Performance and Measurement

Summary

The City of London is a leading world financial and business centre and this is reflected in the force’s priorities, particularly those related to economic crime, counter-terrorism and the many high-profile public events which together account for a significant amount of force activity and resource deployment. The burgeoning night time economy of the City has also brought significant challenges to local policing.

In order to achieve these priorities, the City of London Police (CoLP) has embarked upon a structural review, full implementation of which will occupy the remainder of 2008-09. This review is aimed at enabling the force to realign its resources to priorities identified for the medium term, including key challenges of counter-terrorism, increased responsibilities as national lead force for fraud, the 2012 Olympic Games and the current and emerging national agendas for both protective services and citizen focus.

The HMIC inspections of “Major Crime” and “Serious and Organised Crime” in 2008 have indicated that although the numbers of incidents remain low, there are some significant areas which the force needs to address to ensure its future capacity and capability. Further progress has been made in embedding Neighbourhood Policing since the 2006 inspection, including the introduction of a performance management regime and the use of joint problem-solving with the Force ‘meeting the standard’ for neighbourhood policing. In the inspection of Citizen Focus, the Force also met the standard, with some notable work to ensure the Force concentrates on ensuring that at all levels, the service is of sufficient quality to meet the demands of its vibrant community.

The force received no headline “poor” grades in the 2006/2007 Police Performance Assessment and sought to improve in those specific areas where its performance was fair, or its direction of travel shown as deteriorating. In particular, the force has taken positive steps to improve its performance management regime, which featured as a key area for improvement in the 2007 inspections, including progressing the introduction of a new computer-based performance monitoring system. Other changes have been made to enhance staffing levels and training in the areas of child abuse investigation and domestic violence. Focus on the efficient use of resources has also intensified, both through the application of zero-based budgeting and by means of the structural review.

During 2007/08, the force’s achievements include: overall crime levels falling for the sixth consecutive year to 7,572 crimes; 89% of people who reported incidents of anti-social behaviour being satisfied with the Force’s response; a high number of stops were conducted with relatively few complaints; and over £890,000 confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The CoLP continues preparation for its growing and challenging national and international role in economic crime, contributing to the delivery of a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012 and enhancing the policing capacity and capability to keep London safe against the real and continuing threat from terrorism.