Impact case study database

Harding’s close understanding of the evolution of USGs, their significance in the proliferation of county lines networks and links to serious youth violence have informed and influenced initiatives by parliamentarians, policy makers in government, police and policing agencies, local agencies and the public.

In March 2019, Harding provided oral evidence for the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee Report on Serious Youth Violence. [S1] In doing so Harding drew directly on his research for County Lines [R1], for instance in suggesting better integration between police and youth services based on his experience of “ride-alongs” with the police in Kent and Medway [S1, Q194]. The broader insights from Harding’s research were directly reflected in a section of the Committee’s report headed “The evolution of the ‘gang’” [S2, para 79-83] which referred closely to his evidence, and in its recommendations for concerted action on county lines to address the “24/7 ‘dial-a-dealer’ drug culture” [S2, recommendation 20].

Most significantly, one of the Committee’s recommendations on data-sharing between agencies, which was accepted by the government [S2, para 114], was influenced by Harding’s evidence on the need for this activity to be “reinflated, reenergised and reinvigorated” [S2, para 112]. The government response to the Committee’s report said it:

recognises that tackling serious youth violence, including county lines and the associated exploitation of children and young people, needs an approach involving policing and other agencies working together with a focus on enforcement, prevention and early intervention. To do this, we must bring organisations together to share information, data and intelligence and encourage them to work in concert rather than in isolation [S3].

Government plans for a Serious Violence Bill to address these issues were included in the December 2019 Queen’s Speech as the government’s plan for future legislation [S4, p.69].

Harding’s research findings led him to be frequently consulted for advice and input by policy staff in central government. For example, in November 2019 he was invited to brief the Cabinet Office Serious Violence Team on improving the cross-government response to serious violence. In May 2020 he was selected to join a Home Office Serious Violence Unit roundtable identifying trends and drivers behind serious violence with discussions focusing on the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The DfE ‘’Behaviour, Exclusion, Attendance, Alternative Provision and Preventing Serious Violence Division’’ invited Harding to make a presentation drawing on his research work to the Division in June 2020 which contributed to shaping their policy and practice. [S5]

Harding has worked closely with police and crime agencies at senior levels, helping them identify how to respond effectively to the changing pattern of county-line related crime and to protect people most vulnerable to its effect, especially through inter-agency collaboration.

From 2017 to 2019, Harding provided expert advice to HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) as a member of their Serious Organised Crime Expert Reference Group; he was the only UK criminologist on the group and participated extensively in their bi-monthly meetings. This group established inspection criteria for a Thematic Review of police forces in England & Wales in the 2018 Serious Organised Crime Methodology for Inspection; in this, Harding’s contribution foregrounded the need to seek evidence of partnership-working, community engagement and data-sharing. These issues can be seen highlighted in chapter 3 of the subsequent report Both sides of the coin: The police and National Crime Agency’s response to vulnerable people in ‘county lines’ drug offending (HMICFRS, Jan 2020), which noted that barriers to information sharing undermine effective partnership working and recommended a Home Office review of this (p.20).

Harding has delivered 47 presentations and training sessions on these issues for the police and related agencies, with attendance ranging from 25 to 300. More recently, he delivered a keynote presentation as the sole speaker external to the Metropolitan Police Investigations and Intelligence CPD Conference, in December 2020. The audience were specialist Violent Crime Task Forces and associated Violence Investigation units, CID investigators across the MPS Commands and Intelligence Analysts, totalling over 200 attendees on the day, and 1000 subsequent accesses to the archived presentation. The invitation received from the MPS stated that this was “exactly the audience that matters” and “you [Harding] can have such a positive effect on shaping the way officers think about how they investigate gang and violent crime as well those critical key indicators to be aware of”. The organiser said that feedback from attendees was “overwhelmingly positive” and invited Harding to follow-up meetings with senior MPS officers. [S6]

At the invitation of the National Police Chief’s Council Knife Crime Lead, he presented his research findings at the March 2019 launch of Operation Sceptre (the week-long targeted approach on tackling knife crime across all 44 forces in England and Wales). That same month Harding also delivered training to over 100 staff at the Independent Office for Police Conduct on gang evolution and county lines; to Northamptonshire Constabulary on county lines drug supply networks and gangs; and in September 2020 to a West Midlands police event on Organised Exploitation. [S7]

Harding contributed extensively to the Review of the Metropolitan Police Service Gangs Matrix, from 2018-2020 as the only criminologist on the 11-person London Mayors Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) Reference Group. The resulting published report - Review of the Metropolitan Police Service Gangs Matrix (MOPAC, December 2018) - received national media interest and resulted in new MPS operating policy, improved MOPAC oversight, and substantial operational revisions and alterations. As invited reviewer, Harding raised issues of benchmarking, community engagement, standardisation, transparency, ownership, partnership and data-sharing – all later cited as final report recommendations (pp 65-73). These recommendations by Harding and others ensured the removal of over 1,000 young black men from the MPS Gangs Matrix by January 2021.

