PEEL Assessment 2023-25: City of London Police

The force needs to improve how it records information and reviews data to better understand its use of stop and search Between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024, officers used their powers to stop and search individuals under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 on 2,234 occasions. In 1,027 (46 percent) of these stop and search encounters the self-defined ethnicity of the person searched was recorded as unknown. This means either the officer failed to record the person’s self-defined ethnicity, or the person wouldn’t provide it. This prevents the force from having an accurate understanding of the ethnicity of individuals being searched. Racial disparity refers to the unequal treatment of people from different racial or ethnic backgrounds. The force told us that its racial disparity rates were lower than the average for forces in England and Wales over this period, with disparity rates at 2.59 for Black people, 0.91 for Asian people and 0.84 for those of other ethnicities. However, the poor recording of self-defined ethnicity could be affecting the validity of these figures. City of London Police

The force should consider its personal development review process to make sure it is effective and valued by officers and staff The personal development review process supports police officers and staff to take responsibility for their professional development and plan their career progression. It gives individuals and their line managers an opportunity to discuss a range of topics, including welfare. The information recorded can be used to support a range of development activities. Most officers and staff we spoke to didn’t value the process. Some told us they didn’t have a personal development review document in place, setting out objectives. Some felt that where annual objectives were set, they weren’t meaningful. They also felt that only officers applying for promotion participated fully in the process. As part of our inspection, we carried out a workforce survey. This was live between 11 November and 9 December 2024. We received responses from 20 percent of the workforce. Of those respondents who’d had a personal development review in the past 12 months, 46.2 percent (104 of 225 respondents) agreed they were an effective tool in their development, and 49.3 percent (111 of 225 respondents) agreed they value the process of these reviews. The force should make sure officers and staff feel invested in the process and that it is seen to add value to personal and professional development. City of London Police

The force needs better processes to regularly review its strategic decisions, policies and processes to check they are effective Since our PEEL 2021/22 inspection, the force has introduced organisational changes to help it improve performance and provide a better service. The force has made progress, but now needs to refine its change processes to support continued improvements. The force needs to make sure that it has sufficient oversight of all plans so it can monitor their progress and make sure they are realised. It needs to be aware of and clearly understand any issues that arise so that proper action can be taken. The force needs a better understanding of how its key decisions are connected. It needs clear plans around technology, fleet, estate and workforce strategy that are supported by a capital programme that recognises their interdependence. That way decisions around buying new equipment or disbanding support functions can work with the long-term strategic objectives of the force. The force should also prioritise the development of its processes for evaluating the benefits of its plans. This involves better understanding how investments are providing value for money. By improving the way it assesses and measures project outcomes against expectations, the force can learn lessons and make sure that improvements can be made when projects haven’t worked as well as intended. City of London Police

The partnership and prevention hub requires a better governance and performance framework The partnership and prevention hub is a team of officers who have received additional training such as advising on design projects to reduce criminality, tackling hate crime, and signposting and supporting those with mental health needs. They work within the neighbourhood policing team to support the whole force with problem-solving and prevention expertise. The team doesn’t consistently work as a cohesive group to support problem-solving and prevention. There are only two officers in the team who review problem-solving plans. The other officers continue to work within their own specialities. Some members told us they felt the team was ineffective in providing a holistic approach to problem-solving and prevention. The partnership and prevention hub is required to submit a monthly narrative on its work, but this lacks data that would support an assessment on whether problems have improved or declined. Better management of the hub could provide improvements in how the force solves problems for the community. Innovative practice City of London Police

The force should improve its problem-solving processes, including evaluation and a consistent way of storing plans We found problem-solving plans that started several years ago with a set of actions tackling the symptoms of the problem, that were then reinvigorated annually, sometimes with different tactics. This isn’t addressing the root cause of the problem. There is confusion around who is responsible for problem-solving plans. Officers in the partnership and prevention (P&P) hub said they were responsible for initially advising on whether an issue was suitable to be addressed with a problem-solving plan, but not for the plan itself. Contrary to this, dedicated ward officers told us the P&P hub were responsible for the plans. This confusion needs to be addressed. Problem-solving plans are held on a SharePoint system, which is accessible through the force intranet. We also saw less formal problem-solving recording on the Niche records management system. These didn’t always use a problem-solving model such as SARA. Having plans in two places hinders proper evaluation and the recording of good practice. The force told us they were aware that the P&P hub wasn’t working as well as they had hoped. The force should make sure it has processes in place to maximise the use of problem-solving to reduce crime and protect vulnerable victims. City of London Police

The force makes good use of webinars to communicate with its communities In response to protests in the City of London, the force holds regular webinars with businesses. The webinars help the force to pass information to a wide audience and address any questions. Some sessions have had more than 100 attendees. Building on the success of these webinars, the force has extended their use to other areas of policing. City of London Police

The force doesn’t consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims The City of London Police doesn’t always achieve acceptable outcomes for victims. It doesn’t solve enough of the crimes it investigates. The force needs to understand why, and achieve better outcomes for victims. In the year ending 31 December 2024, the City of London Police recorded 7,786 victim-based crimes. Of these, 13.5 percent were assigned an ‘offences brought to justice’ outcome. This is higher than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales. Between the year ending 31 December 2023 and the year ending 31 December 2024, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned outcome 15: evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim supports action) by the City of London Police decreased from 6.6 percent to 5.7 percent. Both values are lower than expected for forces in England and Wales. Between the year ending 31 December 2023 and the year ending 31 December 2024, the proportion of victim-based crimes assigned outcome 16: evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim doesn’t support further action) by the City of London Police decreased from 7.0 percent to 6.9 percent. Both values are lower than expected compared to other forces in England and Wales. 31 Mar 15 3 un 15 3 Sep 15 31 ec 15 31 Mar 1 3 un 1 3 Sep 1 31 ec 1 31 Mar 1 3 un 1 3 Sep 1 31 ec 1 31 Mar 1 3 un 1 3 Sep 1 31 ec 1 31 Mar 1 3 un 1 3 Sep 1 31 ec 1 31 Mar 3 un 3 Sep 31 ec 31 Mar 1 3 un 1 3 Sep 1 31 ec 1 31 Mar 3 un 3 Sep 31 ec 31 Mar 3 3 un 3 3 Sep 3 31 ec 3 31 Mar 3 un 3 Sep 31 ec City of London Police

