- Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner

Report reference number:: 191-23
Classification:: Official Restricted
Title of report:: Homicide Prevention Winter Campaign
Area of county / stakeholders affected:: Countywide
Report by:: D/SUPT Rob Kirby
Date of report:: 05/12/2023
Enquiries to:: [email protected]

1. Executive Summary

1.1 This decision report (DR) seeks the PFCC’s endorsement for the application for funding from the Home Office to utilise plain clothed and uniformed officers to prevent night-time economy (NTE) related serious violence and homicides. This funding has been made available by the Home Office as part of an
initiative in trying to reduce a specific demographic of homicides.

2. Recommendations

2.1 The PFCC endorses the application to the Home Office for funding of up to a maximum of £90,000 for Comms activity (£10,000) and the deployment of plain clothed and uniformed officers on Friday and Saturday nights (£80,000) with the intent of reducing the risk of NTE related serious violence and
homicides.

3. Background to the Proposal

3.1 In October 2023, the Home Office approached Essex Police regarding research that had been conducted identifying a particular trend of homicides they called “Cluster 5”. This trend related to “males, over 25, being killed within a public space”. They had identified Essex as one of five forces where Cluster 5 was prevalent within the homicide statistics.

3.2 An initial meeting in October 2023 with the Home Office led to Essex Police being asked to consider if they felt the Cluster 5 trend was prevalent and what contributory factors may lead to them. At this meeting they also indicated that funding may be available, but this would be dependent on our findings and proposed activity.
3.3 On 3rd November 2023, Essex Police met with Home Office representatives and detailed how NTE accounted for most Cluster 5 homicides (i.e., violence after drinking). It was identified whilst there are other causes (such as road rage incidents) the NTE was the most prevalent and afforded the most
opportunity to conduct preventive activity.
3.4 An initial bid was submitted to the Home Office on 9th November which was commented upon and returned. A final bid was submitted on the 17th November and on 30th November, the Home office indicated that the bid had been successful. On the 7th December the Home office provided confirmation
of this funding, with a Grant Agreement due to be received the week commencing 18th December.
3.5 Essex Police has previously deployed the tactic described at 4.1 successfully, seeing a decrease in both violence and other crime. This tactic was therefore chosen to deploy due to its proven track record and relevant operational context.

4. Proposal and Associated Benefits

4.1 This funding will enable Essex Police to deploy plain clothed ‘Disruptive Effect Officers’ into the three Essex District’s which have had the most ‘near miss’ incidents that are a pre cursor to NTE related homicide. The data would suggest these districts are Southend, Colchester and Clacton. Disruptive
effect officers are specifically trained to spot tell-tale signs of aggression, agitation or frustration – studies have shown these may be associated with criminal intent.
4.2 The disruptive effect officers will highlight any individuals who may present a risk to uniformed officers who will conduct a private, low level and de-escalation intervention with the individual, thereby reducing the risk they pose and reducing the chances of a NTE related serious violence and homicide.
4.3 This funding will enable 6 officers (2 plain clothed and 4 uniform) to deploy every Friday and Saturday night in the rest of December, January and February from 2200 – 0300.

5. Options Analysis

5.1 Accept the Funding
Accepting the funding and deploying officers as outlined at 4.1 and 4.2 would likely reduce both the chance of NTE related serious homicide within each deployment area but also reduce overall crime within those areas. Previous deployments of this tactic in Southend led to no public reported crime within the relevant times and areas, the only crime reported was discovered by officers themselves. Anecdotally, in previous deployments, members of the public openly admitted they had intended on fighting but that, thanks to the intervention, that was no longer their goal.
5.2 Decline the Funding
Declining the funding would not allow officers to deployed as outlined at 4.1 and 4.2. As the officers would be deployed on overtime this cost cannot be borne by the current Essex Police budget and the activity would therefore not take place.
Whilst Essex Police would, of course, continue to Police the NTE as part of its business as usual, the absence of dedicated and specifically trained resource significantly decreases the chances of the benefits outline at 5.1 occurring.
If funding were to be declined, there is some merit to questioning how effective the activity will be in January and February when NTE activity is likely to be reduced, however the period under which the funding is available has been set by the Home Office.

6 Consultation and Engagement

6.1 The proposal has been discussed and received support within the Homicide Prevention board chaired by ACC Nolan (8 November 2023).

7. Strategic Links

7.1 This new contract supports the PFCC to deliver against the Police and Crime
Plan priorities, specifically:

Investment in crime prevention – this bid is for money to specifically prevent NTE-related serious violence and homicides.
Reduce violence against women and girls – whilst the bid primarily aims to prevent male homicide it does this by reducing all violence, including that committed against women and girls. This is particularly pertinent as almost all violence against women and girls is perpetrated by men.

8.Police Operational Implications

8.1 This additional operational activity will be completed utilising the funds as overtime; therefore, it will not impact on normal policing activities.

9. Financial implications

9.1 The funding agreement is for up to £90,000 broken into 2 elements:

£80,00 for Police led activit
£10,000 for Comms activity
9.2 Due to the funding coming via the Home Office, there are no additional financial implications on Essex Police.

10. Legal implications

10.1 There are no legal implications identified.

11. Staffing Implications

11.1 Due to the operational activity being completed with the use of overtime, there are no staffing implications within this proposal.

12. Equality and Diversity implications

12.1 Disruptive effect officers are specifically trained to overcome unconscious bias and act based solely on behaviours exhibited.
12.2 The project team will monitor the gender, perceived ethnicity and (where appropriate) age of those engaged with. This will be tracked to ensure that there is not disproportionate targeting.

13. Risks and Mitigations

13.1 The risks of not accepting the funding are outlined in section 5.
13.2 There are no perceived risks in using the funding as detailed in section 4. This tactic has been employed previously with success.

14.Governance Boards

14.1 The Homicide Prevention Board, chaired by ACC NOLAN has approved this proposal.
The Chief Constable has approved the proposal.

15. Links to Future Plans

15.1 The proposed activity builds upon violence reduction within the NTE and homicide prevention activity detailed within the Homicide Prevention Strategy.
15.2 It is unknown if further funding will be made available and whether a future decision could be presented to the PFCC.
15.3 An official Grant Agreement will be received from the Home Office week commencing the 18th December. This will require signature by the PFCC and will be accompanied by a further decision report.