Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe is the former Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police. Currently he’s an adviser to the Financial Crime department at city law firm Rosenblatt. What you might not know is that he has made an arrest at every single rank, has ridden a horse at the Grand National, and has ridden a police horse at every London football ground during his term. The relationship between the police and the media Lord Hogan-Howe began his illustrious career with the South Yorkshire Police Force, joining them in the hunt for the notorious serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe. At the time, the entire country was captivated by ongoing events, but how important was the relationship between the police and the media during that hunt? “Vitally important, really, if you remember, there were 16 women who were murdered, and this went on over a period of years.” The police were overwhelmed by the amount of information they received, there were so many lines of inquiry. And the media were essential to providing this. “In any inquiry, there's only three ways to detect crime, you either get forensics from the scene that matches the suspect, you catch them doing it, [or] someone tells you who did it. And by far, that's the most effective way. The press are vital in putting you in touch with the country. 60 odd million people who will help you solve the crime.” The evolving relationship At the time, there was suspicion on both sides that both parties were withholding information. And to some extent that was true. But in order to successfully investigate a case, people have to trust that information they share to the police isn’t going to be made public. “There was a presumption [at that time] that the police wouldn't share any information with the press rather than the reverse. Now, on the whole, that presumption is reversed. The police will share as much as they can, unless there's a good reason not to.” There have been times since, when both sides have been deceived, when the press were too close to the police or vice versa, for both of them to do their job properly. “The press need to be independent, and to hold the police to account. And the police might need to investigate journalists. There is always going to be a proper distance. However, broadly speaking, it is a far better place than it’s ever been.” The rise in private prosecutions Private prosecutions, in particular in financial crime, have coincided with austerity. Economic crime is a difficult area to both investigate and prosecute because it plays on the fringes of criminal law. “To prove that you've actually got a crime compared to a bad business deal, or a misunderstanding, or anything else can be quite difficult. When you've got multi jurisdictions, this means a huge amount of cost around investigations at a time.” This is where Rosenblatt’s specialisation in Private Prosecutions comes to the fore ensuring that victims of crime can get to trial. And with law enforcement agencies tied up with their priorities around violence, there’s only so many resources they can throw at it. Through gathering evidence, drafting witness statements and making sure the Defendant attends court to answer the charges, Rosenblatt ensures that it can effectively pursue the most intricate of cases. “One of the benefits of pursuing a private prosecution is that you do an awful lot of the legwork, and eventually an independent prosecutor may step in and take over.” Managing the narrative around the 2011 London riots In the days around the riots, the media narrative wasn’t good. But it was vital that the reputation of London and the UK came out unscathed. First the police had to calm things down, then take a look at the rioters involved and thirdly, make sure it didn’t happen again while projecting a positive image of London. “In the succeeding 18 months, we had a team of 800 people who arrested 5500 rioters, 70% of who were charged, of which 90% pleaded guilty. 7 out of 10 of that group who were found guilty, were well known frequent offenders.” At the same time, the Metropolitan Police had to find £600 million of savings from a budget of £3.6 billion. And they did, while maintaining police officer numbers at 32,000. “We tried to get over the explanation that we were effective at doing our job. We were efficient. We were doing more with less. And in fact, during that time, over the next four years, we reduced crime by about 20%, including lots of murders.” How to handle the media as a senior police officer Be open with the press, be straight with them, agree to disagree, don’t do subterfuge, don’t do any Machiavellian tactics, don’t hide things, explain things and do your best to improve things. Take criticism on the chin and accept you’re playing a big boy’s game, and never complain. “Do your job. Just do your job, according to the law, do your job according to your best efforts. ...
