Please can you provide me with any standard letters or templates used within the Metropolitan Police in any of the following cases:

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1 Freedom of Information Request Reference No: I note you seek access to the following information: Please can you provide me with any standard letters or templates used within the Metropolitan Police in any of the following cases: 1. Letter to victim advising of progress on investigating the alleged offence against them. 2. Letter to victim advising that a suspect has been questioned. 3. Letter to victim advising that a suspect has been charged. 4. Letter to victim advising that a case has been discontinued where the decision to take no further action is taken by the police. 5. Letter to victim advising that a case has been discontinued where the decision to take no further action is taken by the Crown Prosecution Service. 6. Letter to suspect advising that a case has been discontinued where the decision to take no further action is taken by the police. 7. Letter to suspect advising that a case has been discontinued where the decision to take no further action is taken by the Crown Prosecution Service. I appreciate that there may not be template letters for some of these situations, and should be grateful if you would confirm in those cases that there are none. DECISION I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full. Please find below the relevant.pdf templates that have been shown referenced in line with the format of your queries. It must be stressed that the templates are editable and within the templates, the MPS system automatically populates non-generic information such as dates, crime types, names of courts etc. In addition to this there are free text sections within which officers

2 are able to complete detailing the specifics of each case. Unfortunately, there is no way of highlighting these sections on the PDF versions of the templates. The letters are printed on headed paper with contact details for the sender, CrimeStoppers and Victim Support. These are only populated via the system and unfortunately cannot be provided for this request. 1. There is one generic template that officers use and it consists of a standard MPS headed letter. Please refer to the attached document. 2. There are various letters which may fall under this category and are titled and attached as follows: Victim Letter - Suspect Arrested - Please refer to the attached document. Victim Letter - Suspect Arrested & Bailed - Please refer to the attached document. Victim Letter - Suspect Arrested & Charged - Please refer to the attached document. Victim Letter - Suspect Guilty & Out of Court Disposal - Please refer to the attached document. Victim Letter - Suspect Arrested & Released - Please refer to the attached document. 3. See the attached letter titled: Victim Letter - Suspect Arrested & Charged - Please refer to the attached document. 4. See the attached letters titled: Victim Letter - No Further Investigation - Please refer to the attached document. Victim Letter - Investigation Closed - Please refer to the attached document. 5. No template letter is available for this circumstance, however officers may use one of the 'Victim Letter - Investigation Closed' template. 6. No template letter is available for this circumstance. 7. No template letter is available for this circumstance. It must be borne in mind that officers do not have to use these templates, it is optional and there may well be local templates held on each individual Borough. Victims are

3 asked what is their preferred method of contact is, therefore these updates maybe provided via , telephone or in person. Territorial Policing Command

4 I am writing to inform you that a suspect was arrested on arrest date in relation to your report of crime type. The suspect was taken to station name police custody suite and was interviewed by me. I have further enquiries to make and so I will continue to keep you updated regarding the next stages of this investigation. However if you have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact me using the details at the top of this letter.

5 I am writing to inform you that a suspect was arrested on arrest date in relation to your report of crime type. The suspect was taken to police station police custody suite and was interviewed by me. I have further enquiries to make and so the suspect has been bailed to return to police station police custody suite on bail date. This will allow me time to continue with the investigation before deciding whether to charge the suspect. <Delete as appropriate> The conditions of the bail are insert bail conditions <OR> There are no bail conditions. I will continue to keep you updated, however, if you have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact me using the details at the top of this letter.

6 I am writing to inform you that a suspect was arrested on arrest date in relation to your report of crime type. The suspect has now been charged in relation to your crime with the offence of insert details of offence. <Delete as appropriate> We have bailed the suspect to appear before Court name on Court date. <OR> We have remanded the suspect in custody to appear before Court name on Court date. You are not required to attend Court on this occasion as the purpose of the hearing is to set a trial date and to decide whether to bail the suspect or remand them in custody. From this point on your case will be managed by the Police Witness Care Unit who will continue to provide you with updates and information, including what happens at this initial court hearing. However, if you have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact me using the details at the top of this letter. Once again, I am sorry that you have become a victim of crime. I would like to thank you for your support and patience whilst I have been investigating your crime.

7 I am writing to inform you that a suspect was arrested on arrest date in relation to your report of crime type. The suspect was taken to police station police custody suite and was interviewed by me. The suspect has admitted their guilt in committing the crime of crime type. Consequently we have decided to deal with this case by means of type of disposal. This means that the suspect has been convicted of a criminal offence. Should they re-offend in the future, this will be taken into account by Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts in dealing with that case. Once again, I am sorry that you have become a victim of crime. I would like to thank you for your support and patience whilst I have been investigating your crime. If you have any queries regarding this outcome, please feel free to contact me using the details at the top of this letter.

8 I am writing to inform you that a suspect was arrested on arrest date in relation to your report of crime type. An investigation has been conducted and at this stage there is insufficient evidence to proceed further in respect of this person. However, I am continuing to investigate your crime and will make every effort to identify other suspects. I will keep you updated regarding my progress, however, if you have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact me using the details at the top of this letter.

