Plans to “cut unnecessary red tape” in policing outlined by Home Office

The news follows on from a National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) review process which found that circa 443,000 officer hours are spent filling in unnecessary forms and dealing with “burdensome” administrative tasks. This is time that could instead be devoted to cutting crime and keeping the streets safe.

All reported crimes for a single incident will now consistently be recorded under the ‘principal offence’ rather than as multiple entries on a database that effectively re-records the same incident. The police service will continue to pursue all offences involved – and understand how they are linked – as part of necessarily thorough investigative work.

This will bring a consistent approach to the recording of all offences and see crime recorded more accurately. The move also aims to drive up charge rates for crimes and make sure perpetrators face the highest penalties. For example, under these changes, where a victim has experienced stalking with criminal damage occurring to their property, the police service will now put stalking at the forefront of its investigation.

The outlined changes will be accompanied by training for officers in how to investigate such offences in order to derive the best results for victims.

Centre of the response

Chris Philp, Minister for Crime and Policing, said: “Excluding fraud and computer misuse, overall crime has halved since 2010, but we’re determined to go further. Victims must always be at the centre of our response to crime. Listening to police forces and cutting unnecessary red tape will mean police officers can focus on solving crime and delivering justice for victims, as well as preventing it from happening in the first place.”

Philp added: “We are confident that we will reach our target of having the most police officers in history. With less unnecessary administration to occupy their time, we also want them to be the most effective police officers in history.”

In essence, the changes being brought forward will:

*standardise counting rules with the ‘principal offence’ approach operating across the board to record the crime which has the most impact on a victim

*save police time by no longer recording cases of messages that might offend someone or where a public disturbance occurred, but has been resolved (this will require sign-off by a supervisor such as a Police Sergeant)

*make it easier to cancel the recording of a crime where there’s enough evidence to warrant the decision that no crime was committed (the sign-off required will vary depending on the gravity of the offence)

The changes will take effect in the coming weeks and follow recommendations made in the wake of the aforementioned in-depth review conducted by Chris Rowley, the NPCC’s lead for crime data integrity.

Total focus

Gavin Stephens, chair of the NPCC, commented: “Police officers must be totally focused on keeping people safe and ensuring they feel safe. We want to provide the best possible policing for the public. To this end, the work of the Police Productivity Review is aimed at removing barriers and improving effectiveness.”

Stephens continued: “The review process has already identified that 443,000 officer hours are spent filling in forms and dealing with unnecessary administrative tasks. These equate to the equivalent of attendance at 220,000 domestic abuse incidents, 270,000 burglaries or almost 740,000 anti-social behaviour incidents. Any move to free-up our front line in order to serve our communities is welcome.”

Andy Marsh, CEO of the College of Policing, observed: “We all want to see the police spending as much time as possible catching criminals and keeping the communities they serve safe. Officers and staff must be able to maintain high standards and properly record and investigate reported crimes, while not becoming bogged down in unnecessary bureaucracy. Anything that helps policing focus on its core mission is to be welcomed.”

Marc Jones, chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, noted: “As the public’s representatives to policing, we have long called for changes to the way in which crime is recorded to ensure that it’s more transparent and less bureaucratic. We welcome these changes, which will simplify crime recording, enable the police to focus on cutting crime and also allow Police and Crime Commissioners to better hold chief constables to account on behalf of victims and the public.”

Empowerment on decisions

Police officers will also be empowered to make decisions on cases where communications, such as text messages or letters, are malicious or rude, but not threatening. Officers should be on the streets investigating crimes like burglary, not looking at comments made online. As such, they will consider if such issues should instead be dealt with by social media companies.

This follows new statutory guidance on the recording of so-called non-crime hate incidents, which will ensure police officers are prioritising the freedom of expression upon which the nation is built.

Further, police officers will no longer need to record public disturbances that have already been dealt with or are quiet once officers arrive at the scene.

The improvements will afford a clearer picture of police caseload and better hold officers to account for their responses. Reviews of the counting rules are regularly undertaken, with significant changes previously made in 1998, 2002, 2015 and 2017.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the Crime Survey for England and Wales is the best measure of trends in crime experienced by the general public and remains unaffected by these changes.

Determination from central Government

The Government is determined to bring all offenders to justice. Together with policing and the Crown Prosecution Service, it’s now looking at Best Practice models across England and Wales and ensuring that processes in place are proportionate. The Government “will make sure” the criminal justice system can work as one, reducing burdens such as unnecessary redactions, while in parallel maintaining victim and witness confidence.

Front line public services must also match the needs of the community and individuals. A new agreement between policing and health partners is being developed to deliver better care for people in a mental health crisis and free-up police officers’ time to focus on fighting crime. This addresses concerns raised by chief constables over the amount of resource being diverted away from policing work to respond to mental health emergencies.

The new National Partnership Agreement will be underpinned by the principle that mental health incidents should receive a health response first, while also  recognising some situations may still require police presence. Following on from the National Partnership Agreement, local police and health partners need to work together to deliver improvements to triage methods used by the police service in order to ensure the right agency responds to a mental health incident, removing police involvement earlier in the process wherever it’s not needed.

Further changes are expected following the NPCC’s review of police productivity, which intends to provide clear, practicable and deliverable recommendations designed to improve the efficiency of policing.