Police Research Group (Hansard, 28 March 1996)

§ Mr. Maclean

[holding answer 27 March 1996]: Phase 1 of the Home Office police research group's police operations against crime programme was launched in 1993. One hundred and forty-one applications for research funds were received under this round, and 19 were successful. Phase 3 was launched in 1995, producing 113 applications, of which 12 were successful. In both phases, some applications covered the same topic. The following tables list each of the applications received under each of these phases of the programme. Applications for research topics were not invited under phase 2 of the programme, which commissioned work to develop specific topics begun under phase 1. All costs shown exclude value added tax and travelling and subsistence expenses.

Police operations against crime: police research group programme
Phase I
Successful applications	Cost (£)
Review of the management of serious crime investigations	40,718
Skill gaps in specialist investigative interviewing	35,000
Recruitment, development and handling of informants	24,625
High volume crime and the efficacy of scientific support	40,513
Forensic expertise/services in investigation of major and serious crime against the person	25,320
Investigation and detection of child sex abuse	16,850
Crime profiling for residential burglaries	92,740
The prevention and detection of repeated burglary and car crime	86,829
Efficiency and effectiveness of central squads	77,330
The crime allocation system: police investigations

681W

Police operations against crime: police research group programme
Phase I
Successful applications	Cost (£)
into burglary and auto crime	75,950
Performance indicators for local anti-drugs strategies: a preliminary analysis	89,708
Development and evaluation of a national crime management model	102,257
An evaluation of police response to armed robbery	39,723
Asset investigation, seizure and confiscation	38,118
Intelligence, surveillance and informants	36,910
Combating burglary: an evaluation of three strategies	37,567
Presenting police evidence in court	36,438
Disrupting the distribution of stolen electrical goods	41,000
Evaluation strategy for resource management	68,126

Unsuccessful applications
Evaluation of Operation Gemini II
Managing crime: a sequential analysis
Detective profiling
Policing of firearms crime
Evaluation of crime response strategy
Examination of practice and procedure of witness interviews
Evaluating the performance of investigators
Truancy and impact on high volume crime in West Yorkshire
Partnership initiatives: multiple victims
Quick response alarms in clearing crime
Interviewing children with 'particular needs'
Cognitive investigative interviews: quality control
Strategies to counteract high volume crime
Good practice review of criminal intelligence systems
Evaluation of contribution of current intelligence practices to detecting/reducing crime
Detective skills and personality characteristics facilitating advanced investigative interviews
Review and evaluation of victims of crime follow up procedure
Detecting deception
Resource management—managing demand
Presenting information
Witness intimidation: consequences and prevention
Qualitative issues in meeting public expectations
Preparing/presenting information to the Crown Prosecution Service
A holistic approach to high volume crime on estates
Primary detection of autocrime/burglary
Burglary at people's homes: improving detection
Cross border trafficking in stolen motor vehicles
Property-oriented strategies to reduce crime
Estates policing in high crime residential areas
Evaluation of targeted policing at locational hot spots
Reducing repeat calls for service at single locations
Review of strategic approach to high volume crime
Development and implementation of new CID strategy
Development of effective crime management systems and processes
Work investigating and processing a sample of crimes
