This resource is from the Issues section. This page contains information related to the now discontinued Safer London Panel.

Sections available here:

• Safer London Panel
  • Surveys, research and newsletters

Safer London Panel

Discontinued April 2007

Since the MPA established the Safer London Panel in 2004, the three thousand strong membership chosen to reflect the demographic make up of the city has assisted the Authority by contributing to our consultation and engagement processes and acting as a sounding board for London’s policing policies.

The Authority needs to regularly review it’s community engagement work with Londoners to be sure the most effective means are being used and ensure our community engagement has a real impact on policing policy. The Safer London Panel has taught us that we need to use a variety of methods to target the various different groups and policing issues in London.

As part of our regular review process, the work of the Safer London Panel was discontinued in April 2007. This was a difficult decision to take as the Authority is proud of what the Panel has achieved and grateful to the members for their active participation.

Both the MPA and MPS have set in place a number of additional opportunities for Londoners to express their views on policing needs and priorities since 2004. For example, the quarterly MPS Public Attitude Survey has been expanded from an eight thousand to a twenty thousand strong membership, thereby providing even more Londoners with a voice. In addition, local authorities are becoming much more active in engaging the public in crime and disorder issues.

The MPS has also accelerated its rollout of the Safer Neighbourhood programme and each of the 630 Safer Neighbourhoods teams across London is required to:

• hold a public meeting in its neighbourhood every 4-8 weeks;
• establish a Safer Neighbourhood Panel to identify local priorities for teams; and
• set up a Key Individual Network, made up of community members, to pass community feedback on to each team and to measure the effectiveness of the teams’ work.

The MPA believes the Safer Neighbourhood programme will be of particular interest to Londoners. Work previously carried out with Safer London Panel members indicated that local policing issues were of most interest to people in the capital. We are pleased then that the Safer Neighbourhood programme will ensure direct local community involvement to respond to local public safety issues.

Surveys, research and newsletters

The following are surveys and research carried out by the panel members from 2004 to 2007. Also listed are the quarterly panel newsletters.

Survey results

• SLP – first survey [PDF document]
• SLP – second survey [PDF document]
• SLP - mini survey [PDF document]

Research

• Diversity of PCSO recruits compared to Police Officer recruits in the MPS [PDF document]
  A number of different mechanisms were utilised to inform this research and one element compromised a mini survey with Safer London Panel members.
• Signage project [PDF document]
  This project was intended to capture views on whether: the new MPS signage was an improvement; if it increased understanding of the services offered at the police station or police office; made passers-by more aware of station location and what impact increased visibility had on public perceptions.
• Communication Matters [PDF document]
  Qualitative research looking at what information members of the public currently receive directly from the police and what information they would like to receive.
• Consultation with small businesses [PDF document]
  This research sought to understand the relationship and levels of satisfaction with policing in London for the small business community.
• Workshop on policing priorities [PDF document]
  The report presents the findings of a one-day workshop, focusing on the following key service areas:

1. dealing with anti-social behaviour;
2. terrorism and major incidents;
3. effective relations with the community;
4. tackling serious crime.

Newsletters

• March 2007
• November 2006
• June 2006
• February 2006
• November 2005
• August 2005
• March 2005

The following are available as PDF documents:

• Diversity of PCSO recruits
• Mini survey
• First survey
• Second survey
• Signage project
• Communication Matters
• Consultation with small businesses
• Workshop on policing priorities

Portable Document Format (PDF) files require Adobe Acrobat Reader, available as a free download from Adobe.

The following pages on the MPA website are relevant:

• MPA partnerships

The following external websites are relevant:

• Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)
• MPS borough Safer Neighbourhoods Teams