Mayor Boris Johnson has invested half a million pounds in a new unit tasked with carrying out “proper academic research” into the best and most cost effective way of deploying the capital’s shrinking policing resources.
The new Institute for Global City Policing is a collaboration between the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime, Scotland Yard and University College London which will contribute £750,000 towards setup and running costs.
City Hall says falling police budgets and a growing population means it’s “imperative” that the Met’s leadership has access to the same kind of research which is available to healthcare and legal practitioners.
The Institute is expected to bring together leading experts in policing and crime research to help identify the key drivers of crime and examine which tactics are most successful in a global city such as London.
Stephen Greenhalgh, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, said: “Policing a growing and changing global city like London is a unique challenge, and this new Institute will help ensure we are equipped to meet it.
“With unprecedented access to London’s policing data, this new partnership will allow the Met to call upon the expertise of the world’s leading academics in keeping Londoners safe and crime off our streets.”
Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe added: “The police need the same kind of academic knowledge base as engineering, medicine or law. It is a great privilege to keep over 60 million people safe. We always need help in achieving that aim.”
Professor David Price, UCL Vice-Provost (Research), said: “I am delighted that we are able to work in partnership with the Met Police and MOPAC on this new institute.
“UCL is London’s Global University, so addressing the challenges facing global cities is one of our central goals.
“I am confident that our relationships with policing will prove as positive for both parties as the interactions between academia and medicine have done, with world-leading research and the provision of high-quality public services supporting and informing each other.”