The force should make sure officers and staff have the required awareness of schemes and orders to protect victims, and the confidence to use them The omestic Violence isclosure Scheme ( V S, also known as Clare’s Law) allows the police to inform a victim or potential victim of domestic abuse about their partner’s previous abusive or violent offending, under the ‘right to know’ and ‘right to ask’ processes. Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs) and Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) provide protection to victims by helping police and magistrates’ courts to put in place protective measures immediately after a domestic violence incident, often when there isn’t enough evidence to charge a perpetrator or provide protection using bail conditions. In the 12 months up to 30 September 2024, the City of London Police dealt with 201 incidents of domestic abuse. During the same period the force didn’t use the V S or any VPNs or VPOs to protect victims of domestic abuse. Nor did it use any of these orders in the previous year up to September 2023. We understand that the low residential population means the City of London Police operates in a different environment to many other forces. However, it still deals with domestic abuse within its resident population and people visiting the City of London. The force should satisfy itself that officers and staff dealing with domestic abuse cases have a clear understanding of the use of the DVDS, DVPNs and DVPOs, and the confidence to use them when it is appropriate. City of London Police

The force should make sure it adheres to Violent and Sex Offender Register standards, and that all information for the management of registered sex offenders is recorded on this system The Violent and Sex Offender Register (ViSOR) is the national database used by police forces and the probation service to record the management of registered sex offenders. At the time of our inspection the force had five registered sex offenders on ViSOR, three of whom were being managed in the community. Of the three registered sex offenders, our audit of ViSOR found two had visits that were over-due. The force told us that these visits had been completed but that they were recorded on a separate spreadsheet. The Police National Database is a centralised system used by police to share and access intelligence and information across police forces. During our audit we found that in the past 1 months the force hadn’t recorded Police National Database checks on to ViSOR for any of the 3 sex offender records we reviewed. Intelligence checks are required for an accurate risk assessment. The force told us that it did complete intelligence checks on registered sex offenders, but these were held on the force’s crime records management system, Niche. If the force chooses to use separate systems to record information on the management of registered sex offenders, it must make sure all the information is also updated on ViSOR. Innovative practice Risk management plans should be in place to manage all registered sex offenders. These plans should be written in a specific way known as the four pillars format. This is identified as best practice in the College of Policing’s authorised professional practice. Two of the three plans we reviewed weren’t written in the correct format, and one didn’t have any actions and wasn’t fit for purpose. The actions from risk management plans should also be recorded in ViSOR. Regular continuing professional development for officers dealing with registered sex offenders would help to make sure the correct ViSOR standards are maintained. City of London Police

The force maintains investigators’ skills through desktop exercises The force recognised that due to low numbers of cases, officers in the public protection unit could lose expertise in managing sex offenders and violent offenders, and investigating cases of indecent images of children. In response, the force designed two scenario-based tabletop training exercises for continuing professional development. Each exercise lasted a full day, and the officers had no warning in advance. During the exercises, officers were presented with additional and changing information through a paper feed and were expected to evaluate and revise their decision-making accordingly. One exercise was based on an urgent referral through a multi-agency public protection arrangement, relating to a potentially dangerous person from another police force area. Officers were assessed on how they would organise a multi-agency public protection arrangement meeting and decide the right person to chair it. The exercise also examined the actions officers decided to take and how these were recorded. The exercise used two scenarios based on real incidents from other police forces to enhance learning. The second exercise was based on an investigation into possession of indecent images of children. Officers had to decide how to develop intelligence, risk assess and plan the investigation strategy, including looking after the welfare of the suspect, their family and children. City of London Police

The force needs to develop its data and information to better understand challenges that affect workforce well-being and occupational health provision The force has recently refreshed its well-being strategy. It told us that it had plans to self-assess through the Blue Light Wellbeing Framework. But at the time of inspection there was no dedicated well-being resource and no well-being improvement or implementation plan. The force should create these promptly so that the workforce and organisation can benefit. The force told us it had 28 well-being ambassadors. These are police officers and staff with a passion to improve well-being alongside their policing roles. Well-being ambassadors inform officers and staff about well-being plans and initiatives, and help widen their knowledge on well-being issues. They may gain linked qualifications to support the workforce. When we asked officers and staff about well-being ambassadors, few had heard of them or knew what they did. When we audited the force intranet site, we couldn’t find any up-to-date information on well-being ambassadors. The force could do more to promote its well-being activity to raise awareness. The force uses limited data to identify patterns and trends that may affect officer and staff well-being. There is a lack of integrated information on deployment, overtime, sickness, workloads, threats and risks to the workforce. This information could be used to better focus the force’s well-being programmes and support. The force was unable to provide us with any data on waiting times for officers and staff from referral to an appointment in the occupational health unit. While officers and staff told us referrals were speedy, senior leaders need to understand the trajectory of waiting times to make sure sufficient capacity exists to maintain a healthy workforce. City of London Police