THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR POLICING AND CRIME (PERIVALE) COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER 2020

PROOF OF EVIDENCE ON BEHALF OF THE ACQUIRING AUTHORITY IN RESPECT OF THE OPERATIONAL NEED FOR VRES, THE RISK OF OPERATIONAL FAILURE, THE LOCATION OF THE VRES SCHEME AND THE PROXIMITY TO AND THE NEED FOR THE VRES SCHEME ON ONE SITE

COMMANDER KYLE GORDON, ()

20 APRIL 2021

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INTRODUCTION AND EXPERIENCE ...... 3

SCOPE OF EVIDENCE ...... 3

STRATEGIC NEED FOR VRES SCHEME ...... 3

RISK OF OPERATIONAL FAILURE ...... 6

SITE PROXIMITY TO LONDON ...... 6

NEED FOR ONE SITE ...... 7

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ...... 8

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INTRODUCTION AND EXPERIENCE

1.1 My name is Kyle Gordon. The evidence which I have prepared and provide for this Inquiry is true and I confirm that the opinions expressed are my true and professional opinions.

1.2 I am a Commander of the Service with responsibility for ‘Uniformed Operations’ within the Metropolitan Police Service’s ‘Met Operations’ Business Group. I have command of all Firearms, Taskforce (Territorial Support Group, Mounted, Dog Support Unit and Marine Policing Unit) and Roads and Transport Policing Operational Command Units (OCUs) within my current portfolio. I have held this positon since 2018.

1.3 The Met Operations Business Group encompasses all of the specialist and supporting police functions provided by the Metropolitan Police, including all of the functions delivered from the Perivale site.

1.4 Prior to my service with the Metropolitan Police Service I have served with the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Northumbria Police and British Transport Police.

SCOPE OF EVIDENCE

2.1 My evidence addresses the following topics:-

2.1.1 the role and strategic need for the provision of the Vehicle Recovery and Examination Service ('VRES') across London for the Metropolitan Police Service ('MPS'), and the ('Forensic Services') and the Road and Transport Policing Command ('RTPC') facilities, by the retention of the VRES facility, henceforth referred to as the 'VRES Scheme' continued delivery of the VRES;

2.1.2 the risk of operational failure by not enabling the continuation and security of the VRES Scheme;

2.1.3 the need for the VRES Scheme to be in close proximity to London; and

2.1.4 the need for the VRES Scheme to be located on one site

STRATEGIC NEED FOR VRES SCHEME

3.1 The MPS is responsible, together with the Criminal Justice Service, Local Authorities and other partner organisations, for keeping London safe and for supporting victims of crime. The MPS is seen as a world leader in policing, has over 44,000 officers and staff, and is the UK's largest police service. It has 25% of the total police budget for England and Wales. The MPS also has national responsibilities, for example responding to counter terrorism through SO15 the Counter Terrorism Command and supporting the and other national security organisations.

3.2 VRES provides a vehicle recovery, removal, forensic examination, storage and disposal service across London in accordance with over a dozen regulations. Its core focus is on denying criminals the use of roads and on obtaining vital evidence that allows the prevention of crime and the prosecution of criminals.

3.3 VRES fulfils a crucial role in fighting crime in London. It is the principal specialist

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service involved in removing, storing and examining vehicles involved in crime, whether that be uninsured vehicles, vehicles involved in serious crime including murder, rape, drugs and weapons crime, people smuggling and other such activities or those involved in fatal or serious road accidents. Core services that are provided from the site that is the subject of this compulsory purchase order ('the Perivale site') include forensics, data collection, document verification, storage of vehicles and exhibits, terrorism-related vehicle crime investigation, intelligence gathering, firearms and offensive weapons discoveries and disposal, vehicle registration and large-scale incident response.

3.4 The Metropolitan Police’s Department of Legal Services has advised that: “the first point to note is that it is absolutely clear that the Commissioner needs access to car pounds to fulfil the statutory obligations under the Road Traffic Act 1988 (and other statutes) to keep impounded vehicles off the street and ensure they are kept safely. The provision of the car pounds therefore falls within the function of MOPAC to secure that the force is “efficient and effective”.

