Agenda item

To follow

The Panel received a presentation from the Metropolitan Police, which provided an update on the Police’s response to the Baroness Casey Review and the work that was being done to reform the Metropolitan Police. The presentation was introduced by Detective Chief Superintendent Caroline Haines, the Borough Commander for the North Area BCU. Also present for this item was Superintendent Rhona Hunt, the lead for Neighbourhood Policing in the North Area BCU. The presentation was set out in the additional report pack at pages 1-16. The following arose during the discussion of this agenda item:

1. The Panel sought assurances around the degree of autonomy that the Borough Commander possessed and the ability she had to take decisions that differed from other boroughs who may have very different challenges. In response, the Borough Commander advised that this was something that was picked up in the Casey Review and that there was a level of autonomy from the central command within the Met. An example given was around a piece of work undertaken with the Leader and Chief Executive of Haringey that was agreed centrally, to change the model of neighbourhood policing in Haringey and also change the number/allocation of officers. The Borough Commander advised the Panel that whilst the number of officers available was finite, she had the authority to allocate them as she saw fit.
2. In regard to mental health callouts and officers having to spend long periods in hospitals waiting for cases to be triaged, the Panel raised concerns that changes in this area might be going too quickly and that this needed to be adequately communicated to partners in the health and care sector.
3. The Panel requested data on attrition rates that was broken down by gender, sexual orientation and ethnic background. The Borough Commander advised that she would circulate this information to Members, outside of the meeting, via email. (Action: Borough Commander).
4. The Panel sought clarification as to whether Haringey had a higher number of officers who were subject to professional standards reviews. In response, the Panel was advised that the number of officers in Haringey was broadly in line with other boroughs, but that Haringey did have a higher number of officers who were on restricted duties.
5. In response to comments about a lot of police officers being from out of London and perhaps not understanding some of the communities they served, police colleagues set out that there were a lot of officers from Haringey and North London. A number of officers did not want to police the neighbourhood they grew up in, but that there were a lot of officers in Haringey from neighbouring boroughs.
6. The Panel sought clarification about the extent to which abstractions of neighbourhood officers were being limited, given a number of high profile demonstrations in central London in recent weeks. In response, police colleagues advised that there had inevitably been some impact on neighbourhood officers and that it was hoped that processes brought in to limit the impact of abstractions would start to take effect and that the impact would be lessened going forward. 
7. The Panel questioned the extent to which there was a target around number of SNT officers who were out on the street at a particular time, rather than being abstracted to cover policing pressures elsewhere. In response, the Panel was advised that the lead for neighbourhood policing across London had given a steer that they did not want to ringfence a particular number of police officers for abstractions as had happened in the past. Work was ongoing to agree targets for on-street officers for neighbourhood policing across London. It was anticipated that this would take a number of months to complete.
8. The Chair highlighted the murder of Valerie Forde and sought assurances about what the police were doing to address violence against women and girls. In response, the Borough Commander acknowledged that the Met. had failed women and girls and under-represented groups in the past. The action plan set out as part of A New Met for London sought to address the police’s response around VAWG. The Borough Commander advised that there was a need to rebuild trust in the community and that part of this was around finding different ways to engage with women and girls. Part of this was also around targeting resources to provide assurances around safe spaces in the borough. The Police also needed to do better in terms of detecting and prosecuting these crimes. The Panel was advised that the detection rate for serious sexual offences in Haringey was performing better than in most boroughs in London, with the detection rate going up from 3% to 13%.
9. Superintendent Rhona Hunt commented that she had seen a shift since the Baroness Casey Review and observed that the conversation had changed. People were speaking openly about issues such as disproportionality, under protection of certain groups and of over-policing. It was suggested that there was a lot of space for these conversations to take place in the borough. 
10. In response to a follow-up question, police colleagues acknowledged that they needed to go away and think about how more support could be given to black women in particular. The police also emphasised the importance of the public having the confidence to report and the need to expand the network of third party reporting for domestic violence in general.
11. The Panel sought assurances around how confident the police were that they would achieve the recruitment of 500 additional PCSOs across London. In response, the Borough Commander advised that the number of 500 was agreed and that she was confident that it would be achieved. The two caveats to this were; that it was dependent on being able to recruit 500 additional officers and that it was a three-year plan and MOPAC had still to agree funding for years two and three.  The Borough Commander advised that priority would be given to frontline and supervisory roles. The Panel were also given assurances that new neighbourhood policing resources would be allocated across all wards as they became available.
12. The Panel queried about retainment of existing staff and the problems that had been encountered with this.  In response, the panel were advised that getting this right would start at the selection process and would also require; the operationalisation of training, having adequate support and mentoring in place and having career leads who look to recruit under-represented groups. It was also commented that the jobs market was a lot more transient that it was in the past and that many people who signed up to be police officers did it for a few years and went on to do something else. 
13. The Panel sought assurances around ward panels and the need for a more unified approach to their provision. In response, Superintendent Hunt acknowledged these concerns and advised that she had received clear feedback on this issue at a New Met for London launch event held in Haringey. The Police had secured a small pot of money to hold further thematic consultation events in Enfield and Haringey and that community participation would be one of the themes involved.
14. The Chair sought assurances around disproportionality in the use of Stop and Search powers, and also sought assurances that a trauma-led approach would be adopted, which allowed officers to look at their behaviour through a lens and understand the role of inherent bias. The Chair also sought assurances about what was being done to challenge officers whole disproportionately used Stop and Search. In response, police colleagues advised that there was a lot of training that took place around perspectives and bias and that a lot of work was being done to tackle this issue, with both new recruits and existing police officers.  The Panel was also advised that the Haringey Stop and Search monitoring group was recognised as being very active within MOPAC.

RESOLVED

Noted