MPA Press Releases: crime
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Celia Prentice
on 30 September 2008 at 16:30
Tags:
2008,
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eodb,
london,
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mps,
news,
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release,
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stop and search,
violent
crime,
youth,
49/08
26 September 2008
Young Londoners explained their fears about violent crime to
Met officers at the MPA’s Equal Opportunities and Diversity
Board (EODB) on 25 September 2008.
Kirsten Hearn, chair of the EODB, said:
“I welcome and thank the young people from the North East
London College, Hillingdon Youth Service and the MPS
Corporate Advisory Group who have come here to tell us
their fears and concerns about youth crime in London. Knife
related crimes are the Met’s top priority and I also thank
DAC Alf Hitchcock, who leads on this issue, for taking part
in our debate. Only by working together can young people
and police find solutions to the terrible violence that is
blighting our communities.”
The young people’s concerns were wide ranging and included
being afraid to go out at night, worries about
disproportionality in the use of stop and search and the
effectiveness of search arches.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alf Hitchcock explained how
Operation Blunt 2 is being used to tackle youth violence in
London, and how other police operations are working together
to ensure the most effective use of resources. For example,
Operation Tyrol looks at safety on the buses, with an
increase in the number of Safer Transport teams and transport
‘hub’ teams. Officers are now working on integrating this
operation into Neighbourhood policing.
Several young people stressed the need for a broader approach
to divert young people from crime and called for more
programmes such as Kickz, more sports facilities and
citizenship courses. Police agreed that ways must be found to
tackle such issues as peer pressure, while providing more
diversionary projects and ensuring employment opportunities
are available.
Cindy Butts, deputy chair of the MPA, said:
“The Met are doing some strong work to support young people
that are trying to leave serious violence and gang life
behind. The five boroughs gangs project and ‘Pathways’,
part of Operation Alliance, are excellent examples of this
approach.”
DAC Alf Hitchcock assured young men in the debate that stop
and search is scrutinised by community monitoring groups set
up by the MPA, which give local people the opportunity to
discuss with officers how it is being used in their areas and
make sure it is being used fairly. The MPA has produced a DVD
on stop and search to be used as a teaching tool for both
police officers and communities alike.
Screening arches have been use extensively across the
capital, primarily as a deterrent to stop people carrying
knives, but as one participant added they only make people
feel safer when police explain clearly how they are going to
be used.
As well as operational policing on the streets and in
neighbourhoods, police are in regular contact with their
communities, meeting with faith groups, holding ’street’
briefings in communities and visiting youth clubs. Safer
School Officers have become central to this issue and are
setting up youth panels in every school.
The Met has also been working closely with its partners,
including the Mayor, the GLA, the London Youth crime
prevention board and the London community safety partnership,
to ensure the operational tactics used by the police are
supported by youth reassurance and engagement.
Further media information
For further information, please contact the
MPA
press office
Celia Prentice
on 12 June 2008 at 16:42
Tags:
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30/08
12 June 2008
Cindy Butts, deputy chair of the MPA, and Commander Rod
Jarman from the Met will be guests on Choice FM’s Richard
Blackwood show on Sunday 15 June. Taking questions from
listeners, they will discuss the problems young people face
on the streets, how the police are tackling youth crime and
call on communities to work together to help keep young
people safe.
Speaking about the aims of the programme, Cindy Butts said:
“We want to hear what young Londoners think about how we
are dealing with this issue – we will only be successful if
we all work together.
“Youth crime is a problem for the whole of society,
decimating lives, bereaving families and blighting our
communities’ safety and wellbeing. We are extremely
concerned about the number of young people in London
affected by serious violence, particularly knife crime. The
MPA with the Met, working with the mayor of London, are
determined to tackle these horrific crimes.
“The MPA’s youth scrutiny, published at the end of May,
focused on the causes, effects and impacts of young
people’s involvement in crime as victims, witnesses and
perpetrators and how this influences their interactions
with the Met. We believe that by working closely with young
people they will gain more trust in the police. This is the
key to reducing the numbers of young people both as victims
as well as perpetrators of crime.
“The police cannot tackle this issue alone. There must be
collaborative work between police, stakeholders and other
agencies across society to help bring positive benefits to
communities and divert our young people away from
involvement in crime.”
