The police funding formula: Does it reflect London's crime management needs?

The allocation of funds to police authorities in England and Wales is based on a formula which has been constructed to capture the key drivers of the main activities of the police: crime management, call management, public or der and reassurance and traffic management. The formula was based on data f rom a 1995/96 survey by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), us ing data on police activity and recorded crime from 1990-92. In this articl e, the authors argue that the resulting allocation no longer reflects accur ately the policing needs of London.