Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Yes. We have experience of dealing with forces like Cumbria and Suffolk as well as the Met when it comes to those disasters. We will take command of the scene and we will take command of the media relationships quite swiftly from the local force who often get there first ...

I think the difference is primarily between London and the rest of the country. Even the other big cities are quite different from London. Talking to the chief constables of those forces and their relationships with the media, they are very different. London is a particularly unique and tough challenge ...

The operational impact of our jurisdiction is that we do have to deal with every police force in England, Wales and Scotland. We deal with the different jurisdictions in England, Wales and in Scotland, and it means we have to be very conscious of everybody else's needs, both political ...

That's correct.

That's correct.

Yes. It's to ensure that there is oversight and coherence between the documents to ensure that there is one clear and accurate record which is available for inspection and oversight by the Police Authority and by the public.

We're working together ensuring the coherence of our submissions.

That's Mike Cunningham, Chief Constable of Derbyshire.

No, sir.

Yes. It will be reviewed in the light of the HMI report as well and we await the national guidance which will be submitted to HMI at the same time as my media response, so we'll be complying with the national requirements for that to make sure there is ...

I think the value of the press office is very clear to me, the coordination of activity, ensuring that there's a record of what has been said so that if there are further inquiries from other media sources we can pass those stories on as well, and whilst we ...

Yes, I do. I think whilst good news stories are rarely popular in the media, I think that the persistent imbalance of stories has a corrosive effect upon the public's view of crime and upon police officers as well. And I think that persistent highlighting of particular problems while ...

I think if there's a legitimate policing purpose to meet a journalist and discuss matters, I think it's perfectly reasonable to have that discussion with them in order to discuss current issues. Many journalists are not particularly knowledgeable about some police matters. I think the chance to expand ...

Very infrequently.

Yes, that's correct.

One of the reasons we have such a high detection rate is because of the use of the media in putting those images out swiftly and getting those responses. So it's a vital part of what we do.

In the Metropolitan Police there is intense media scrutiny. The national newspapers have a constant interest in the Met and, as I said in my statement, almost daily there would be a senior police officer outside New Scotland Yard dealing with one of the major issues of the day, be ...

Yes.

Primarily these matters have been associated with the Metropolitan Police. There are some concerns from my colleagues that we might overreact to some of those concerns, but nevertheless I think we should have universal policies that apply throughout ACPO and as long as they're not excessively restrictive, then I ...

Generally speaking in my experience I've found them to be accurate in what they report. They will nevertheless reflect the particular standpoint of the organisations that they work for, but I've found the more experienced crime reporters generally speaking to be quite responsible.

As I said, primarily matters should be on the record from a named source, but I think there are circumstances where background briefings can be given to give a context of a crime type or a particular issue. Still a matter of record, of course, and records should be kept ...

HMI has identified some of those, but my view is we have an opportunity here to use social media responsibly and properly to communicate with the public, to put out messages from the police, but also to receive information from the public. And we have a generation of police officers ...

That's correct.

That's correct, sir. We can't of course know the detail of what was discussed, but at least we'll have a record which will identify the frequency of those meetings and any apparent disproportionate number of meetings should become obvious.

I have had journalists raise that with me. I don't see why that should. We are -- we encourage our officers and our staff to be open with the media. And as Filkin said, we should be doing more -- for the Metropolitan Police -- we should be doing more rather than ...

By keeping a record of all meetings with journalists and particularly for senior officers, one of my considerations is that these meetings perhaps should be on the Internet so that people can have a public view of who's meeting. That hasn't yet been approved by my colleagues, but ...

That people should not have a close relationship with journalists. And if they do, then they should declare it.

Yes.

Yes, sir.

Quite frequently when we have a major incident, the journalists, the photographers will appear quite rapidly, but I think it's a duty of the force dealing to ensure they have a media strategy in place, that they understand the legitimate requirements of the media and put in place facilities ...

Yes.

The guidance that will be coming out in April won't be addressing those matters. But the complete guidance in its broader sense will be rewritten as a result of the matters coming from this Inquiry.

Yes, sir.

Infrequently, but it will happen in some of these significant cases, and my personal knowledge of a high profile murder case some years ago that I was in overall command of, finding journalists trying to track down suspects before we'd got to them. We knew where these people were ...

It's primarily the high-profile cases. Forces that have regular -- all forces have regular contact with their regional and local media and I have very, very few complaints about that relationship. They have an enduring relationship and generally speaking the regionals and the locals have a real connection with their ...

They only arise occasionally. I get feedback both from journalists and police officers about particular events, and sometimes I get very positive comments from both journalists and police about the way some matter was handled. Others I get considerable concerns about the conduct of the media. To be fair, I ...

The sheer volume of the national media descending upon a small community can have quite an impact in all sorts of ways. The pursuing of witnesses, the pursuing of suspects, casting doubt on the ability of the local force to cope with this particular challenge. Casting doubt on the ability ...

Yes. I have made contact with the PCC to discuss some recent concerns about the behaviour of the media. I think it would be fair to say we haven't perhaps made sufficient use of them in the past, but both PCC and Ofcom have wanted us to engage with ...

The ACPO press office is a very small office but it will provide coordination for matters that go beyond the boundaries of a particular force, whether that be a cross-force activity or some particular issue that has impact upon the wider police community. So the ACPO press office will assist ...

Yes.

I think there's a balance to be struck between the rights of individuals and the genuine public interest in showing that we are dealing rigorously with certain crime types to reassure the public and also to encourage the public to come forward if they have further information and to ...

That's correct, sir, and then of course getting the media to report upon that release, of course, is a matter that then I do think there's an obligation on the media to make sure that if they have publicised the arrest of someone, then they should publicise the ...

Also that we are continuing to examine all possibilities and someone for the moment we may not be charging of course we may come to rearrest or deal with them again at some later stage. On some of these matters the least said I think at the first instance the ...

If we're asked that question, then we'll answer that as appropriate, but if we haven't announced the arrest of someone, it would be rather odd for us to announce the fact that we're not charging that person. I don't think that's an obligation for ...

Whilst it's the responsibility of the police to ensure that factual information is released, getting things right and redressing perhaps something that's been put out before lays with the media to ensure that they do redress something they may have said about someone's previous arrest or something ...

Yes, sir. We should not be, nor should anyone else, in my opinion, be releasing those details.

The point that you made so far with Mr Jefferies already points out the frailties of that particular position, and we do have a lot of problems in various forces around the country where people have been identified, there may well be campaigns against them, both physical campaigns in the ...

It may well be. As I said, sir, others have a different view and tend to challenge that position, but I think that if we have a clear position that people are not to be named, unless there are some other pressing reasons, perhaps to clarify some confusion over what ...