Commander Rod Jarman of the MPS added:
‘The MPS wants to work and engage with young people to make
them safer, and make them feel safer.
‘Violent crime affects a very small number of people, but
has an enormous impact on victims, their families, and the
families of those involved as the perpetrators.
‘We would like to talk to young people in London to
understand how we can work together to tackle the
violence’.
Notes to Editors
1. Choice FM Richard Blackwood show is broadcast on Sundays
between 12.00 and 3.00pm
2.The MPA Youth Scrutiny report can be found at:
www.mpa.gov.uk/downloads/issues/youth/youth-scrutiny.pdf
3. The MPA stop and search conference ‘Stop right now, thank
you very much’ will be held on Saturday 21 May 2008 at the
Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel, 18 Albert Embankment SE1 7TJ.
Further media information
For further information, please contact the
MPA
press office
Celia Prentice
on 18 April 2008 at 10:00
Tags:
2008,
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data,
london,
news,
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release,
press releases,
recording,
scrutiny,
statistics,
20/08
18 April 2008
Richard Sumray, MPA member and co-chair of the
Authority's recent scrutiny to examine the accuracy of
Metropolitan Police Service crime recording, said today:
"The MPA carried out a scrutiny into the accuracy of
MPS crime data recording following an approach by the
Metropolitan Police Service. The work received full
co-operation from the Met.
"The scrutiny focus was on the quality of crime data
recorded by the MPS rather than assessing whether recorded
crime levels represent an accurate reflection of actual
crime in London.
"The scrutiny examined policies and procedures,
including the inherent conflict between centrally set
targets and those of the police service and community.
"The scrutiny also identified potentially conflicting
processes and that the same systems are used for
performance monitoring, intelligence gathering and
investigation purposes.
"There is absolutely no suggestion that the MPS is
deliberately preventing Londoners from reporting crime or
manipulating crime figures. The scrutiny found no
indication of corporate dishonesty in crime recording.
"The MPS had identified some of the issues raised in
the scrutiny and has already made a number of improvements.
It continues to work towards ensuring that crime recording
meets the needs of Londoners."
ENDS
Further media information
For further information, please contact the
MPA press office
Celia Prentice
on 3 April 2008 at 17:03
Tags:
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17/08
3 April 2008
The Race Hate Crime Forum has expressed its abhorrence
following the desecration of between thirty and forty
tombstones in a Jewish Cemetery in east London on Saturday 29
March 2008.
Peter Herbert, Chair of the Race Hate Crime Forum said,
“This is not the first time that this cemetery has been
subject to such vile attacks. This deliberate act of
vandalism affects not just the families of those whose
gravestones and tombs have been desecrated but also impacts
on the entire Jewish community.
“This is precisely why we must ensure that race, faith and
other hate crimes stay firmly on the agenda of all
statutory agencies to send a clear message that such acts
will not be tolerated in our communities. The Race Hate
Crime Forum is assured that the police are treating this as
a religiously motivated crime and will seek to ensure all
possible steps are being taken to bring the perpetrators to
justice.
“We know that those who behave in this way must be tackled
as quickly as possible to demonstrate our commitment to
erasing such acts from multi-cultural London.
“We send our condolences to the families, friends and the
wider Jewish community.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Newham
community support unit on 020 7275 5736 or if you wish to
remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
ENDS
Further media information
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MPA
press office
Celia Prentice
on 25 January 2008 at 12:14
Tags:
crime,
london,
mpa,
police,
scrutiny,
survey,
young
people,
youth,
02/08
23 January 2008
The Metropolitan Police Authority wants to hear directly from
young Londoners about their experiences of policing. The
results of the MPA Youth Survey
(www.mpa.gov.uk/issues/youth/survey.htm)
will help the Authority to make recommendations that will
improve the service the Met provides to young people.
Launching the MPA Youth Survey, which asks young Londoners to
share the experiences they and their friends have had of
policing in the capital, MPA member Richard Sumray said:
"The MPA is carrying out a detailed scrutiny to
explore the causes, effects and impacts of young
people's involvement in crime as victims, witnesses and
perpetrators, and how this influences their interactions
and relationships with the MPS.
