City of London Police praised for public fairness and respect, but ‘must do more’ to improve in some areas, says HMICFRS

In particular, the inspectorate said the force’s focus on providing an effective leadership response to national threats as the lead force for fraud and cybercrime “isn’t matched by the same level of focus on local policing issues”.

The force was graded ‘good’ at engaging with and treating the public with fairness and respect, and responding to the public, and ‘adequate’ at investigating crime, protecting vulnerable people and building, supporting and protecting the workforce.

However, three areas were judged as ‘requires improvement’ – preventing crime and anti-social behaviour; managing offenders and suspects; and strategic planning, organisational management and value for money.

Commissioner Angela McLaren said: “We welcome the independent scrutiny of this review and whilst we are pleased to see ‘good’ judgments on engaging with and treating the public with fairness and respect, and responding to the public, we recognise there are areas to improve.

“The force has undergone considerable change in recent times, embedding a new Policing Plan and new values focused on people, professionalism and trust. These are reflected in the areas of good practice identified, which include action to reduce violence against women and girls, supporting victims of domestic abuse, our use of stop and search, and our successful delivery of the Police Uplift Programme.

“But there is work to do especially in the areas that require improvement, some of which we had already identified. Our ambition is to progress across all categories, including those where we have been awarded ‘good’.

“This will be achieved by the dedicated officers and staff at the City of London Police who are committed to providing the highest standards of public service.”

Chair of the City of London Police Authority Board, James Thomson, said: “Following the appointment of Angela McLaren as Commissioner last January, and the refreshed City of London Policing Plan, I’m pleased to see this review has outlined the positive work of the force.

“I particularly welcome its findings on the treatment of, and response to, the public, and the important and leading work that officers are doing to tackle violence against women and girls and domestic abuse.

“However, I am not complacent and recognise that the force needs to do more to improve in some areas. As a Police Authority Board, it is our job to hold the Commissioner of the City of London Police to account but also support in the changes they need to make.

“Many of the areas that need improvement are already being addressed. I am confident that the new senior leadership team will make significant progress in the year ahead with the benefit of the recent investment in significantly increased officer numbers, and the focus on local policing.

“The City of London Police Authority Board will continue to ensure that the force delivers an effective policing service that maintains the City as the safest business district in the world, and that is trusted by the communities it serves.”

HMICFRS praised the force for:

• Good preventative activity to reduce violence against women and girls within the night-time economy;
• Innovative stop and search practices specifically related to Project Servator with a focus on police legitimacy;
• Collaboration with Amazon and engaging with young people in the community including through the cadets;
• The ability to identify and pursue evidenced based prosecutions of domestic violence where victims will not engage or support, which was highlighted as the best HMICFRS has seen nationally;
• Effective crime recording and amongst the best in England and Wales at obtaining the best outcomes for victims; and
• Implementation of the Police Uplift Programme and officer retention, which was recognised as national good practice.

Since the fieldwork was undertaken City of London Police said it has continued to deliver improvements to its efficiency, effectiveness and legitimacy.

The force said: “To further address all aspects of the report, a new strategic-level board has been established, chaired by the assistant commissioner for Operations and Security. This board will lead and supervise the plans to improve all areas identified for improvement and those recommendations made by HMICFRS. It will also seek to implement best practice from forces achieving an ‘outstanding’ judgment, where possible.”

The PEEL inspection did not examine City of London Police’s role as the national lead for economic, fraud and cybercrime.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr noted that in addition to its local responsibilities to police its force area, City of London Police is the national lead for fraud and cybercrime. It also manages the Action Fraud national reporting system for fraud across England and Wales.

“The force provides this national leadership effectively across all 43 police forces in England and Wales, despite having limited ability to influence how each police force chooses to respond to the threats from these two crime types,” said Mr Parr.

“We found that the force is committed to improving the service victims receive and increasing the effectiveness of Action Fraud. It has highly-trained staff who support this national responsibility effectively. And these staff are dedicated to leading and coordinating the local and national policing response to fraud and cybercrime.”

He added: “The force is developing victim care facilities and a tasking process to assess the threat, harm and risks posed to victims and communities.

“This will allow better prioritisation, allow crimes to be allocated to the correct resource for investigation, better support investigators and improve the service to victims.

“The work the force does to target fraud and cybercrime is admirable and should be highlighted.”

However, Mr Parr said: “I have some concerns that the force’s focus on providing an effective leadership response to these national threats isn’t matched by the same level of focus on local policing issues.

“The force needs to make sure the resources, training, and emphasis on local implementation is improved.”

Inspectors found that the force is good at involving and working with communities, including small businesses. It has an effective independent advisory scrutiny group, which also helps the force understand what is important to the communities it serves.

“We also found that it has improved the way it uses its powers, such as stop and search, to make sure its use is appropriate and proportionate, with effective supervision and oversight,” said Mr Parr.

“The force has developed innovative ways to make sure that its use of stop search powers is fair and respectful.

“We also found that the force is generally good at how it responds to calls for service from the public. It has effective processes for dealing with the vulnerability of victims, from the first contact.

“Notably this works well in how the force responds to domestic abuse incidents. It is also effective at building evidence-led prosecutions when victims feel unable to support a prosecution.”

But the inspectorate said the force needs to get better at how it prevents crime and anti-social behaviour

“We found that the force struggles to make effective use of its neighbourhood teams,” said Mr Parr. “These teams receive little direction or training, and the wider force is often unaware of its role and what it can achieve.

“Neighbourhood policing in the City of London Police is generally underinvested, with too few staff, and the staff it has are regularly posted to other police duties, away from neighbourhood policing duties.”

He said the the force must also improve its strategic planning, organisational management and how it makes best use of its resources.

“The force doesn’t have systems in place to effectively understand all its current demand, in some cases because of a lack of accurate data and analytical support,” said Mr Parr.

“It now uses an analytical tool, called Power BI, which is welcome. But alone this will not address the issues. The force’s incomplete understanding of its demand means its plans for future development are unlikely to be as accurate as they could be.

“Across several areas of policing services, we found a distinct lack of analysts. This is limiting the force’s ability to understand demand, respond effectively to threats and drive performance more generally.

“The force must review how many analysts it needs and make sure the numbers reflect the need.”

Mr Parr. said he would also encourage the force to effectively link its understanding of demand to a workforce plan, adding: “This will make sure it has the officers and staff able to respond to the workload the force faces.

“We also found substantial numbers of vacancies in the corporate services function (such as HR and data analysts), which is reducing the overall effectiveness of the force.”

Mr Parr said he also had “some concerns” about the quality of the force management statement.

“This needs to improve so it more accurately reflects the total demand placed on the force, and more comprehensively assesses its workforce and other assets,” he said.

“The force will then be in a stronger position to make informed decisions about how it will change to meet expected future demand.”

Inspectors found the force could also do more to improve how it manages high-risk offenders and suspects.

“The force has shown itself to be effective in managing offenders involved in low-risk offences, such as volume crime. But it needs to improve how it manages high-risk offenders, such as registered sex offenders – although numbers are low in the City of London,” said Mr Parr.