Effective detection of residential burglaries
Appraisal of the Warwickshire crime desk
Burglary dwellings in Merseyside: E2 sub-division
High volume crime
Managing demand and the investigative process
Identification of good practice and benefits from the use of surveys
Junior wheels project
Plymouth administrative services unit
High volume crime management
Role of stolen vehicle squads
Tourists as victims of crime
Making the best use of crime analysis information
Major crime investigation: strategy, tactics and operational policies
Responding to burglary: strategies and resources
Managing burglary and car crime: offence patterns
Models for managing volume crime
Estates policing evaluation
Police evidence: credibility and presentation
Police information systems and their contribution to prevention/detection of crime
Crime control functions of multi-agency policing
Campus crime
Development of successful strategies to combat high volume crime
Review of Bumblebee
Surrey Safe Shops
Evaluation of burglary strategies
Management framework for crime prevention
Processes for gathering information in crime detection
Drug related problems and response: Greater Manchester Police
Management skills for reduction in high volume crime
Resource management: responding to crime
Practical geographical analysis of large volume crime
Making the best use of crime analysis information
Effects of Sheehy on police performance and morale
Study of police
Drug-related crime and the police response
Investigative strategies for residential burglary
Policing with CCTV: developing its future potential
Indicators to evaluate police anti-drug activities
Methods for improving crime manager performance
Resource management: organisational issues
Managing the investigative process
Managing demand
Evaluation of video evidence for robberies
Increasing arrest rates for burglaries
Selecting effective detectives
A strategic approach to firearms incidents
Divisional crime desks: flow of crime solving information
Operation Bumblebee: public and police perceptions
Multi agency approach to organised crime
Effectiveness of Operation Bumblebee
Target hardening
Reducing lost days at court
Methods of handling witnesses
Understanding and resolving organisational issues of centralisation and devolution
Effective management of interfaces with other bodies
Resource management priorities
Employing civilians in surveillance teams
Review of minor office crime
Catalysing new strategic thinking to address local crime
Review of communications of individual research findings
Resource allocation decisions in CIDs
Countering ambush defence in serious investigations
Developing of a new criminal investigation management system
Evaluation of burglary control and prevention
Fear of crime and car park design
Examination of the policing of racial attacks
Cross border crime and inter-force collaboration
Detection of serious crime against homosexuals
Central or specialist units dealing with crime
Use of forensic evidence in investigation of burglary
Evaluating Metropolitan Police's evidence project (EPIC)
Incidence and migration of burglary and autocrime
Computer aided targeting: response to high volume crime
Resource implications of different types of police activity
Research consultancy to No. 5 region
Review of factors affecting the ability and willingness of officers to cultivate informants
Prevalence of informant handling among specialist and non-specialist Met. Police officers
Assessment of interview practice in child abuse cases
Improving and refining video child witness interviews
Strategic crime management and improving service delivery
Linguistic model of eliciting/interpreting responses of victims
Schools liaison: best practice for the 1990s
Burglary investigation process
Workload planning in the police service
Intelligence process review: from Basic Command Unit to mid-tier
Effect of the right to silence
Using squads effectively

