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Search for press releasesNew measures will cut red tape in the fight against knife crime
18 September 2008
Actions to reduce the time police spend filling out forms were announced today by the Home Secretary.
These changes will be fast-tracked in the 10 forces taking part in the tackling knives action programme (TKAP).
The moves could free up 580,000 hours of police time over the next year - the equivalent of hiring 320 police officers.
The Home Secretary announced the changes after a meeting this morning with police chiefs from the ten areas taking part in the anti-knives programme.
Axing lengthy stop-and-account forms
The new measures include allowing forces to axe the lengthy stop-and-account form from the end of October, well ahead of full national roll out next year.
Police in these regions will instead use Airwave police radio technology to record any encounter, including ethnicity and location. The current drawn-out record will be replaced with a card receipt explaining what people can do if they're not satisfied with the way the stop was carried out.
This alone should save officers around 380,000 hours a year.
Reducing size and number of other forms
Reducing by 80% the amount of form-filling police must do when recording crime. This will be accomplished by extending pilot programmes now underway elsewhere into these ten areas.
Staffordshire Police, one of the forces taking part in a current crime-recording pilot programme, is on-track to see a dramatic reduction of 40,000 hours of bureaucracy for frontline officers and staff.
While the pilot is still underway, to date the force has cut 80% of its crime reporting forms – this means the time needed to fill in the forms has dropped from around fifteen minutes each to 2 minutes.
In one division, this pilot has freed the equivalent of 19 new officers already, with the equivalent of 23 more to come.
Home Secretary's statement
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said, 'I am determined to support our police officers so that they spend more time saving lives on our streets. Giving police the means to dramatically reduce form-filling bureaucracy in these ten priority areas will free up valuable officer time to further clamp down on knife crime.
'The recent policing green paper (new window) set out radical plans to cut red tape, to allow police to focus on the most serious crime and on local issues. Today, police chiefs and I will be discussing how we can fast-track work to enable officers to spend more time dealing with crime, and policing our streets.'
Association of Chief Police Officers' statement
Chief Constable Ken Jones, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), said, 'Knife crime has a devastating impact on our streets and neighbourhoods as well as on its victims and their families. ACPO is working to coordinate good practice so that we take a tough approach across the police service to those who carry knives and work with parents, local groups and other agencies to get to the roots of this insidious problem.
'Fast-tracking these form-filling measures will help ensure our local policing teams are put firmly where they belong, at the service of the communities they work within. While evaluation of the existing crime recording pilot areas is not yet complete, the signs and signals are positive. The ten areas picked out today stand to benefit and notwithstanding the evaluation, we hope full rollout will follow so the rewards can be shared in every neighbourhood.'
Police force statements
Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Peter Fahy said, 'The biggest frustration of front line officers at the moment is lack of discretion, disproportionate bureaucracy and the target culture. These changes along with others proposed in the recent Green Paper will in time enable officers to spend more time on the street.'
Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Bernard Hogan-Howe said, 'This is excellent. It will cut bureaucracy and it will help officers on the streets cut crime.'
Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service Tim Godwin said, 'The MPS welcomes today’s announcement. The new, streamlined Stop and Search form is already cutting the time that officers spend filling in forms on the street and updating records in the police station. That must be a good thing for the people of London.
'We also welcome the opportunity to streamline our ‘stop and account’ procedures and will discuss with our communities how this is best taken forward. It is not a good use of police time to be completing time-consuming records and the public do not want to be kept from their business longer than necessary when assisting the police. We can now work together to find a way of maintaining trust and confidence in our activity and using police officer time where it is of most value – in preventing and detecting crime.'
Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police, Chris Sims, whose force is already taking part in the proportionate crime recording pilot, said, 'Bureaucracy wastes time, de-motivates staff and often leads to an inflexible ‘one size fits all’ service. The pilot is having a positive impact on what we do and adds to the work we have already done in Staffordshire.'
Notes to editors
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Today’s meeting between the Home Secretary and Chief Constables comes as the latest update from the Metropolitan Police on the tackling knives action programme shows an increase in high visibility stop-and-search activity, with police making good use of new search technology.
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In London, over 77,000 searches have been conducted since the start of Operation Blunt 2 with over 3,300 arrests and almost 2,200 knives recovered.
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The tackling knives action programme was launched in June 2008. It will run until March 2009. It combines tough enforcement with education, prevention and information campaigns designed to keep youngsters on the right track.
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The ten areas taking part in the programme are London, Essex, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Merseyside, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Nottinghamshire, South Wales and Thames Valley.
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The proportionate crime recording pilot was launched earlier this year, following a recommendation in Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s independent review of policing in England and Wales. It involves four forces – West Midlands, Staffordshire, Surrey and Leicestershire – cutting their crime recording forms for less serious crimes, so that they record only the information needed and free up officer time in the process.
- At the end of October 2008 we are piloting the recommendation of the Flanagan Review by recording only ethnicity during a stop and account and removing the present lengthy form. Subject to the findings from the pilot, we aim to roll out the provision to all force areas by the end of the year.