9 I am writing to inform you that a suspect was arrested on arrest date in relation to your report of crime type. The suspect has now been charged in relation to your crime with the offence of insert details of offence. <Delete as appropriate> We have bailed the suspect to appear before Court name on Court date. <OR> We have remanded the suspect in custody to appear before Court name on Court date. You are not required to attend Court on this occasion as the purpose of the hearing is to set a trial date and to decide whether to bail the suspect or remand them in custody. From this point on your case will be managed by the Police Witness Care Unit who will continue to provide you with updates and information, including what happens at this initial court hearing. However, if you have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact me using the details at the top of this letter. Once again, I am sorry that you have become a victim of crime. I would like to thank you for your support and patience whilst I have been investigating your crime.

10 I am sorry to learn that you have become a victim of crime. Following the initial investigation, your crime has been reviewed to see whether there are viable opportunities for further investigation. As a result, it has been concluded that at this time unfortunately there is insufficient information to proceed, and that the specific investigation into your crime will now be closed. I understand that this may frustrate and disappoint you, so I am writing to advise you that this is not the end of the police response to your crime. We take every crime seriously and although the specific investigation of your crime has closed, we are taking the following steps: 1. Should we catch an offender at a later date for a similar crime to yours or a crime in the vicinity, we will investigate whether that offender is also responsible for your crime. Each year, we solve over 8,000 crimes this way. We will re-open the investigation into your crime if further evidence such as this arises and we will inform you. 2. If your crime involved property that was stolen from you, your property is now logged and can be returned to you if recovered. The Metropolitan Police Service recovers approximately 15 million worth of stolen property each year. 3. Your crime has been passed to the local police Intelligence Unit. The Intelligence Unit will examine your crime to see if it is linked to others. If so, then the local police may direct extra resources to the area to prevent other people from becoming victims of crime and to try to catch the offender responsible. Your crime is mapped and forms part of the information that we use to allocate our resources and to direct our patrols.

11 4. You can meet with your local Safer Neighbourhood Team if you would like further crime prevention advice, or would like to know more about local policing. There is a dedicated Safer Neighbourhoods Team for every electoral ward in London. You can find your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team via our website or by calling 101 and asking for the contact details for your local team. 5. Further support is also available to you from Victim Support. Victim Support is a national charity that provides help free of charge to victims of crime that includes emotional support, practical help and other information about the criminal justice process. Many victims are contacted automatically by Victim Support, but should you feel that you would like help, you can contact them at any time on or online at The service is available even if you have already declined assistance. Once again I am sorry that you have become a victim of crime. I would like to reemphasise that the specific investigation into your crime is now closed. However, I want to thank you for reporting this matter to us. Without this information, we would not have the full picture of crime on this borough. If you have any queries about the decision to close the investigation into your crime, or about the other steps covered in this letter, you can reach us through the contact details at the top of this letter, quoting your crime number. Crime Management Unit

12 I am writing to inform you that as a result of our investigation into your crime, I have concluded that at this time unfortunately there is insufficient evidence to proceed, and that the specific investigation into your crime will now be closed unless any further information comes to light. Insert further details about investigation and what has been done I understand that this may frustrate and disappoint you, so I am writing to advise you about the other steps we take to respond to your crime. 1. Your crime has been passed to the local police Intelligence Unit. The Intelligence Unit will examine your crime to see if it is linked to others. 2. Should we catch an offender at a later date for a similar crime to yours, we will investigate whether that offender is also responsible for your crime. Each year, we solve over 8,000 crimes this way. Should any further evidence arise, we will act on it and will inform you if we re-open the investigation into your crime. 3. If your crime involved property that was stolen from you, your property is now logged and can be returned to you if recovered. The Metropolitan Police Service recovers approximately 15 million worth of stolen property each year. 4. The Safer Neighbourhoods Team that covers the location where your crime occurred will have been made aware that you have become a victim of crime. There is a dedicated Safer Neighbourhoods Team for every electoral ward in London. Although my involvement in this investigation is now over, you can contact your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team if you need further support from police or if you wish to know more about local policing. You can find your local Safer Neighbourhoods Team via our website or by calling 101 and asking for the contact details for your local team. 5. Further support is available to you from Victim Support. Victim Support is a national charity that provides help free of charge to victims of crime that includes emotional support, practical help and other information about the criminal justice process. Many victims are contacted automatically by Victim Support, but should you feel that you would like help, you can contact them at any time on or online at The service is available even if you have already declined assistance. Once again I am sorry that you have become a victim of crime. I would like to reemphasise that the specific investigation into your crime is now closed. However, I want to thank you for reporting this matter to us and for your support and patience during the investigation. Without this information, we would not have the full picture of crime on this borough and we would not be able to align our resources to where they are needed most. If you have any queries about the decision to close the investigation into your crime, or about the other steps covered in this letter, you can contact me through the contact details at the top of this letter, quoting your crime number.

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