Lead responsible officer

A lead responsible officer (LRO) is a serious and organised crime position within the community policing sector of policing. It's a manager or expert adviser role in the policing professional profiles. 

Role purpose

The LRO is responsible for the design, coordination and implementation of a serious and organised crime (SOC) threat management plan adopting a 4P (prevent, prepare, pursue and protect) approach. The role maximises the skills, abilities and leadership of individuals and organisations to effectively manage SOC threats. 

The LRO requires requisite skill sets, effective leadership which enables collaboration with key stakeholders and the ability to coordinate resources internally and externally, maximising outcomes and mitigate threat. 

The LRO connects and collaborates with statutory and non-statutory agencies including, health, education, local authorities, the private sector, businesses, the voluntary sector, and police resources to implement a whole system response to SOC.

The LRO is not rank or grade specific and can be performed by the most appropriate police or partner resource.

Key responsibilities

Key responsibility statements show the accountabilities for someone in this role. They focus on what is done, not how it is done.

• Adopting a data and evidence led approach, ensuring a full understanding of the SOC threat through effective engagement enabling effective decision making and tasking of operational resources to deliver the tactical plan and identified strategic objectives set by the senior responsible officer (SRO) to commensurate the threat.
• Considering a full range of tactical options including covert and overt intelligence collection methods to effectively manage the SOC threat aligning resources appropriately with the strategic aims and objectives set by the strategic lead or SRO.
• Developing, reviewing and coordinating the tactical 4P response to SOC threats including organised crime groups, tactical vulnerabilities. and priority individuals and urban street gangs ensuring alignment with SOC local profiles to maximise operational outcomes.
• Understanding the overall threat picture to inform decision making and utilising the full range of tactical options across police and partnerships, to mitigate threat and reduce vulnerability.
• Appointing and consulting with subject matter experts (SMEs) where appropriate, considering tactical options whilst remaining responsible for any decisions made following consultation to test the tactical plan or inform decision making.
• Coordinating plans and building threat and harm reduction strategies aligned to the 4P plans to effectively manage the SOC threat / enhance the intelligence picture and ensure operational effectiveness.
• Embedding 4P plans to drive operational activity and deliver accountability for shared situational awareness and decision making using the NDM (national decision model) underpinned by the code of ethics.
• Managing and coordinating a multiagency/whole systems response to an operation or intervention to maximise operational outcomes and mitigate SOC theat.
• Assessing and monitoring performance / effectiveness through use of Management of Risk in Law Enforcement (MoRiLE) to understand the threat picture.
• Recording, monitoring and assessing the efficacy and impact of 4P plans, ensuring accountability across police and partnerships through disruptions recording to reduce the impact of SOC threat within communities.
• Regularly reviewing the tactical plan and adhering to relevant governance structures to establish efficacy assessing any changes in threat which would require further intervention or specialist capability aligned to strategic and tactical identified priorities.
• Ensuring accountability that enables partnership working as part of a whole systems response adopting the right agencies right response principles.