A New Met for London plan.

The Met is reprioritising how it protects the public from harm and transforming how it safeguards the vulnerable and combats violence against women and children as part of its A New Met for London plan.

One of the ways the Met is relentlessly focusing on perpetrators of violence against women and girls is using the ‘V100’ initiative. The ‘V100’ uses data analytics to identify and target the top men and women who pose the most risk using existing police data from victim reports of crime alongside the Cambridge Crime Harm Index, a tool which helps police measure the seriousness of harm to victims. This enables the Met to prioritise police interventions to have the biggest impact, reducing the threat perpetrators pose and the harm they cause.

Commander Ben Russell, who leads on V100 for the Met said: “Violence against women and girls is totally unacceptable and the Met is determined to stop predators and bring them to justice.

“We’re using data to identify the most predatory offenders in London who pose the greatest threat to women and girls where evidence shows a disproportionate amount of crime is committed by a comparatively small number of people in society.

“The results show our approach is working in targeting the most dangerous suspects. I am proud of the progress we are making in using innovative, precise techniques to take dangerous offenders off the streets of London and we will ensure the most harmful will be brought to justice. “

In one case, 55-year-old Marcelino Goncalves, from Acton, was arrested and convicted after being highlighted as a high-harm offender and prolific abuser. He was convicted on Friday 22 March for rape, assault by beating, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, stalking and controlling coercive behaviour.

Goncalves came to police attention when a member of public saw him assault a woman known to him. The victim then disclosed her long history of abuse she faced – threatening her at her home, burning her with a cigarette because she did not want to have sex with him and punching her in the face.

Goncalves even continued to target her while on remand, making 15 calls from prison, but with enhanced management within the prison system, they were able to put a stop to the harassment when it was reported.

He will be sentenced on Friday 7 June.

Professor Lawrence Sherman, the Met’s Chief Scientific Officer said “This highly precise approach works by taking the names of suspects provided by victims and witnesses and uses the Cambridge Crime Harm Index to rank them in order, to give priority to those causing the greatest harm to women and girls.

“We are the first police service to use this targeting method to tackle this issue, which highlights the power of systematic tracking of every suspect in London.”

The Met is not just using the V100, it’s also ensuring more resource is focussed on these perpetrators, taking a multi-agency approach and working more closely with victims. The approach includes:

Local officers being prioritised towards arresting and interviewing wanted suspects;
An enhanced manhunt for a wanted high-risk suspect, using specialist assets and covert techniques to track them down;
Working with partners and victims and using whatever tactics possible to take dangerous people off the streets, including recalls to prison, multi-agency interventions, and civil orders;
Investigations using specialist assets to catch suspects preparing or planning to offend;
Working with victims to ensure all safeguarding opportunities are exhausted and that their voices are considered in the planned action.
A New Met for London plan.