A review of the role of Police and Crime Commissioners

The Home Secretary has announced a review of the role of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). The review will take place in two stages. The first stage will take place over summer and will look at ways to improve the accountability and raise standards of PCCs. The second stage will take place after the PCC elections in May 2021 and will look at further powers for PCCs to better fight crime in their areas.

The review will not look at scrapping the role of PCCs, nor will it examine the 43 force model in England and Wales.

Source: Gov.uk

Coronavirus Act 2020

The Coronavirus Bill received Royal Assent on 25 March 2020 and is now known as the Coronavirus Act 2020. It is an Act to make provision in connection with coronavirus and fr connected purposes.

A large proportion of the Act relates to the NHS and social care, however, there are parts of the Act affecting police powers. For instance, the length of time that DNA profiles and fingerprints can be retained has been extended by six months and it is now an offence to fail to comply with new measures brought in by the Act such as travel restrictions. Additionally, the Act delays the Police and Crime Commissioner elections by one year.

The Act can be read in full here. The Explanatory Notes can be found here.

Source: legislation.gov.uk

Home Secretary launches £25 million fund to prevent burglary and theft in crime hotspots

The Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced the Safer Streets Fund which will be used to tackle offences such as burglary and theft in crime hotspots. Bids for the funding can be made by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) across England and Wales.

To bid for funding PCCs must work with local authorities and other partners to develop crime prevention plans. These plans must be based on evidence that the funding is needed, the plans are value for money, and local communities are engaged.

The funding will be available from April 2020.

Source: Gov.uk

Victims’ Code Consultation

The Ministry of Justice has launched a consultation aiming to strengthen the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Victims’ Code). The consultation, which will close on 11:59 September 11^th 2019,  comes after victims and groups representing them argued that the code’s complexity, and inconsistencies in the manner in which it was applied, caused some victims to miss out on the support they were entitled to. The MoJ is now seeking views from victims, charities and criminal justice agencies on how to make the code clearer and more accessible.

HMICFRS Report: The Police and CPS response to crimes against older people

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) have published a report on the police and CPS response to crimes against older people.

The main findings of the report were:

1. There is no national police focus on older victims, many of whom are vulnerable.
   Police forces don’t generally treat crimes against older people as a specific category of offending. Older people are not one of the groups of vulnerable people considered by the cross-policing vulnerability and public protection board, and instead are treated as vulnerable only if certain conditions apply or are deemed to be at risk.
2. The police and the CPS can work better together.
   There is little evidence that the CPS’s policy on crimes against older people was being considered and applied by prosecutors. The different national arrangements of the police and the CPS prevent them working together effectively. A good start would be to agree a joint and simple definition of what constitutes a crime against an older person. Police should develop a strategy that accounts for some of the specific problems faced by older people, and should consider whether, nationally, the response to crimes against older people can be organised differently.
3. It is critical that the police have consistent and effective arrangements to make sure people are kept safe.
   HMICFRS found no common approach to how the police work with other organisations that have responsibility for keeping older people safe. Police don’t always identify older people who need safeguarding, and don’t always share information in an effective way. However, they also found some reluctance from partners to become as fully involved with the police in adult safeguarding arrangements as they are in those for children.
4. The police are usually good in their initial dealings with older victims.
   When victims or their representatives called the police, there was mostly an appropriate response. Initial decisions about whether a victim was vulnerable were mainly accurate, and HMICFRS commends this as the result of forces’ investment in training to help officers recognise vulnerability.
5. Investigations are often not good enough.
   Victims’ experiences of the investigation process were frequently characterised by low levels of communication from the police, and police response was inconsistent.
6. There is little evidence that the police are routinely assessing victims’ needs.
   The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime makes it clear that the police should conduct assessments of victims’ needs and whether they need any support. HMICFRS found that vulnerable victims weren’t being treated according to their needs because of omissions and errors within their assessments. They also raise concerns that the referral system does not work as well as it should.
7. The police and the CPS are often poor at dealing with the complex needs of vulnerable older victims.
   Police and the CPS often didn’t consider: different ways for victims to give their best evidence; special measure assessments and meetings; requesting registered intermediaries; and what reasonable adjustments to help victims in court.
8. Crime allocation policies are often not sophisticated enough.
   These allocation policies can make decisions based primarily on crime types, meaning they were not sophisticated enough to produce the right decisions for the particular circumstances of the case.
9. Systems to refer victims to support services remain patchy.
   Echoing the findings of last year’s hate crime review, HMICFRS again found that some victims weren’t being appropriately referred to support services.

