City of London Police requires improvement - report

The force needs to improve its understanding of drug markets, modern slavery and human trafficking, the report found

City of London Police requires improvement at tackling serious and organised crime, a report has found.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said that it was not reporting enough fraud disruption.

It also needed to better understand drug markets, modern slavery and human trafficking, the report found.

City of London Police Commander Umer Khan said: "We accept the challenge to do more."

The report, which looked at the three forces that operate in London, found that Met Police and British Transport Police (BTP) are "adequate" at tackling serious and organised crime.

It was published on Friday as part of HMICFRS's police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy inspections.

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HMICFRS noted that frontline teams in the City of London Police are not regularly asked to collect information on drug markets , modern slavery and human trafficking and it cannot create "analytical profiles" of the three threats due to a lack of staff.

It also found that the force, which is the national lead for fraud, "isn't recording enough disruption activity against this threat".

In the year ending 30 June 2022, the force recorded 506 disruptions, 52 of which were for fraud, the report stated.

Commander Khan said: "We welcome that His Majesty's Inspectorate have recognised the good work the City of London Police does on complex investigations... but we accept the challenge to do more to disrupt serious and organised crime."

He added that the force is committed to improve the sharing of intelligence among policing partners.

The Met was told that it should improve the way it records, assesses and manages threats from organised crime.

A spokesperson for the force said: "We are far from complacent and we know that there is always more that we can do."

And BTP was told that it should better manage intelligence gathered from sensitive sources to ensure safeguards are in place.

A spokesperson for BTP said that they are proud of the force's work to "disrupt organised criminal activity and keep people safe".

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