3.5 Crime rates relating to motor vehicles are increasing – between 2015-2018, thefts on motor vehicles increased by 34.4%, to over 31,000 offences per year. Of the c. 4,000 vehicles involved in crime that are brought to the Perivale site for detailed investigation, between 50%-60% are suspected of being involved in serious crime.

3.6 VRES operates from two sites, Charlton and Perivale. VRES recovers, investigates, processes and disposes of around 40,000 vehicles per annum. These are all types of vehicles, from scooters and motor-cycles to buses and HGVs. However, whilst the Charlton Car Compound deals primarily with uninsured vehicles and those linked to minor crime, the Perivale site provides a range of far more sophisticated investigation services and deals with a significant number of vehicles linked to serious crime. These vehicles require far more detailed investigation work and many remain on site for a considerable period of time while investigations complete.

3.7 In order to function effectively, the VRES needs to be able to recover vehicles from the street without delay – a vehicle suspected of being involved in crime must be attended by a police officer until removed as there is a high risk that evidence may be removed or tampered with. It must then be quickly removed to a safe and secure place, where it can be examined and within which there are clear and robust methods of ensuring the continuity of evidence. In over 60% of cases the vehicles cannot be driven, either to preserve evidence, because they are incapable of being driven, because they are or are suspected of being unsafe, or simply because the police do not have the keys. Consequently on these occasions, they have to be removed using flatbed recovery vehicles. As many of the vehicles concerned are linked to crime, there is a considerable risk of attempts to destroy evidence, meaning that the transport and storage of such vehicles creates risk. There have been 19 attacks on vehicles seized by VRES in the last 3 years resulting in evidence being stolen or destroyed. These attacks take place either while vehicles are in transport to the VRES sites or on the VRES sites themselves. We therefore try to move them as quickly as possible to a place of safety and keep them secure from that point onwards.

3.8 Whilst the longer term effects of the current pandemic remain unclear, we expect London to continue to grow rapidly, with its population projected to increase to ten million by the next decade. That population increases further during the day with the influx of commuters into the city as well as having to cope (in normal times) with millions of visitors every year. The work that the MPS has to do to keep London safe is becoming more demanding and complex, with increasing numbers of crimes and incidents involving vulnerable people and high risk of harm. Overall reported crime is

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up by 27% in the 5 years to January 2020 whilst high harm crime is up by 38% in the same period. The threat to terrorism remains 'severe', with a series of appalling attacks around the world underlining the continued determination of terrorists to attack major cities including London in any way they can. The VRES have been used to investigate a number of terrorist attacks including the Westminster and London Bridge attacks and the Salisbury poisonings, with vehicles involved in the incidents themselves and those needing to be removed as a consequence of the incidents were taken to the Perivale site. The VRES continues to provide an important facility to store and examine evidence that enables the MPS to combat all of these crimes.

3.9 The Perivale site provides secure and specialist examination facilities for the following Met Operations Command Units; MO4 (Forensic Services), MO8 (Road Traffic Policing Command) and MO11 (Operational Support Services). In addition the VRES sites support the work of a wide range of other Met Operations services. The Perivale site includes one of a very few ISO 17020 accredited forensic vehicle examination sites in the UK. These facilities are not replicated at the Charlton Car Compound (nor anywhere else in southern England). The nearest similar facility is in Manchester. The Perivale site forensic facility also provides the main forensic service for all objects that are too large to be processed at the main MPS forensics unit at Lambeth (such as large bins or containers, doors, benches etc).

3.10 MO8 investigates all serious and fatal road accidents in London, comprising over 3000 incidents per annum. Whilst the causes of many of these collisions can be identified via on-scene forensic investigations, those that have resulted in fatalities or where serious fault (either of the vehicle or the driver) are brought to the Perivale facility for more detailed investigation.

3.11 In addition to its core work within the Met Operations business group, VRES is integrated into many strands of the wider MPS provision across Greater London. The Perivale site operates closely with other MPS Business Groups – in particular Frontline Policing and . Frontline Policing provides the main uniformed response, investigation and front-line policing operations across London whilst Specialist Operations deals with security and counter terrorism activity. As and when a Police Officer from any one of these command units requires a vehicle to be seized under one of their relevant powers, the MPS control centre raises the request and VRES arrange for the vehicle to be recovered to one of the two VRES sites.

