LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – The Metropolitan Police Service has been judged as one of the top performing forces in the country in Neighbourhood Policing and addressing Serious Crime according to the findings of a national performance assessment.
The MPS was judged good or excellent in four of the seven categories of the Home Office’s annual Police Performance Assessment Framework and the results mark a second successive year of improvement.
The MPS was one of only six forces considered excellent in the Neighbourhood Policing category following the introduction of Safer Neighbourhoods Teams in all 624 wards with extra coverage in 87 wards with a population of more than 14,000.
In addition 21 Safer Transport Teams focussing on crime and anti-social behaviour on and close to public transport have been established along with six Safer Neighbourhood teams focussing on particular community issues.
The Assessment, which rates police forces across England and Wales according to their performance in categories ranging from meeting local needs to improving community confidence, shows the MPS building on last year’s results and continuing to improve.
The MPS was also one of six forces rated as excellent in dealing with Serious Crime.
When assessed against Local Priorities the MPS achieved a rating of good. This included exceeding the target for the number of criminal networks disrupted, a target specifically set by the MPS, and public perception of police performance being good/excellent.
Tackling Crime, the way in which the MPS investigates offences overall, was judged to have improved and was rated good. Resources and Efficiency also improved and achieved a rating of fair.
In the Satisfaction and Fairness category performance remained stable and was rated as fair.
Commander Simon Bray, from the Performance Directorate, said: “These results, together with our recent crime figures, show we are moving in the right direction.
“We are delighted that the work we have done to address things that really matter to Londoners such as Neighbourhood Policing and tackling Serious Crime and protecting the public has been recognised.
“We have continued to make progress from last year and are committed to improving our performance further.”
