First Police and Crime Committee meeting examines gang violence

26 JANUARY 2012

The first ever meeting of the Police and Crime Committee looked at the scale of gang activity in London and the effectiveness of measures to combat it including the Metropolitan Police Service’s Operation Connect[1].            

Commander Steve Rodhouse, Met Police lead officer for Operation Connect, told the Committee that London has approximately 400 gangs with just over 60 of those identified as the most harmful.

Rob Owen, Chief Executive of the St Giles Trust which works with ex-offenders, warned that a combination of current economic and social conditions could produce a ‘toxic potential’ for gang activity grow if concerted action is not taken to provide people at risk of joining gangs with credible alternatives.

Today’s hearing will feed into the future work of the new Police and Crime Committee as it looks at crime reduction in the capital.

London is the first police district in England and Wales to implement new governance arrangements for policing with the replacement of the Metropolitan Police Authority by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC) and the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee.

The Committee was established by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 and is responsible for examining the activities of the MOPC and investigating matters it considers to be of importance to policing and crime reduction in London[2].

Joanne McCartney AM, who was elected Chair of the Committee at today’s meeting, said:

“Our Committee faces a challenge to ensure that policing priorities in London are truly accountable to the people the Met serves and that the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime sets those priorities in a truly transparent and accountable fashion. It is a challenge which we are determined to meet.

As the subject for today’s meeting shows, we recognise that making Londoner a safer place to live is not simply the responsibility of the police. We all have a part to play in tackling problems like gangs that can have such a devastating impact on communities. The Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee is determined to play its part in addressing the challenge of reducing crime in London.”

The next meeting of the Police and Crime Committee meeting will take place on Thursday, 2 February from 2pm in the Chamber at City Hall (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1).

The Committee will question Kit Malthouse AM, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime and Bernard Hogan-Howe, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, about policing priorities for London and MOPC’s response to recent reports about the civil disturbances in August 2011.

Media and members of the public are invited to attend.

 

 

 

Notes to editors:

      1.  The Committee questioned the following guests at today’s meeting:

  • Commander Steve Rodhouse, Metropolitan Police Service, lead officer for Operation Connect
  • Karyn McCluskey, Co-Director Violence Reduction Unit
  • Cllr Chris Robbins, Leader London Borough of Waltham Forest,
  • Rob Owen, Chief Executive, St Giles Trust, a charity working with ex-offenders and
  • Kathryn Uche, Chief Executive CAYSH, a housing charity working with young people

      2.   s33 (3) of the Police Reform and Social responsibility Act 2011

      3.  Watch a webcast of the meeting.

      4.  As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.