"An important aspect of our scrutiny is our
willingness to hear directly from young people - in their
own words - about the problems they face and what they
believe would make a real difference. What do young people
think would help improve the services both the police and
partner agencies offer them?
"Many adult practitioners, professionals and
commentators are currently airing their views on why young
people become victims or perpetrators of crime.
"But we rarely hear the views of young people
themselves. That's why we're talking directly to
young people in focus groups and making our survey widely
available to enable many more to participate. It's
anonymous, can be completed online, and will help make a
positive change."
The MPA hopes, through listening to London's young
people, to:
-
identify ways to reduce young people's involvement in
crime as victims, witnesses and perpetrators
-
improve the confidence of young people to report crime and
engage with the police as witnesses
-
halt the decline in age of young victims and perpetrators
of crime
-
address the criminalisation of young people in public
discourse
-
improve MPS strategy, policy and corporacy with regard to
young people
-
analyse how the MPS uses resources in this area; and
-
improve the MPS's involvement in partnership work with
young people.
It is important that young people themselves have a voice in
this debate.
Notes to
editors
The MPA Youth Survey is being circulated to youth groups in
hard copy and is also available for young people to complete
online at:
www.mpa.gov.uk/issues/youth/survey.htm
Further information about the MPA Youth Scrutiny is available
at:
www.mpa.gov.uk/issues/youth
Further media information
For further information, please contact the
MPA
press office
David Lenton
on 16 January 2008 at 10:27
Tags:
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01/08
16 January 2008
Len Duvall, MPA chair, commenting on the latest London crime
statistics released today, said:
"These figures show crime is going down in London. But
even with this fall in figures we accept that Londoners are
very concerned about crime in the capital and we must work
harder to bring crime down further still.
"Throughout the 2007 calendar year there was a welcome
downward trend across all crime categories, apart from
gun-enabled crime. Rape and robbery are at their lowest
level for nine years and murder for eight years.
"Crimes against the person, including rape, racism,
homophobic and domestic violence, are all down compared to
the previous year, but there is an element of under
reporting in these categories. Although knife enabled crime
fell by 13% this figure has to be seen in the light of very
tragic incidents during 2007.
"There are no simple solutions to address violence
among young people. But personally I do not believe that we
should be tempted into gimmicky, knee-jerk responses to
tragic incidents, particularly when tackling crime
involving young people who are determined to harm each
other. The MPA and the Met, along with our partners in the
community, need to develop comprehensive strategies that
effectively deal with this type of criminality.
"Strong partnerships are key to solving some of the
long-term problems we face and it is good to see that the
public and communities are responding to the investment we
have made in neighbourhood policing. Safer Neighbourhoods
teams are working together with our principal partners in
local government and I want to thank our other partners and
communities across London, all of whom reinforce successful
policing. We are working hard with our partners to try to
reduce crime in our communities. We must provide a service
that is quick to respond to incidents as well as one that
is developing longer-term problem solving initiatives to
prevent crime.
"We want to see continued, significant progress and
even better results in the future. But in the meantime, I
commend our hard-working police officers and staff, and all
those who support their efforts, for another successful
year."
Notes to editors
1.Total notifiable offences in 2007 fell by 6.1 percent,
resulting in 56,784 fewer offences recorded between January
and December 2007 (876,298), compared with the same period in
2006 (933,082).
2. Recorded rape offences were down 14.6%, a fall of 345
recorded offences over the previous calendar year. Domestic
violence, racist crime and homophobic crime were all down,
collectively by more than 26%.
3. The overall sanction detection rate, which identifies
those crimes where the offenders have been identified and
dealt with, also increased from 20.5% to 24.1%, exceeding the
24% target set for the Met by the Metropolitan Police
Authority (MPA).
4. Gun enabled crime rose by 4% (132 offences), although
there was no increase in the numbers of people killed by the
use of firearms in crime during 2007.
5. Knife enabled crime fell by 13%, or 1,602 fewer offences
in 2007, compared with 2006. In 2007 there were 10,699
reported knife enabled crimes, compared with 12,301 for 2006.
Further media information
For further information, please contact the
MPA
press office