3.12 Whilst the command units based at the Perivale site operate independently from each other, key facilities are shared, which enables intelligence to be shared across these units or for vehicles processed by one command unit to be transferred to a second as investigations proceed. There are 100-150 such transfers of vehicles per year, normally involving vehicles that require a much higher degree of investigation and examination than originally supposed (for example because a previously serious injured individual has died, creating a possible murder case, or where evidence recovered in routine searches identify a more serious crime). The co-location of the various Met Operations services so that intelligence sharing happens routinely and where transfers of vehicles between units can occur with minimal risk to the continuity of evidence provides real operational benefits.

3.13 Whilst the vast majority of the work carried out on the VRES sites supports Metropolitan Police activities, VRES also provides its services in partnership with a wide range of other organisations including the Home Office, the Office of Immigration Services Commissioner, the National Crime Agency, HM Customs and Excise, the Health & Safety Executive, the DVLA, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and Operator Services Agency, and local authorities.

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3.14 Services provided at the Perivale site to support these wider bodies include the forensic investigation of vehicles involved in fatal accidents other than on the public road (for example Heathrow and London City Airports, railway marshalling yards, factory and industrial sites and other workplaces), secure forensic examination and storage of vehicles and other large objects of interest to the NCA, or involved in major incidents across the wider UK or abroad, the inspection and storage of vehicles suspected of being involved in the smuggling of people or goods or other customs and excise offences, and the inspection of vehicles suspected of breaching waste transfer regulations or of being otherwise unsafe.

RISK OF OPERATIONAL FAILURE

4.1 If the Perivale site, or a similar facility, is no longer available, it would directly impact on the ability of the MPS to gather crucial forensic and intelligence information that helps us to prevent or solve crime.

4.2 Without the VRES sites, and in particular the facilities located at the Perivale site, the MPS would be unable to provide any high end vehicle forensic examination and related evidence storage facilities whatsoever. Therefore it is of vital importance to the MPS that the VRES sites are secured. The MPS would be unable to comply with its legal obligations (in particular in regard to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Road Traffic Act 1988) and its ability to tackle crime and keep the public safe, resulting in service failures across the MPS.

4.3 The Mayor of London's Police and Crime Plan (2017- 2021) reflects the Mayor’s manifesto and priorities for making London a safer city for all Londoners. It includes the Mayor’s “vision zero” commitment which aims to achieve zero fatalities on the road by 2041. VRES activities focus on removing illegal, dangerous and uninsured vehicles and those involved in crime from the road. It is estimated that, at any time, approaching 20% of all vehicles in the UK are non-compliant with one or more of the legal requirements governing their legal and safe use, and there is no doubt that drivers of non-compliant vehicles are more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents, to be non-compliant with other road traffic requirements and obligations and have a higher probability of being involved in other criminal activity.

SITE PROXIMITY TO LONDON

5.1 The VRES facility is heavily used by members of the public collecting vehicles, whether as victims of crime or to collect vehicles seized from them for other offences. VRES offers an “any time” service for the victims of crime, accommodating their collection of vehicles that are no longer required for evidence purposes at any time of the day or night every day of the year. Therefore, it is important that the facilities are located conveniently for Londoners to attend by public transport. The Perivale site is served by an all-night bus service, 7 days per week, whilst the local tube station operates until 00:58 and opens again from 05:34.

5.2 The option of locating a facility outside of the M25 has been considered – leaving aside the transport challenges that may bring to members of the public collecting their vehicles, such a location would, depending on the exact location, result in significantly increased average recovery response times (whilst location dependent this is estimated at c. two hours per job) compared with the current performance figures of 90% of recoveries being completed within 60 minutes. Therefore, to maintain the current performance standard from a more remote location, a significant increase in the number of recovery vehicles would be required with a resultant cost implication of c. £2M per annum. The alternative to increasing the number of recovery vehicles

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would be for police officers to wait with vehicles for longer than they do at present whilst awaiting the arrival of a recovery vehicle with consequent impacts on their other activities.

5.3 The increased journey times and the potentially more isolated location of a remote VRES facility is also likely to increase the risk of attacks on recovery vehicles with associated risks to drivers and to the integrity of evidence.

5.4 The location of a sensitive and secure public facing MPS service which attracts threats of crime and disorder outside the MPS jurisdiction is not desirable as it would fall into other Police forces jurisdiction, and issues of emergency response, control and the increased burden on adjacent forces would arise and occur due to that. Local MPS front line officers are called to respond to threats of front counter staff on a regular basis – in 2020, there were 27 arrests as a result of such incidents.

