How will the Metropolitan Police Service achieve its mission of “more trust, less crime and high standards” in local policing?
In 2017, the service began combining its 32 individual Borough Command Units into 12 Basic Command Units (BCU), each under a single BCU Commander, to help save £325 million [1].
Baroness Casey’s review of standards and culture in the Met concluded that this decision has damaged the local accountability of the Met [2].
The findings said that demand on police time is growing and there has been an increase in more complex crimes, coinciding with police station closures, a reduction in workforce numbers and neighbourhood teams and a high number of new and inexperienced officers.
The first priority in the Met’s draft Turnaround Plan 2023-2025 is to strengthen local policing. It said it “will overhaul the current neighbourhood policing model” and will invest in more local officers and Police Community Support Officers to create stronger, more capable teams [3].
What are the biggest challenges in local policing? Are BCUs sufficiently resourced to reduce crime and the fear of crime, investigate crime and improve public confidence in the police?
The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee will meet tomorrow to discuss this, five years on from when BCUs were established in 2018 and in light of the Met’s recently published ‘New Met for London Plan’.
The Committee will also be briefly considering data security with the Chief Executives of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) at the start of the meeting.
The guests are:
Panel 1 - Data security
- Mary Harpley, Chief Officer, GLA
- Diane Luchford, Chief Executive Officer, MOPAC
Panel 2 – Local policing
- DAC Helen Millichap, Local Policing, Metropolitan Police
- Dr Alison Heydari, Local Policing Commander, Metropolitan Police
- Kenny Bowie, Head of Strategy and MPS Oversight, Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC)
- Daniel Greaves, Corporate Director Community Safety & Resilience, London Borough of Waltham Forest
- Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety, London Borough of Enfield
The meeting will take place on Wednesday 19 July 2023 from 10am, in the Chamber at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, E16 1ZE.
Media and members of the public are invited to attend.
The meeting can also be viewed LIVE or later via webcast or YouTube.
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Notes to editors
- Metropolitan Police merge boroughs 'to save £325m' - BBC News
- Baroness Casey of Blackstock DBE CB, Baroness Casey Review
- MPS, Turnaround Plan 2023-2025
- Read the agenda papers.
- Caroline Russell AM, Chair of the Police and Crime Committee, is available for interview.
- Find out more about the work of the Police and Crime Committee.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For more information, please contact Tony Smyth in the Assembly Media Office on 07510 488715. For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the Assembly duty press officer.