Phase III
Successful applications	Cost (£)
Proactive policing in Merseyside	35,680
The British organised crime survey: a pilot	8,973
An audit of training for child sexual abuse investigators	36,483
The use of medical specialists by police forces	27,548
Tackling the rural drug problem	47,035
Police operations against child sexual abuse: prevention and detection	57,464
Criminal use of firearms: a qualification and comparison of force strategic responses	60000
Comparative evaluation of Operation 'Eagle Eye'	82,440
Solving non-residential burglary	¹—
Investigation of training initiatives taken to reduce level of abstractions	¹—
Study into the theft of computer hardware and component parts	53,186
Unheralded successes in crime control	40000
¹ The cost of these projects are still to be formally agreed.

Unsuccessful applications
The impact of crime upon small business
Controlling crime in shopping centres: public policing or private security
An investigation of firearms officers' memory for firearms incidents
An evaluation of cognitive interview training
Targeting offenders: proactive intelligence gathering and processing
Review of drugs intelligence procedures
Local area policing as a vehicle for integrated crime management
Evaluating police response to commercial burglary: a good practice guide
The targeting of offenders
Development of effective tasking and coordinating strategies for area management teams
The community impact of drug law enforcement strategies
An analysis of the targeting and displacement of violent crime
The targeting of sexual offenders
Police perceptions of nature and extent of organised crime in UK
An evaluation of the Basic Command Unit system of policing
Impact of limited tenure policies on investigation of serious crime
Review of the strategic management and effectiveness of volunteers supporting proactive policing
Police/juvenile crime: strategic resource model for multi-agency partnerships
Police resource deployment and crime control strategies
The impact of arrest and prosecution on domestic violence
Development of a national intelligence-driven police/prison liaison model for organised crime
Effectiveness of police arrangements for dealing with domestic violence
Police response to guidance on tenure
Maximising the effectiveness of tenure policy
Assessment of cross-border crime/police issues in English Channel region
Impact of tenure on police operations
The development of a demand management strategy for the police service
Intelligence for proactive policing by shire forces: Cumbria case study
Impact of female street prostitution for growth of crime and drugs
Crime against businesses: victimisation and crime prevention on Merseyside
The investigation of major and serious violent crime
Investigating organised crime in London
The firearms market in the UK
Measuring the nature, extent and effect of computer and microchip theft
Analysis of commercial computer theft, and development of risk profile
Impact of mobile telecommunications on the commissioning and execution of crime
The benefits and costs of proactive policing
Preventing violence in pubs and clubs
The replacement of arrested street-level drug dealers
Prioritising the investigation of serious and criminal gangs
Offender—directed investigations and resource management Thresholds in child protection investigation
Police strategies to tackle burglaries against commercial premises
Proactive approaches to 'shoplifting'
Intelligence from crime scene imagery
A study into the completeness and availability of fraud information
Evaluation of Toiler Lane proactive crime management model Application of tenure policies and practices
Disrupting the distribution of stolen electrical goods: phase I in Suffolk
Burglary from commercial premises of information technology: a comparison of force strategies
Resourcing crime-related work: good practice in workload allocation
Credit card abuse/fraud: can businesses help improve police detection?
Networks against crime: investigation into organised computer based crime
Investigation of child sexual abuse: criteria in police decision-making
Criminal intelligence in prisons
The deployment of detectives
The impact of tenure on police operations
Caravan thefts
Art and antique theft
The security of Post Office counters
Diverting drug misusers from the criminal justice system: evaluation of a rural multi-agency strategy
Examining dynamics of repeated victimisations of domestic dwellings
Examining dynamics of repeated armed robbery involving commercial premises
Violent crime on Merseyside: evaluation of proactive policing Organised crime: a literature review
Evaluating special policing initiative against organised high value car theft
Targeting criteria: research on drugs enforcement in Kent
Comparative, process approach to evaluating measures against organised crime
Careers of organised criminals and the structuring of organised crime in England/Wales
Improving usefulness of forensic science in investigation of volume crime
The implication of changes in retailing
Intelligence issues in `civilianisation' of drugs enforcement in the Metropolitan Police
An operational BCU model for multi-agency action on community safety
Shoplifting: the effects of changes in location/organisation of retail shopping
A strategic approach to targeting offenders
The impact of deploying proactive resources against targeted offenders
Impact of tenure on police operations
Succeeding with integrated proactive policing
Organised crime: the theft of stolen high value vehicles
Potential of commercial business analysis models against organised crime
Impact of models of resource allocation on service strategy and performance
Evaluation of investigations into female sexual assaults: Northumbria

Notifiable offences recorded by the police by malice force area and offence group
England and Wales 1995	Number of offences
Police force area	Total	Violence against the person	Sexual offences	Robbery	Burglary	Theft and handling stolen goods	Fraud and forgery
Avon and Somerset	152,885	7,643	1,026	1,582	34,111	82,456	4,017
Bedfordshire	51,104	1,911	294	664	11,026	27,285	1,781
Cambridgeshire	67,652	2,755	430	352	14,267	38,290	1,369
Cheshire	73,202	3,487	574	316	18,155	34,326	2,639
Cleveland	79,719	2,961	279	487	23,536	36,488	1,481

Police responses to computer-related theft from non-residential premises
How different models of proactivity affect resourcing of crime-related work
Impact of tenure policy on police operations/implications for resource management
Investigating and detecting street robbery
Managers' use of crime pattern analysis system in resource allocation
The development of effective proactive policing schemes
Targeting schemes: what works?
Business Watch Schemes: a three site review
The 'Counter Action' initiative: an evaluation
Tagging vehicles: asset tracking to combat theft and fraud
Local crime analysis: good practice in proactive policing of robbery and drug street crimes
The role of middle managers in the police
The security of filling stations
Tackling non-residential repeat burglary
Improving the effectiveness of crime prevention in the planning system
Measuring and evaluating performance in the detection of organised crime
Measuring/evaluating performance of inter-agency approaches to violent crime
Evaluation of police response to violent crime in an interagency context
Assessing admissibility/sufficiency of evidence in child abuse prosecutions