Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner of Police regarding National Lead Force Performance for the 8 months to 30 November 2018 and the following points were made.

Pursue

·         The Commissioner noted that the decrease in crimes reviewed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) compared to the previous year was not as stark as it appeared – the decrease was due to the way in which reports were disseminated from the NFIB to the City of London Police – more generally the NFIB was seeing an increase in crimes reported with a 60:40 split between online versus call centre reporting. The drop in cases reviewed was likely due to the new reporting system being bedded in.

·         The Commissioner noted that work was being undertaken to establish why there had been a drop in webchat and that Members would be updated outside of the meeting.

·         The previous reporting system had left a backlog that had required some additional resource being given to the new reporting system in September 2018. There was no longer any backlog, and cases now being disseminated were new cases. The Force was working to ensure each new case was maximised in terms of the intelligence potential it offered.

·         The Commissioner noted that the relevant Detective Chief Superintendent would update Members at the July 2019 meeting with regards to what the Force considered to be a best practice reporting and monitoring model.

·         In response to a question, the Commissioner noted that the Head of Action Fraud was reviewing the emerging trends of reporting to Action Fraud to ensure the Force was providing adequate resource. The Commissioner was welcomed the current trend given that the British Crime Survey demonstrated that fraud tended to be an under-reported crime. The Force was currently managing the current scale of reporting through achieving efficiencies.

·         In response to a comment, the xxxx noted that fraud cases could last for as long as six to seven years – and the longer a case lasted, the greater the risk to posed to the Force in bringing it to a successful resolution – it was important therefore to adopt robust investigative strategies from the outset. 75% of City of London Police cases had lasted for over two years.

·         The Head of the Strategic Delivery Unit (SDU) (Economic Crime) noted that the Force was measuring its level of engagement as, whilst it was comfortable with the current volume of engagement, it was intended to move to a more targeted approach. The Head of the SDU noted he was liaising with colleagues in Communications to establish how this could be achieved, and that he would report the outcome of those meetings to Members in due course.

·         In response to comments from Members, the Head of the SDU agreed to review the potential to approach Bloomberg and social media feedback opportunities including the creation of a LinkedIn page for the City of London Police Economic Crime Directorate.

Prepare

·         In response to a question from a Member regarding the number of arrests made as a result of the Banking Protocol, the Commissioner noted that the figure quoted was a national one and that the cases involved should be quick to bring to a satisfactory resolution, the main cause of any delay would be over whether the cases involved related to organised criminal network(s).

·         In response to a recommendation from the Deputy Head of the Policy Authority Team, the Commissioner agreed to consult with the Authority’s Head of Corporate Strategy regarding the presentation of the Resourcing section of the report going forward.

·         In response to a comment from a Member, the Commissioner agreed to provide a breakdown of ‘Other’ reported fraud in future reporting. The xxxx advised that the current ‘Other’ figure was likely due to poor data input. The current level of data was useful in assisting the Force to prioritise its work.

·         The Head of the SDU noted that, as more data was collected, it would be possible to provide Members with oversight of seasonal variation in reported crime.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.