Local Policing Summary: Tower Hamlets 2009-10

A message from Kit Malthouse

When Boris was elected he promised to refocus the MPA and the Met on fighting crime. Our strategic plan, Met Forward, has done just that, and London has become safer as a result.

Overall crime has fallen by 100,000 offences over the last two years, reductions have been made in violence and murder, and serious acquisitive crime, which includes robbery, has fallen to the lowest levels in ten years.

But it doesn’t yet feel better on London’s streets. The capital still has serious problems, particularly knife crime. While the number of teenage killings have fallen, there are still too many young people dying or being injured. Each event is a shocking reminder of the mountain we still have to climb.

But there is a huge amount of effort now being brought to bear on these problems. We are making progress and Londoners are responding with increased confidence in local policing and more people feeling safe in their own neighbourhood.

So this policing summary is designed to give you a snapshot of how your local cops are doing and help you make up your own mind. If you have any issues you would like to raise please do let me know by writing or emailing kit.malthouse@london.gov.uk

There is much still to be done, and because of the economic climate the year ahead will be tough. We will need to work smarter, more efficiently and in closer partnership if we are to reduce crime yet further. With your help and support I know we can have an even better year.

You have my commitment that we will strain every sinew in the pursuit of your safety and that of all Londoners.

Kit Malthouse
Deputy Mayor for Policing and Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority

Met Forward: the MPA strategic mission

The job of the MPA is to fight crime by getting the best out of the Met. To ensure we make real progress the MPA has introduced Met Forward, a three year strategic mission setting out how we want the Met to develop and perform.

The key purpose of Met Forward is to provide clear direction and support the Met as it works to make London a safer city. Many priorities set out in Met Forward are based on what communities have told us and will ensure that victim care and customer satisfaction are at the core of our shared values.

Above all, increasing the public’s confidence in policing is a key priority for Met Forward, working to ensure Londoners feel confident and safe in their neighbourhoods and shared public spaces. Met Forward reflects Londoners’ concerns for policing and sets out our ambition to provide strong leadership, open and transparent accountability and effective working with partners and the community.

Making people feel safe is not just down to the Met; many others, including the public, contribute to an atmosphere of order and security and we must work together to deliver success.

Since Boris Johnson became Mayor of London there has been renewed action to tackle crime priorities, focussing on knife crime, safety on public transport, removing dangerous dogs from our streets and tackling gangs and violence in town centres. The MPA has also introduced crime mapping to inform local communities of what is actually happening in their neighbourhoods and overseen changes in leadership at New Scotland Yard to inject new vigour into the Met. Met Forward encapsulates all this work and more, reflecting our goal to make sure the police fight crime effectively.

It is hoped that if we get this right, people who live, work and visit London will:

• understand there is less crime and criminality;
• feel more confident about policing in London; and
• recognise that money is being well spent.

These outcomes might seem obvious at first sight, but they often become lost in the day-to-day activity of running our police force and reacting to events. Constantly reminding ourselves about the objectives of our collective mission will help us focus on what is important. Everything that we do must be directed to these three objectives.

To find out more visit www.mpa.gov.uk/publications/metforward

The MPA’s work

Policing London Business Plan 2010/2013

The MPA sets the three year business plan that determines out how the MPS will deliver against the policing priorities of the government, the Mayor of London and the people who live and work in the capital. Targets are set and monitored throughout the year to ensure the MPS continues to reduce crime and increase public safety.

The strategic priorities in the plan are to:

• convince communities we are on their side
• reduce crime and catch criminals
• crack down on violence
• deliver security on the streets
• the right service at the right price

For more information please visit www.mpa.gov.uk/publications/policingplans

The MPA and MPS carry out a great deal of community engagement work at ward, borough and pan-London level. When developing and assessing our community engagement work we must ensure it remains relevant to Londoners, so we have recently produced a joint ‘Community Engagement Commitment’ which explains how we will improve the way we listen to and respond to the needs of Londoners.

For further information on our ‘Community Engagement Commitment’ please contact review@mpa.gov.uk or call 020 7202 0202.

Looking back on 2009/10

The MPS has achieved a number of successes against the objectives and targets set for 2009/10.

Summary performance achievements

Some of the performance achievements between April 2009 and March 2010:

• a reduction in serious acquisitive crime (residential burglary, robbery and motor vehicle crime) of 3.5% or 6919 fewer crimes, exceeding the 2.5% reduction target;
• public confidence across the MPS was 53.1% against a 51.4 % target;
• a reduction in theft from motor vehicle crime of 7.9% or 6195 fewer crimes, exceeding the 2.5% reduction target.

However, some targets were not met, most notably:

• a target to reduce gun crime by 4.2%: there were 429 more crimes, a 14.2% increase;
• a target to reduce serious youth violence by 4.7%: there were 105 more crimes, a 1.6% increase;
• the gap between the satisfaction of White victims (78.8%) and Black and Minority Ethnic victims (73.9%) was 4.9 percentage points: this missed the target of a 3.8 percentage point gap.

Tower Hamlets: local information

Message from Borough Commander Paul Rickett

Our results for 2009/10 show how much hard work all my staff have put into reducing crime across Tower Hamlets. There has been a highly successful partnership between the police, the local council and the community which has helped achieve excellent results: for example, vehicle crime has been reduced by over 30% which means a considerable number of people have been spared the upset and inconvenience of becoming a victim of crime.

