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Westminster Police in ‘malaise’, says report
Officers are criticised after government inspection
A FAILURE to tackle organised criminal gangs and examples of “malaise” among officers were among the serious weaknesses found by inspectors at Westminster police, according to a new report.
The country’s senior policing watchdog, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, issued a series of criticisms of Westminster Police’s management, performance and policing culture in a report released this week following an inspection in January.
Among the weaknesses were limited work in getting to grips with the area’s crime gangs, including at least three in Chinatown, a failure to support Police Community Support Officers on routine patrols, and a lack of unity across the borough’s 2,500 officers and staff.
The inspectors wrote: “The inspection team encountered many examples where staff have failed to comply with borough policies or procedures.
“This manifests itself in a notable lack of compliance with tasking results, low quality primary investigations, attendance at court and on public order commitments. This ‘malaise’ does not exist throughout the borough, but nevertheless represents an unacceptable standard of professionalism and conduct.”
Although the inspectors concluded with a statement of confidence in Westminster management’s ability to improve, politicians at the Metropolitan Police Authority yesterday (Thursday) called for a meeting with Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephens to discuss the findings.
Deputy Mayor Kit Malthouse, head of policing at the Greater London Assembly, said: “We are very concerned that the HMIC Westminster Borough Command Unit Inspection revealed significant questions about the service provided by the Met to the people who live and work in the borough.”
Westminster’s senior police officer, Commander Simon Bray, said yesterday that the force took the HMIC’s recommendations on board.
He added: “Over the past year the borough has undergone a major organisational restructure, including relocating staff and teams in order to streamline roles and responsibilities.
“Staff on the borough have fully engaged with the restructuring.
“However, given that over 2,500 police officers and police staff work on the borough, this inevitably brings its own challenges and takes time to embed into an organisation.
“However, best practice and common standards are being adopted across Westminster and our performance is already improving.
“Over the past four years [04/05-08/09], the total number of offences committed in the borough has fallen by almost 20 per cent, meaning there have been 16,800 fewer victims of crime within Westminster.”
Inspectors, who also praised the borough’s relations with the council and improvements in neighbourhood policing, will return to Westminster next March. |
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