The Met Police Crime Assessment Policy

During a phone conversation with a burglary victim today I was asked if I knew what the Met Police’s Crime Assessment Policy (CAP) was all about.  I suggested she request a copy of the policy via a freedom of information request, but thought I would read about it a little more in the press and publish what I know here.

In essence the aptly named policy – CAP is guidance for police officers designed to help them make a judgement as to whether or not to investigate a lower level crime. The purpose of the policy is to save police time (and money) so that they can continue to investigate the more serious crimes with ever diminishing resources.  I could not find a precise definition of ‘lower level crime’, but my research suggests that it is the victims of shoplifting, car crime, criminal damage, some minor assaults and some burglary and theft that might miss out, especially where the ‘value’ of the crime is less than £50.

However, I understand that if there is a known suspect or clear evidence exists that could lead to the arrest of a suspect then the crime will be investigated.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons briefly discusses CAP on the Met Police website where he provides the following data:

• The Met police needs to save £400 million by 2020
• Police officers in the Met have fallen from 32,000 to 30,300 and is predicted to fall further
• Recorded crime is up 5.7%

It is against this backdrop that the Met has developed this new policy.

So what does this mean for you and me?

I doubt we will notice much difference.  Unless there is unambiguous evidence at the time of the crime report a very minor crime is unlikely to attract much of a police response now and so I think this policy is about giving clear guidance to police so that their approach is consistent across the force.    

What this means to all of us then is that the message of crime prevention from the police service has got to get louder and all I’ve seen is it getting quieter!

Yes, it is necessary for all of us to do what we can to prevent unnecessary crime by not presenting the thieves and criminals with the opportunities to commit it.  However, it’s also the role of government and the police to remind us of those responsibilities.  I wonder if we’ll see some new  public information films popping up on the TV and over the rest of the media, such as we used to see in years gone by, especially during the 1980s?

I shall be watching.