NEED FOR ONE SITE

6.1 There is a real benefit from locating the VRES services on a single site from an effectiveness perspective as well as from a safety, security and efficiency one.

6.2 Ensuring the continuity of the chain of evidence is critical in ensuring that evidence found is able to be used in any subsequent prosecution. This requires clear documentation and assurance that the evidence has been secured properly, has not been damaged, that items have not been lost in police custody and that any forensic material has not been contaminated or altered. When the vehicles are stored on a single site and are only being moved a small distance in carefully controlled conditions, this is manageable; however, it is extremely difficult to maintain if vehicles have to be transferred between two sites (or more).

6.3 The security controls at all VRES sites are significant in order to ensure the safety and integrity of property, staff and evidence. Threats of violence from people not permitted to collect seized vehicles are not uncommon. The details of public disorder occurring at the Perivale site will be covered in more detail the evidence of Mr Mick Burke. However whether a situation will turn volatile when a member of the public comes to collect a vehicle is unknown. The consolidation of the VRES services onto only two sites greatly simplifies the security measures that need to be taken across the service as a whole and enables a much more significant police presence on each individual site.

6.4 If multiple sites were in use, a significant number of vehicles would need to be moved between them for forensic examination. In many cases involving uninsured vehicles, the need for forensic examination is only identified once the vehicle arrives at the pound and subsequent inspections identify evidence that means the vehicle then becomes a Crime Vehicle. Unless all sites used for VRES were provided with a full forensic service (with significant consequential impacts on cost through the duplication of resources), these vehicles would need to be moved again. This would involve additional time, manpower, vehicles and resources which add cost and distract from the ability to provide vehicle recovery services. Moving vehicles between sites also increases the risks of hijack and theft – in the past 3 years there have been 19 attacks on vehicles to remove or destroy evidence and this is likely to increase if the transportation of Crime Vehicles between two fixed sites becomes a regular occurrence.

6.5 The decentralisation of the service across multiple sites would reduce the economies of scale achieved by centralising staff on 2 sites whilst still providing a 24/7/365 service.

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There would be an increased need to temporarily move staff between sites to respond to specific skills requirements and to cover sickness and holiday requirements. Some staff numbers would need to increase to reflect multiple sites (notably specialist investigations staff, security, police officers etc.). These issues will introduce inefficiencies and increase overall costs. The reduction in efficiency will also increase the risk of service failure and/or delay in delivering the VRES activities with a consequent impact on wider crime fighting activities.

6.6 In order to reduce the risk to the continuity of evidence and to those employed in the service, VRES operate a minimal vehicle movement strategy. The risk of transferring vehicles between the VRES sites on completion of forensic procedures and analysis puts both the MPS and Recovery Contractor at risk due to the increasing number of vehicle hijacks from those wanting to gain their property back from VRES without authority to do so. The criminal fraternity watch vehicle movements to and from the VRES sites and attempt to hijack vehicles to retrieve crucial evidence, such as drugs, weapons and cash, whilst also putting the Recovery Contractor at risk of intimidation, assault and physical injury.

6.7 Should the MPS not be able to secure the Perivale site (or a similar size and type of facility in the required location) the likely alternative option would be the outsourcing of some or all of the service. This has been considered in detail. Outsourcing the storage of vehicles involved in crime involves difficulties of security and maintaining the chain of evidence. Even the outsourcing of Non-Crime Vehicle storage entails the placement of safety and security risks on third parties in regards to the items found in Non-Crime Vehicles, such as weapons, drugs and firearms. The Perivale site is also currently protected by having a number of police officers permanently present – depending on the operating model adopted by an outsourced provider this is likely to prove very difficult to replicate. The required security systems of Level 1 Security at the VRES Sites have been at considerable expense. Outsourced suppliers for the MPS VRES would have to develop the same level of security standards as Level 1 Security.

