Accountability and partnership

I am particularly interested improving the partnership working with local communities who can set policing priorities in Ward Panels.

The Consultation phase 2 document mentions Ward Panels 3 times throughout.

• Page 65
  • Every borough has held at least four community events and established its own Safer Schools Partnership and ward panels
• Page 66
  • 99% of wards now have three priorities that have been co-developed with communities; we provide regular feedback on our progress via ward panel meetings and through Met Engage.
• Page 71
  • Our new Met Engage platform now provides a mechanism for communities to raise local concerns, provide their views on our policing priorities and give direct feedback to their local policing teams without having to attend a ward panel event.

I am very concerned because the Ward Panel handbook is no longer published on the Met Police website, for which I have raised a query / complaint. I have also requested via FOI, the latest version of the Ward Panel handbook.

See page on local ward panels

Concerns you should raise

Met Engage is hailed as the mechanism for communities to raise local concerns without having to attend a ward panel event.

Biggest problem with this is that the Met Engage platform doesn’t verify subscribers for ID or address. Literally anybody can register without being confirmed as actually being who they say they are or where they live. That can substantially provide a lot of false information to police.

False accounts

As easy as it is to create false accounts on a social media site, it is equally easy to create false accounts on Met Engage for lack of checks.

I quote a recent comment on our Facebook page: “I will make another fake account and come back for you.”

I recommend that you contact your local officers using the Met Police website. I have created easy instructions how to contact Tower Hamlets Police. We have 20 wards and you will find out which ward you are in, if you complete the box my area, if you do not know which area you are in. Your policing ward is the same as your ward for Council election purposes and your ward councillors are published on the Tower Hamlets Council website. Your police wards are on the Metropolitan Police website.

You may also use Street safe to report problems with safety in your areas, whereby you can submit anonymised concerns. This is very effective the more people complain about the same issue. Police deploy more patrols the more people complain about a matter in the same area.