In a city where every policy decision can affect millions,the quality of evidence behind those choices matters as much as the choices themselves. At the heart of London’s approach to crime, policing and public safety sits MOPAC’s Evidence & Insight unit, a specialist team within the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.Through rigorous data analysis, research and evaluation, the group supplies City Hall, the Metropolitan Police and local partners with the intelligence they need to understand what’s happening on the capital’s streets-and what actually works to keep them safe. The london.gov.uk Evidence & Insight portal opens a window onto this work, offering the public a rare, detailed look at the facts, figures and findings shaping London’s policing and criminal justice agenda.
Strengthening data driven policing through MOPAC Evidence and Insight
By turning raw data into actionable intelligence, the team helps the Met and City Hall move beyond instinct-led decision making towards a culture grounded in robust analysis. Analysts bring together crime reports, public confidence surveys, victimisation data and demographic insights to map risk, identify emerging threats and understand which communities are most affected. This evidence base ensures that operational deployments, policy changes and funding decisions are shaped not only by what is happening now, but by what is likely to happen next.
Working closely with frontline officers,community partners and policymakers,the unit translates complex findings into clear insights that can be used on the ground. This includes:
- Pinpointing hotspot areas for targeted patrols and early intervention
- Evaluating pilot schemes to identify what works and where to scale
- Monitoring disproportionality to support fair and accountable policing
- Combining qualitative feedback with quantitative data to reflect lived experience
| Insight Area | Primary Use |
|---|---|
| Crime pattern analysis | Directing patrols and resources |
| Public confidence data | Shaping engagement strategies |
| Victim profiles | Designing tailored support services |
| Intervention impact | Informing future investment |
Evaluating community safety outcomes with transparent performance metrics
Across London, residents, practitioners and policymakers increasingly expect to see clear, comparable evidence of how safety is improving in their neighbourhoods. The MOPAC Evidence & Insight team draws together police data,public health indicators and community feedback to build a shared picture of performance that goes beyond crime counts. This means tracking whether victims feel listened to, whether young people are diverted away from violence, and whether local problem‑solving actually reduces repeat demand on emergency services. By publishing these measures in accessible formats, Londoners can scrutinise progress, challenge gaps and see where resources are making a tangible difference on the ground.
To support this, performance dashboards and open data releases are designed with transparent, easy‑to‑interpret metrics that align with borough priorities and city‑wide strategies. These indicators are regularly reviewed with partners and communities to ensure they remain relevant and fair, capturing both short‑term results and longer‑term change.
- Victim confidence in reporting and support
- Perceptions of safety on streets, transport and in public spaces
- Repeat harm to individuals, locations and communities
- Timeliness and quality of partnership responses
| Metric | What it shows | Update cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Neighbourhood confidence index | Public trust in local safety efforts | Quarterly |
| Serious violence rate | Trends in high‑harm offending | Monthly |
| Reoffending snapshot | Impact of prevention and diversion | Bi‑annually |
| Victim support access | Uptake of help after a crime | Quarterly |
Translating crime research into practical strategies for London boroughs
Across the capital, insights from victimisation surveys, call‑for‑service data and community consultation are being turned into targeted local action. Borough analysts and community safety teams are working with MOPAC’s Evidence & Insight unit to identify micro hot spots, map offender networks and understand the lived experience of victims.This means frontline practitioners can move beyond intuition and focus on what works, where, and for whom. In practice, that can mean re‑designing street layouts, re‑timing policing patrols, or reshaping youth outreach so it reaches those at greatest risk at the moments that matter most.
- Local crime dashboards give boroughs live trends on robbery, violence and antisocial behaviour.
- Problem‑solving toolkits translate academic models into step‑by‑step guidance for neighbourhood teams.
- Evaluation support helps councils test new initiatives and scale the ones that deliver impact.
- Victim‑focused metrics ensure strategies are judged not just on crime counts, but on confidence and harm reduction.
| Borough use case | Evidence applied | Practical response |
|---|---|---|
| Night‑time economy risk | Peak‑time assault mapping | Focused patrols & safer routes |
| Youth violence | Repeat location analysis | Targeted mentoring hubs |
| Residential burglary | Street‑level repeat victim data | Doorstep security campaigns |
Embedding rigorous evidence in policy decisions to improve public trust
Decisions that affect Londoners’ safety and confidence cannot rest on intuition alone. By building transparent evidence frameworks into every stage of policy design, MOPAC makes it possible for the public, practitioners and partners to see not just what is being done, but why. This includes systematically drawing on academic research, lived experience, frontline data and financial analysis, then openly publishing the assumptions, risks and trade‑offs behind each proposal. When residents can trace a direct line from the challenges in their neighbourhoods to the data that shaped a policy response, confidence in policing and criminal justice becomes grounded in facts rather than headlines.
To make this culture of scrutiny routine rather than exceptional, MOPAC integrates evidence standards into commissioning, evaluation and oversight processes, ensuring that what works, for whom, and at what cost is continuously tested.
- Clear criteria: policies are assessed against measurable outcomes, not just activity levels.
- Open methods: evaluation designs and data sources are made accessible wherever possible.
- Self-reliant challenge: external researchers and community voices are invited to test assumptions.
- Feedback loops: learning from failures is treated as seriously as celebrating success.
| Policy Area | Key Evidence Used | Public Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Youth violence prevention | Longitudinal cohort studies | Targeted support to highest‑risk groups |
| Victim services | Service‑user surveys | Faster, trauma‑informed responses |
| Neighbourhood policing | Local crime and confidence data | Visible patrols where concern is highest |
In Summary
As London navigates intersecting pressures of crime, inequality and rapid demographic change, the work of MOPAC’s Evidence & Insight team is becoming less a specialist function and more an essential public utility. Its data, evaluations and research do not make policy decisions-but they frame the choices, expose the trade-offs and test the impact of what follows.
For residents, the value is ultimately pragmatic: safer streets, better-targeted services, and a clearer sense of what is working, where, and for whom. For decision-makers, the challenge is to move beyond headline statistics and engage with the often uncomfortable detail that rigorous evidence brings to light.
On london.gov.uk, the Evidence & Insight pages now form one of the city’s most significant repositories of safety- and justice-related data. How consistently that resource is used-and how transparently its findings are acted upon-will help determine whether London’s approach to policing and crime reduction is led by habit, by headline, or by hard evidence.