Harding has subsequently been engaged to advise MOPAC, joining their Expert Advisory Group for the Strategic Assessment for London's Policing & Crime in August 2020 and their Violence Reduction Unit’s newly formed Research Advisory Group in September 2020. [S7]

Harding’s findings have also influenced the intervention models adopted by individual organisations working on the ground in some of the districts most heavily affected by gang crime. For instance, Resilience Unlimited, which provides front-line support for young people at risk of harm from gang and youth violence, directly references Harding’s work on its website. Its Director commented that Harding’s research has underpinned the organisation’s programme of working with vulnerable young people, adding: “Harding’s recommendations regarding the need for improved data capture, joined up strategic leadership, and a re-invigorated community safety approach to the issues exposed by county lines drugs gangs have informed our company’s corporate strategy and latest operational direction.” [S8]

Further impact has been achieved through Harding’s work to encourage partnership at a local level across education, local government, health, social care and third sector organisations. For instance, in September 2019 he trained Derbyshire practitioners and stakeholders on how to address county lines at a county-wide conference jointly organised by the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable. This led to Harding continuing to advise Derbyshire Safeguarding practitioners on indicative signs to look for in county lines; the role of girls; missing children; the role of social media; drill music; and partnership solutions.

In east London, his work has helped agencies in several boroughs, which grapple with high levels of youth violence to develop their approach. He was a keynote speaker on County Lines at the East BCU [Basic Command Unit] Summit in February 2020, which drew 220 representatives from the police, schools, charities and public agencies along with parents and politicians from the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Havering. Following the event, the Barking and Dagenham Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Enforcement wrote on her website that many people had fed back to her “how enlightening the Professor’s talk was and how much learning was gained for everyone”. This includes increased early intervention within schools, an increased focus on the role of young women and decreasing exclusions.

In neighbouring Newham, Harding advised the Council’s Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Commission review of Street Violence in 2018/19 through a series of meetings to help develop their local policy. In north Kent, Harding advised the Medway Community Safety Partnership which led to the adoption of his recommendations of a localised Gangs Taskforce. [S9]. In December 2020, an east London borough council commissioned the National Centre for Gang Research to report on “Serious Violence, Criminality and Drugs”, after hearing Harding present at a conference.

Harding’s research findings are widely reported by national/local media with 69 live UK TV broadcasts; 23 UK TV recorded broadcasts; 65 UK National press interviews; 8 international media interviews; syndicated coverage on 22 BBC radio stations - each expanding public understanding and debate on the scale and significance of ‘county lines’, the roles of young people and especially young women, new weapons such as acid attacks and the importance of partnership working.

For instance, his argument that financial cuts to youth services and to police community support officers were contributing to an increase in knife crime, was reported by the Guardian in April 2018. Harding was quoted as saying “Cuts to youth services mean young people no longer have premises on their immediate doorstep that they can go to, and between the reductions in policing and community safety, there is not a lot of partnership work or community engagement taking place”.

Recently, alongside the publication of R1 during the COVID-19 lockdown (May 2020), Harding was able to show how county lines gangs were adapting to the lockdown by finding new ways of doing business with some dealers dressing as joggers and creating fake NHS ID badges to move around freely. These findings were reported widely in national and regional press and broadcast news (e.g., Guardian; London Evening Standard; Sky News – all 7^th May 2020). Harding’s County Lines monograph was featured in an article in The Times (26^th May 2020) which highlighted the finding that gangs increasingly mimicked marketing techniques of legitimate businesses. [S10]

Improving the response to rape allegations continues to be a challenging issue for public authorities and the police in the UK and elsewhere. In London, the Mayor has made tackling violence against women and girls a key priority. The research undertaken by Hine and Murphy in collaboration with MOPAC and the MPS has contributed to this work and been described as “highly influential in both policy and practice around rape investigation and provision of support to victim-survivors within the capital”. [S1]

Specifically, their research provided predictive models of attrition of rape allegations, generated from coded London case data, and prompted the adoption of new approaches to rape investigation in the capital. Moreover, their novel findings on male-on-male cases contributed to the inclusion of male victim-survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Home Office policy. Finally, their research into police officers’ attitudes directly resulted in changes to MPS training on responding to rape cases.

The research conducted for The London Rape Review has played an important role on approaches to these issues in the capital and has begun to influence practice more widely in the UK.

