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Has Sir Mark Rowley pulled off plan to turn round Met and win back public trust in first 100 days?


NEW Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was employed by the Home Office on the back of a plan to turn around the country's biggest force and regain public trust in his first 100 days, which ends today.

It was after a series of scandals rocked the force and it was placed into special measures by His Majesty's inspector of Constabulary.

The plan was set out to him in a letter by former Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Sir Mark has rebranded the force's "Line of Duty" Department of Professional Standards as Countrt Corruption and brought in a hotline to "shop a cop", but has he pulled off the plan?

These were some of the main aims:


1. Ambition to ensure a strong top team that can deliver the extensive reform that is required. 2. Responsive policing which cuts crime is at the forefront 3. Attend all burglary offences.

4. Increase the proportion of crimes the Met solves.

5. Boost the number of officers in local neighbourhoods to build relations.

6. Increase public trust. 7. More than 130 new investigators recruited into DPS, with more covert work planned and its technical capabilities improved with faster and more comprehensive access to intelligence systems.

8. Slash the time it takes to bring discipline hearings against officers suspected of offences.

9. More rigorous monitoring of work phones and computers for signs of wrongdoing.

10. Recruited the full 4,557 additional officers it has been allocated by the end of March 2023.


Sir Mark appeared on Nick Ferrari's show on LBC this morning when the radio presenter suggested it was the media who had placed the significance on the first 100 days, rather than the Home Office and the Commissioner himself.

He was barely grilled about the first 100 days, but said the new "shop a cop" line had brought in tens of leads for counter corruption investigators to probe. He then appeared on BBC Radio London at 9:10am and was asked more about the issue.

He later published a statement on Linkedin about the first 100 days.

He said: "Today is my 100th as Commissioner and I am marking it with a team targeting drugs supply lines that are inextricably linked to violence.

These skilled officers are using careful data analysis to dismantle these networks swiftly and in large numbers in a project we call Operation Yamata.

The results speak volumes as every week we arrest and charge around 11 suspects linked to drugs lines that run nationally and within London.

Over the past three months we have stepped up this work because it protects London from some of the most dangerous suspects.

More than eight out of 10 we arrest have a history of violence, including links to murder, grievous bodily harm and using firearms.

Overall, almost 200 city drugs lines have been shut down in just three months.

This is an example of the precision we will bring in delivering More Trust, Less Crime and High Standards under my leadership.

Since I walked into New Scotland Yard on September 12, the passion and dedication of the tens of thousands of people the Met makes them stand out.

It was an extraordinary time following the death of Her Majesty The Queen and it was a privilege to lead the Met at a time of national mourning and reflection.

Every day in this role I witness an extra degree of commitment, a willingness to go the extra mile to deliver for Londoners.

It is this commitment and determination of our men and women, often frankly their sweat and sacrifice, on which a police service that truly serves this city is built.

I don’t need to reiterate what I’ve said before about improving our performance and standards.

My aim has been to show there are different ways of delivering brilliant policing and that real change is possible. Despite all our challenges the Met can succeed.

I believe that excellence can only come with candour and that has meant confronting some difficult issues. For some, it has been uncomfortable.

Over the last three months I have been listening to our communities, including some groups who feel under protected and over policed.

Alongside Deputy Commissioner Lynne Owens, I have also visited police commands across London and undertaken weekly live question and answer sessions attended by thousands of colleagues.

I am clear that we must refocus the blurred and bureaucratic mission officers face, whether it is tackling unnecessary paperwork or reducing the overspill of others. We must set officers and staff up to succeed.

We need support to do this and credible funding to meet the challenges of safeguarding this vibrant and modern city in the 21st century.

There can be no hiding from the fact that the budget set by the Home Office and City Hall will have a big impact on the scale of reform possible.

As we renew our leadership, we are also charting a future course creating a new strategy and performance framework that will fundamentally reform policing.

We will build the strongest ever neighbourhood policing model this city has ever seen and be far more precise than ever before in how we tackle crime, underpinning our work with the best data.

This approach is already getting results: with 2,530 arrests since September first including suspects for gun crime, predatory sex offenders and prolific burglars.

The Met is bringing down the number of wanted offenders, attending four out of five domestic burglaries and targeting those behind complex online frauds in new ways.

I came back to policing because I know I am in love with it. I know we can achieve so much more and I am excited about the opportunities for the Met in 2023.

Everyone in the Met is clear about our responsibility to deliver for you.

With their dedication and your support I know we can look forward to the New Year with confidence and optimism.

In the first 100 days of my commissionership, the Met has started to deliver.

More trust

A reshaped leadership tasked with modernising policing by consent through an ambitious programme of reform, supported by an expert Turnaround Board.

A commitment to invest in a five day leadership development plan and work to create a leadership academy.

A total of 16 innovation hubs held across London in which police worked with more than 300 community members, business and faith leaders to improve our response to crime and build trust and confidence.

The appointment of Chief Scientific Officer Professor Laurence Sherman to better support work on areas including knife crime and the predatory men who commit violence against women and children, as well as working more closely with technology companies.

Work with criminal justice partners to reduce the crown courts backlog including the viability of fast track courts and the use of courts outside of London for non-victim cases.

Less crime

The arrest of 2,530 offenders under Project Tenacity. Among these offenders are 153 suspects for rape, 174 for burglary and 93 people suspected of violent offences.

Of these 2,530 offenders one in three (32%) were charged or cautioned and one in seven (16%) remained in custody.

The arrest of 134 of the 2,530 people by serious and organised crime investigators targeting county and London drugs lines, violent gang members and firearms suspects. 12 firearms and £98,000 cash were recovered.

A reduction in the level of wanted offenders across London, with the largest reduction in domestic abuser of 31%.

Doubling the number of domestic burglaries attended by officers to more than 80% with an ambition to reach 100% in 2023.

The dismantling of the iSpoof criminal services website which is responsible for losses of more than £49m worldwide by cyber fraud investigators.

The arrest of more than 165 suspects have been arrested, seizure of 600 plus devices and restraint or review of assets worth more than £500,000 by working with partners, including the National Crime Agency.

598 arrests by neighbourhood teams working to local community priorities.

The establishment of a data control centre at New Scotland Yard to help identify how we can deliver precise community crime fighting with the strongest ever neighbourhood policing for London.

High standards

Work to set out honest, often heroic, dedicated officers and staff up to succeed with shorter custody waiting times, better access to property stores, 29,000 mobile phones, more driving courses and having consulted across the Met a plan to deliver much more.

The creation of a new Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command with a 40% uplift in people - 200 to 280 staff proactively investigating and identifying officers and staff who abuse their positions of trust whether on duty, off duty, in person or online.

Internal appeal asking Met officers and staff to report corruption and abuse AND a ground-breaking Anti-Corruption and Abuse Hotline on 0800 085 0000 in partnership with Crimestoppers allowing the public to anonymously report Met Police officers and staff who abuse their position of power and trust.

Further improvements to identify the minority who corrupt our integrity, such as using data analytics to improve rolling vetting; and delivery of increased random drug and substance misuse testing.

Action to reduce the overall time taken to investigate gross misconduct cases, boost the skills of investigators and work more closely with criminal justice partners."

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