Driving the pace of reform

The need for reform not tweaks was my focus today while speaking with an audience of police leaders.

I've said it before, and I will say it again: we must be less cautious when it comes to challenging the blurred and bureaucratic mission our frontline officers face.

This has been created by police leaders, policy makers and others who have pursued the chimera that more paperwork will deliver more trust.

It hasn’t and it won't - the answer lies in leadership not "managerialism".

We need a practical approach to policing with no distractions where officers are freed up of bureaucracy and demand passed on by others.

The world has moved on. In the past policing and the wider criminal justice system has looked at evolution in a vain bid to keep pace. In a digital era it is revolution that is needed.

Since I became Commissioner nine weeks ago, I have been determined that we must look hard at ourselves so we can deliver our highest priority - more trust, less crime and high standards.

How are we setting up our honest and often heroic officers to succeed?

It cannot be right that our systems lead some officers to be more concerned about submitting the correct paperwork than taking dangerous people off the streets and preventing predatory crimes behind closed doors.

I believe our criminal justice system is the most bureaucratic in the world and it is unacceptable that we still have Covid charging standards temporarily imposed by others.

They slow down justice, create more work for police and lead to victim withdrawal.

I've heard from officers who feel we are suffering death by a thousand paper cuts.

Fewer than a quarter of calls we receive are about crime.

One area I am concerned about is the care of those in mental health crisis. I recently spent time with officers in one area of London where half of their shift were on mental health watches from the minute they walked in the door.

Police officers are caring, they’re compassionate but I am afraid it is not our profession. It is not what we are most skilled to do.

So we need others to play their role so police can focus on our key responsibility of fighting crime and protecting the public.

It is great that my mandate for change is strongly supported by the Home Office, the Mayor of London and many others.

I welcome the Home Office productivity review, which I hope will show the true extent of how our officers are being spread too thinly. But it has to happen quickly because there is so much for us to do.

We remain in uncertain times and it is clear there is pressure on all public services. Difficult decisions must be made on budgets as the public purse is increasingly squeezed.

I've said excellence begins with candour. Part of this candour is acknowledging that we are not able to do as good a job as we would want without others to also play their role.

This is in part – not wholly by any means – because we’re taking on responsibilities that detract from delivering more trust, less crime and high standards.

I remain optimistic for the future, continuing to work in partnership with others who believe in a Met that everyone can be proud of.