Much of our feedback comes from Ward Panel Meetings, and we know that tackling anti-social behaviour is an important priority for those of us who live and work in the borough. A visible police presence is important and I am pleased to say 96% of my Safer Neighbourhoods teams have been on core duties. By coordinating our efforts and targeting our resources in the right places, 80% of the public say we are getting it right. That’s a very gratifying result.

Looking ahead, I am keen to deploy our resources to tackle the following areas of criminality; robbery, burglary, knife crime and all crimes of violence. We will achieve this whilst maintaining a good quality service to the public every day of the year, helping to make Tower Hamlets a safer environment for our communities.

Tower Hamlets: local police initiatives

Operation Fusion was a joint police, council and partnership project that targeted those areas of concern identified by the local community. For example, some days of action were directed at anti-social behaviour whilst others targeted knife crime. The 17 Safer Neighbourhoods teams across the borough were grouped into 7 laps and systematically went around them all.

Leaflets were distributed to residents on the day so they knew what to expect when uniformed police and Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers turned up and we brought in specialist equipment such as screening arches and dog units.

Eighty two arrests were made for a variety of offences including robbery and drug dealing, 115 fixed penalty notices were issued, thousands of counterfeit DVDs were seized and six dangerous dogs removed from the streets. By carrying out regular reviews we could see what worked and whether there were opportunities for improvement, and we communicated the results to local residents by means of leaflets, newspapers articles and our website.

Independent surveys were conducted to see whether this resources-intensive and coordinated partnership project had been well received. We were pleased to learn there was huge support for all the work that had been done and we are already planning another cycle of Operation Fusion for later this year.

How did Tower Hamlets perform during 2009/10?

Offence	Up or down?	Change in number of recorded offences	Percentage change in number of recorded offences	Target
Residential burglary		6	–0.6%	Target missed
Total robbery		136	–12.7%	Target achieved
Theft from vehicles		768	–31.5%	Target achieved
Theft or taking of vehicles		101	–11.2%	Target achieved
Serious youth violence		44	+21.4	Target missed
Knife crime		50	–10.4%	Target achieved
Gun crime		25	+38.5%	Target missed

Looking forward

Borough priorities are set through consultation with the public (Safer Neighbourhoods events, ‘Have your say’ public survey), the police, and other agencies involved in crime reduction in your area.

Priorities for 2010/11

• 1.0% reduction in serious acquisitive crime
• 2.0% reduction in most serious violence, 5.5% reduction in serious youth violence
• 1.0% reduction in gun crime, 1.0% reduction in knife crime
• challenging targets for sanction detection rates across specific crime types

Have your say on policing in London

How you can help to set London’s policing priorities

Public consultation plays an important part in setting the annual policing priorities for London and we want to encourage more and more Londoners to participate. All organisations do best when they listen to the people they serve and the police are no different.

Participating in this annual consultation is a vital tool to help restore the vital link between our local communities and their police service.

Have your say on policing in London by logging on to the MPA website: www.mpa.gov.uk/publications/policingplans/haveyoursay

This year we also want to hear from more members of London’s business communities. If you own or work in a business in London please log on to: www.mpa.gov.uk/publications/policingplans/haveyoursay-businesses

Alternatively, please call 020 7202 0063 to receive a paper version or to participate in a telephone questionnaire.

Partnership working: CPEGs

Help us to understand the community’s views on policing in your area

The MPA has a duty to consult and engage with London’s communities and give a voice to local people on policing priorities, their concerns and the future direction of the Met. To facilitate this, Community Police Engagement Groups (CPEGs) - in some areas known as Community Safety Boards or Community Police Consultative Groups - exist in each borough.

The primary aims of CPEGs are to consult with local police, Safer Neighbourhoods Panels, the MPA and key stakeholders in Community Safety Partnerships about strategic policing. This can include consultation on developing the annual policing plan, the implementation of neighbourhood policing, and crime and disorder reduction. Their activities also include active community engagement in neighbourhoods and with local groups.

CPEGs are intended to be representative of the local population and we would particularly like to encourage greater representation from across the diverse range of black and minority ethnic communities, young people, the disabled community and from local businesses and chambers of commerce.

If you would like to get your voice heard, get involved in your local CPEG. Visit our website for more information at www.mpa.gov.uk/partnerships

Useful contacts

Metropolitan Police Authority
Tel: 020 7202 0202
Minicom. 020 7202 0173
www.mpa.gov.uk

Metropolitan Police Service
Tower Hamlets police stations
Tel: 0300 123 1212
www.met.police.uk/towerhamlets

Safer Neighbourhoods info
www.met.police.uk/saferneighbourhoods

Victim Support
Tel: 0845 303 0900
www.victimsupport.org.uk

Crimestoppers
Tel: 0800 555111
www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Talk to Frank (Drug abuse helpline)
Tel: 0800 776 600
www.talktoFRANK.com

Anti-Social Behaviour Actionline
Tel: 0845 605 2222

National Domestic Violence helpline
Tel: 0808 200 0247
www.nationaldomesticviolencehelpline.org.uk

In an emergency always dial 999
Non-emergency dial 0300 123 1212

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback