Correspondence

Crime and policing news update: September 2015

Published 25 September 2015

1. Enabling closer working between the emergency services

In his speech on 11 September, the Prime Minister outlined the Government’s intention to enable closer working between the police, fire and rescue and ambulance services. This would improve outcomes for the public through closer joint-working across all the emergency services, including the NHS ambulance service.

A consultation is open until 23 October and seeks feedback on the proposals, which include:

• introducing a duty to collaborate on the three emergency services, so that they will be required to consider collaboration with each other wherever it would drive efficiency or effectiveness; and,
• allowing police and crime commissioners to take on the duties and responsibilities of fire and rescue authorities (FRAs), where a local case is made.

You can find more information about the consultation by e-mailing: Bluelights@Homeoffice.gov.uk

2. Consultation on extra powers for police staff and volunteers

On 9 September the Home Secretary announced a consultation on a package of reforms which would allow volunteers to be designated with powers, allowing them to work more closely with their policing colleagues to keep their communities safe. The proposals also include creating a list of the core policing powers that will only be available to constables and abolishing the role of traffic warden under the Road Traffic Acts.

The consultation is open until 31 October.

3. Early Intervention Academy for Police Leaders launched

The Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) launched its Academy for Police Leaders on 21 September. A reception saw 25 successful Academy participants being welcomed onto the programme by a range of speakers, including Dame Clare Tickell (chair of the EIF), Graham Allen MP (founding chair of the EIF), and Andy Rhodes (deputy chief constable of Lancashire Constabulary).

Academy participants will have the opportunity to learn more about early intervention approaches, share ideas and develop action plans to take back to their forces through a series of expert master classes and action learning sets. The EIF has also established a virtual group for those police nominees who could not be offered a place.

The aim of the Academy is to support a step change in the role that early intervention can play within policing and the benefits to be gained around preventing crime, improving the life chances of individuals and families and reducing the demands on the police. The Academy is being funded by the Home Office this year.

You can find out more about the work of the Academy on the EIF’s website.

4. Police procurement information published on Police.uk

The Home Office has published data on police.uk showing how much each force in England and Wales pays for common items of uniform and equipment. The data shows that there are areas where they pay similar prices for standard items using recommended procurement routes, collaborate to strike better deals with suppliers or even make savings by recycling equipment. There are also areas where more could be done to reduce the amount police pay for essential goods.

The government wants forces to adopt a collaborative approach to procurement, not just because of the potential savings that they can achieve through buying collectively but also because of the operational benefits of standardising the items they purchase.

5. Benefits of information sharing in tackling gang and youth violence

The Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing has published its latest insight report, which explores the information sharing benefits and challenges faced by local areas that are working to tackle gang and youth violence. The report is designed to show the benefits of sharing information and support agencies and local partnerships identify potential barriers and challenges they may need to address.

The Centre works with local agencies across the country to understand the barriers that prevent effective information sharing and supports them in identifying practical solutions to overcome these obstacles. You can find out more about the Centre’s work by visiting its website.

6. Tackling Serious and Organised Crime – a local Government response

On 4 September, the Local Government Association published guidance for local councillors on their roles and responsibilities in tackling serious and organised crime. The guidance summarises the threat that serious and organised crime poses in local communities, particularly to vulnerable families and individuals who can be exploited by criminals.

The guidance makes clear that councils have access to community intelligence and enforcement powers that can be used to disrupt criminality and protect local communities. Councils are encouraged to engage with their police and crime commissioner and local police to develop their serious and organised crime local profiles and multi-agency action plans, which are a key part of a multi-agency approach to tackling serious and organised crime focused on the most pressing local issues.

The guidance also includes case studies of local approaches and recommends key questions councils can raise with local partners to find out the prevalence and impact of serious and organised crime in the area.

7. Help make the UK cyber streetwise

The Government developed the Cyber Streetwise campaign to help people protect themselves from falling victim to cyber criminals. The latest phase of the campaign launched on 7 September and encourages people to adopt three simple steps: use three random words to create a strong password; install security software on all devices; and always download the latest software updates. The campaign runs until February 2016, and you can support the campaign by:

• following @cyberstreetwise on Twitter and retweeting or signposting to any of our tweets;
• linking to www.cyberstreetwise.com from your website, blog, social posts, newsletters and other channels; and,
• visiting the ‘Support’ page on the website and downloading our campaign assets to share with your audiences.

8. Internet experts share new techniques to battle online child sexual exploitation

Representatives from leading technology companies including Google, Facebook and Microsoft attended a two day conference on 3 and 4 September to discuss innovative methods for tackling online child sexual exploitation. At the conference, they heard from members of the WePROTECT initiative on progress made since last December’s summit.

The Internet Watch Foundation has recently started to provide digital fingerprints of images – known as ‘hashes’ – to industry partners in order to speed up the identification and removal of child sexual abuse content worldwide. The government has also set up the Child Abuse Image Database (CAID), which will ensure victims of online abuse can be identified more quickly and offenders brought to justice.

9. Using conditional cautions as an alternative to prosecution for foreign national offenders

On 8 April 2013 legislation for foreign national offender conditional cautions came into force. This allows the police to give foreign national offenders a caution as an alternative to prosecution providing the offender agrees to comply with their removal from the UK. Police officers should consider whether foreign national offenders in their custody are eligible to receive a conditional caution.

A foreign national offender may qualify for a conditional caution if:

• the subject admits the offence;
• their offence is likely to result in a custodial sentence of up to 2 years;
• they are aged over 18;
• the subject has no connection to human trafficking; and,
• the offence is not related to domestic violence or hate crime. The Home Office must confirm that the subject is removable within 16 weeks.

The benefits of issuing a foreign national conditional caution include:

• removes the offender from the UK quickly and bans them from re-entering for at least 5 years;
• immediate removal of the offender from the community where Immigration Enforcement decide to detain pending removal;
• significant savings on prosecution costs; and,
• the threat of prosecution acts as a compliance lever for the removal process.

You can find further guidance on conditional cautions on gov.uk, or alternatively you can contact the 24 hour Immigration Command and Control Unit on 0161 261 1640 or by e-mailing: FNOConditionalCautionsProjectInbox@homeoffice.gov.uk.

10. Prevent guidance for higher and further education institutions comes into effect

The Prevent duty, introduced as part of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015, came into effect for key bodies including schools, health bodies and police on 1 July. The duty has now commenced for higher and further education institutions after new guidance specifically addressing the issue of extremist speakers was approved by Parliament on 17 September.

The guidance makes clear that extremist speakers must not go unchallenged and ensures colleges and universities have proper risk assessment processes for speakers. The guidance also sets out that institutions must ensure that they have appropriate IT policies, staff training and student welfare programmes in place to recognise and respond to the signs of radicalisation.

11. Speeches

The Minister for Preventing Abuse and Exploitation’s speech at the Domestic Abuse Summit

The Prime Minister’s speech setting out his principles for delivering a smarter state

The Home Secretary’s speech at the Police Superintendents Association Annual Conference 2015