6.8 The Metropolitan Police area is a hub for organised crime; it is estimated that 60% of all organised crime groups in the UK operate in and around the London area. London is also a primary focus for other criminal activity; notably terrorism related. Therefore, the MPS faces a significantly greater challenge than other forces from organised criminal activity targeting to destroy evidence. Whilst a number of other forces have adopted an outsourced model, and have security in place, the MPS requirements are higher than any other forces in the UK due to the higher volumes of crime in London and particularly the higher incidence of serious and organised– it is estimated that 60% of organised criminal gangs in the UK are based in and around London, meaning that the MPS is involved in a much higher number of significant investigations than other forces. Therefore, we consider the risks to the MPS operations of such an approach to be very challenging.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

7.1 The VRES facility at the Perivale site is a crucial service supporting the MPS’s work to combat crime and keep London safe. It is imperative to the proper policing of London that the services provided from Perivale are maintained, whether there or at another suitable site.

7.2 It is the principal specialist service involved in removing, storing and examining vehicles involved in crime, whether that be uninsured vehicles, vehicles involved in serious crime including murder, rape, drugs and weapons crime, people smuggling and other such activities or those involved in fatal or serious road accidents.

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7.3 Crime rates relating to motor vehicles are increasing – between 2015-2018, thefts on motor vehicles increased by 34.4%, to over 31,000 offences per year. Of the c. 4,000 vehicles involved in crime that are brought to the Perivale site for detailed investigation, between 50%-60% are suspected of being involved in serious crime.

7.4 It is a busy operational facility that handles c. 17,000 vehicles per annum of all types and sizes. It is attended by over 100 members of the public and involves around 200 vehicle movements every day. Around 40% of all visits by members of the public do not result in them immediately recovering their vehicle, which leads to potential conflict situations. It is also the target of attention by members of the criminal fraternity, who seek to recover or destroy evidence either on site or whilst vehicles are in transit.

7.5 Over 25% of all vehicles on site are directly linked to potential or actual criminal offences. Therefore, maintaining continuity of evidence is vital so that subsequent prosecutions are not jeopardised.

7.6 In order to function effectively, the VRES needs to be able to recover vehicles from the street without delay – a vehicle suspected of being involved in crime must be attended by a police officer until removed as there is a high risk that evidence may be removed or tampered with. It must then be quickly removed to a safe and secure place, where it can be examined and within which there are clear and robust methods of ensuring the continuity of evidence. In over 60% of cases the vehicles cannot be driven, either to preserve evidence, because they are incapable of being driven, because they are or are suspected of being unsafe, or simply because the police do not have the keys. Consequently on these occasions, they have to be removed using flatbed recovery vehicles. As many of the vehicles concerned are linked to crime, there is a considerable risk of attempts to destroy evidence, meaning that the transport and storage of such vehicles creates risk. There have been 19 attacks on vehicles seized by VRES in the last 3 years resulting in evidence being stolen or destroyed. These attacks take place either while vehicles are in transport to the VRES sites or on the VRES sites themselves. We therefore try to move them as quickly as possible to a place of safety and keep them secure from that point onwards.

7.7 The work that the MPS has to do to keep London safe is becoming more demanding and complex, with increasing numbers of crimes and incidents involving vulnerable people and high risk of harm. Overall reported crime is up by 27% in the 5 years to January 2020 whilst high harm crime is up by 38% in the same period. The threat to terrorism remains 'severe', with a series of appalling attacks around the world underlining the continued determination of terrorists to attack major cities including London in any way they can. The VRES have been used to investigate a number of terrorist attacks including the Westminster and London Bridge attacks and the Salisbury poisonings, with vehicles involved in the incidents themselves and those needing to be removed as a consequence of the incidents were taken to the Perivale site. The VRES continues to provide an important facility to store and examine evidence that enables the MPS to combat all of these crimes.

7.8 Whilst the vast majority of the work carried out on the VRES sites supports Metropolitan Police activities, VRES also provides its services in partnership with a wide range of other organisations including the Home Office, the Office of Immigration Services Commissioner, the National Crime Agency, HM Customs and Excise, the Health & Safety Executive, the DVLA, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and Operator Services Agency, and local authorities.

7.9 Given the volume of activity on the Perivale site and the seriousness of some of the crime investigated there, any solution to house the Perivale service needs to be such

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that it avoids creating additional risk to staff, to the continuity of evidence and to the MPS’s investigative activities. That means that a single site solution is required that has the layout and space needed to allow vehicles to be simply, safely, securely and carefully handled and processed.

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