The Policing and Crime Act 2017 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2019

The Policing and Crime Act 2017 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2019 have come into force by way of a statutory instrument. The instrument brings into force sections 24 and 132 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017.

Section 24 allows for the transfer of staff to local policing bodies if a force wished to discharge a function and move the function to the local policing body. Section 132 amends the Firearms Act 1968 and the Firearms Amendment Act 1988, but it only applies to Scotland.

Source: legislation.gov.uk

Deloitte Tech Trends 2019

Technology can help make government more effective by protecting and maintaining infrastructure, creating more personalised and secure citizen interactions, or automating tasks so workers can focus on more value‑added jobs. As leaders work to reshape their organisations and realise these possibilities, they rely on fresh, relevant insights. This perspective provides a UK Government and Public Services lens on Deloitte’s Technology Trends 2019: Beyond the digital frontier.

We touch on the macro forces at play and how real power emerges when they combine. Finding the jobs new technologies can do is a first‑level challenge. Finding ways to integrate them into a new operational paradigm is the next‑level challenge that’s now unfolding.

Public sector organisations can and do learn from each other. They can draw lessons from their counterparts in the private sector and from other nations. Each organisation is on a path toward greater digital adoption, but they’re at different places on that journey. What do they have in common? A commitment to mission‑driven service. Through real‑world examples and sector‑specific examinations of new technology capabilities, this perspective should help leaders throughout the public sector sharpen their view of how new tools fit into this mandate.

Source: Deloitte

The full report can be found here.

World Economic Forum – Global Risks Report

The Global Risks Report 2019 is published against a backdrop of worrying geopolitical and geo-economic tensions. If unresolved, these tensions will hinder the world’s ability to deal with a growing range of collective challenges, from the mounting evidence of environmental degradation to the increasing disruptions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The report presents the results of our latest Global Risks Perception Survey, in which nearly 1,000 decision-makers from the public sector, private sector, academia and civil society assess the risks facing the world. Nine out of 10 respondents expect worsening economic and political confrontations between major powers this year. Over a ten-year horizon, extreme weather and climate-change policy failures are seen as the gravest threats.

This year’s report includes another series of “what-if” Future Shocks that examine quantum computing, weather manipulation, monetary populism, emotionally responsive artificial intelligence and other potential risks. The theme of emotions is also addressed in a chapter on the human causes and effects of global risks; the chapter calls for greater action around rising levels of psychological strain across the world

Source: World Economic Forum

Home Office allocates £35 million to police forces for violence reduction units

The Home Office has announced that Police and Crime Commissioners from 18 forces have been allocated £35 million to set up violence reduction units. The forces who have received the funding are the 18 with the greatest level of violent crime. These units will be responsible for identifying the causes of violent crime, and developing a coordinated response to tackle them.

The Home Office will work closely with the violence reduction units to assess how the funding is being used to strengthen the response to serious violence. In the coming weeks, the 18 areas will present plans of how the funding will be used.

In addition to this funding, the government has also made it easier for officers in the seven areas most affected by knife crime to use Section 60 stop and search powers. These additional powers will allow officers to search people within a designated area without suspicion, where serious violence is anticipated.

Source: Gov.uk

Report raises alarm over police detention of vulnerable suspects

A report by the National Appropriate Adult Network (NAAN) has found that more than 100,000 police detentions and voluntary interviews of vulnerable adult suspects who have a mental illness, learning disability, brain injury or are autistic individuals, are carried out each year without the support of an ‘appropriate adult’.

Previous studies have indicated that as many as 39% of adults in police custody have a mental disorder or intellectual disability. Last year police recorded the need for an appropriate adult in only 6% of around 1 million police detentions and voluntary interviews of adults. The report also found that where police had no access to an organised appropriate adult scheme, they were half as likely to record an adult suspect as needing one.

Source: The Guardian