§ Mr. Dobsonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what steps the Metropolitan police have taken to study the training methods of other police forces with higher clear-up rates for crime;
(2) whether, as police authority for the metropolis, he has sought advice from (a) police authorities and (b) chief constables in the rest of England on how best to carry out his responsibilities with regard to the clear-up rate of crime in the Metropolitan police area;
(3) when he expects the clear-up rate for crime in the Metropolitan police area to match that of the West Midlands police force.
§ Mr. Giles ShawClear-up rates alone are not considered a sufficient measure of any police force's response to crime. Although the clear-up rate in the Metropolitan police district is lower than in some provincial forces, except in respect of serious crime, the total number of arrests in the Metropolitan Police District is proportionately similar to the number elsewhere. I understand from the Commission of Police of the Metropolis that his officers have regular exchanges with other forces about training methods and that his management services department has examined investigative practice in a number of provincial police forces to try and determine the reasons for differences in clear-up rates. None of the conclusions of that research has pointed to variations in training as a contributory factor. It has suggested that clear-up rates can be affected significantly by the extent to which offences are taken into consideration or otherwise disposed of without formal proceedings. The commissioner accordingly set up in April 1984 an experiment for one year to test the effects of a scheme which has proved successful elsewhere of interviewing prisoners about otherwise unsolved crimes.