there was a more detailed narrative regarding social media engagement which was useful.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that the HMICFRS would be carrying out inspections this year, and members of the ECD team had been asked to assist.  He explained that this would ensure the 10 teams selected for inspection nationally would be correct, based on ECD intelligence.  He informed Members that a member of the ECD team had been working in placement with the HMICFRS for more than a month so far, and this influence was very useful in raising the general standards of counter-fraud nationally.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that complaints received by ECD were less than 0.1% of all complaints received by CoLP.  The Chairman noted that there would always be issues with “satisfaction”, given the nature of being a victim of crime.  However, the level of complaints should be perceived as a very effective performance measure, as it particularly highlights the perception of the actions taken by the Police.

The T/Commander of Economic Crime explained that the National Cyber Security funding was secured for the next two years, but provisions would need to be made for 2021 onwards.  He explained that the National Lead Force Grant limitation of one year’s notice significantly hindered the ability to employ strategic planning going forward.  He noted that the Home Office were beginning to gain understanding of this challenge, and were able to agree in principle to a further 2 years of funding, but were still unable to explicitly commit to any sum.  He explained that delays in funding led to staff retention issues, as exiting staff commonly seek permanent contracts elsewhere.

A Member noted that the 100% of ECD City fraud investigations resulting in a positive outcome was very impressive.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.