The review’s detailing of the specific case characteristics responsible for the high levels of attrition - drop-out of rape cases from the criminal justice system - haS been utilised by the MPS to improve their response to rape cases and informed the delivery of the Mayor’s Police and Crime Plan (2017-2021) and the London Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy (2018-2021). [S1]

The Independent Victims’ Commissioner for London has also made extensive use of the review. She has said that Hine and Murphy’s research findings “directly shaped” the review’s policy recommendations and that these, in turn, formed the basis of her lobbying of national government and statutory partners. She noted that:

Since its publication, partners have accepted a number of the recommendations in the review such as introducing trauma-informed training [for police investigators] and improving practice around the sharing of third-party material. Such changes should help to tackle unnecessary case delays and ensure that victims’ trauma is better understood. [S2]

Public awareness of these issues has been enhanced through the widespread national and regional press coverage of the review. The Guardian (31/7/19), for instance, headlined their report “Only 3% of rape claims in London result in convictions, study says”, whilst the report in the Independent (31/7/19) drew out the attrition findings:

The London Rape Review, conducted by the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime and the University of West London, found that the most common reasons for victims withdrawing were “stress and trauma caused or exacerbated by the investigation”, a desire to move on from the rape and concerns for their own safety.

The BBC’s report (31/7/19) focused on victims, heading their story “Rape support 'needs drastic improvement'”. Many other press outlets covered the story, including the Metro (31/7/19), Belfast Telegraph (1/8/19), New Statesman (19/8/19), often linking this story to the related topic of Digital Processing Notices which - controversially - required complainants of sexual assault to allow police to download and examine the contents of their electronic devices. [S3]

The development of a robust coding framework through this project has also improved the ability of MPS, and other police forces, to continue these assessments. [S4] The MOPAC Evidence and Insight Team has been able to advise other police and crime commissioners and police forces on replicating the research in other areas of the UK. Thus, the approach pioneered in London through the collaboration with UWL has contributed to expanding the evidence-base nationally. Furthermore, follow-up work instigated between MOPAC and the Crown Prosecution Service has led to a full end-to end review of cases to investigate key issues and identify areas for improvement as cases move from the police to the CPS. [S1]

Work specifically exploring the progression of cases involving male victims of rape led to invitations

from 2016 onwards, to a series of annual CPS and Home Office consultations on male victimisation, where Hine presented his research to representatives from across government. In these consultations, he consistently argued for the inclusion of male victim-survivors in various policy initiatives and spoke on the unique challenges that men face upon victimisation.

A testimonial provided by the CPS Policy and Strategy Directorate has said the advice received from this and other consultations resulted in the publication of a CPS Position Statement on male victims for crimes covered by the CPS Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy in September 2017, which was the first of its kind. The testimonial stated that the Position Statement contained direct recognition of some of the points raised by Hine and others, including reference to the barriers faced by male victims in relation to damaging gender stereotypes, stigma around mental health, and fear of losing children.

Publication of the CPS statement has had a significant impact on shaping approaches by investigators and prosecutors responding to cases of domestic and sexual violence involving men and has served to highlight the numerous gender-specific considerations necessary when securing justice for these victims.

Hine has continued to contribute through to 2020 to CPS roundtable events on male victims, and the testimonial stated that his input has been “highly valuable to CPS policy makers and have resulted in update guidance which has improved the standard of support and service provided to male victims.” [S5]

Hine and Murphy’s research on police attitudes provided MPS-focused evidence to support previous assertions that officers’ attitudes and subsequent judgements may help to reinforce rape-myth perceptions. Following presentation of their research findings, Hine and Murphy were commissioned in 2016 by the MPS to design and deliver several training packages for specialist and first-responding officers.

For specialist sexual offences investigation trained (SOIT) officers this consisted of a half-day package focusing on the nature of rape myths, their relationship to broader concepts surrounding gender and society, their influence in the investigative process (specifically by police officers), and the results of the large-scale MPS study. This was delivered to 32 new SOIT officers over four sessions and to 24 existing SOIT officers over two sessions.

Hine and Murphy also delivered a full-day “train the trainers” package detailing the basics of social cognition, the nature and purpose of rape myths, how rape myths are products of broader beliefs around gender and sex, and how both theirs and others’ research can help explain and help combat levels of attrition for rape cases within the criminal justice system. The trainers subsequently delivered this to first-responding officers, with the MPS estimating this had reached c10,000 officers by March 2019. [S6]

Testimony from both frontline and SOIT officers provides insight into the changes gained, with statements such as “It made me really think about attitudes towards rape”, “All aspects made me think about how I would interact with victims” and “has made me think and given me confidence in my new role” all demonstrating the impact of the programme on officers’ thinking and behaviour [S7]

Although restructuring of specialist officer training and budgetary constraints meant that the MPS were unable to continue direct delivery of the training after 2017, the lead officer at the MPS confirmed that Hine and Murphy’s work continues to be used in training as “evidence based examples of the influence rape myths can have in the investigative decisions of officers” and has been “highly influential in the training of rape investigation within the capital”. [S6]

The results of the replication study in 2020 described in section 2 provided evidence that officers’ attitudes towards “rape myths” have changed. As the corroboration received from the MPS and their support of the replication study demonstrates, the training and knowledge transfer through Hine and Murphy’s work, is considered to be making an influential contribution to this welcome development. [S8]