Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Harry Landsman, Askin Eroskin, Susan Doran, Eddie Fraser, Carol Shuttle, Alok Agrawal, Pat Jackson, Irene Wilson and Cllr Dines. Kelly Brown sent apologies and was replaced by Sharon Dearman.

The Executive Group did not meet during the last period; no further progress has been made on producing a standardised constitution and Agenda for CAPE meetings. This will be progressed by email.

The Chair has only been able to attend one Gold Group meeting this period. He had been unable to attend other meetings, details of alternative contact of other executive members had been left but this did not work out.

Following the re-establishment of the CCTV Monitoring Station Group; a visit to the CCTV Centre has been undertaken which went well, the checklist has been revised as requested and regular visits will start after the summer period in September.

The Stop and Search group have met further feedback will be received under the agenda item.

The Board has successfully submitted four bids in line with the priorities set by the board, further details will be provided under agenda item 9.

The Chair attended a MOPAC meeting at City Hall on the Mayor’s forthcoming Knife Crime Strategy. This was more about asking for ideas than ideas being presented. Following Councillor Bond’s suggestion the Chair will circulate the consultation strategy and gather comments from the Board.

ACTION: Tim Fellows to circulate consultation strategy for comments.

To approve the minutes of the meeting on 5 April 2017.

The following was noted in the minutes:

·       The crime statistics pack was included for discussion in the agenda

·       There was still no available figures on the number of people caught using their phones since the law had changed. Jenny Barnett will continue to chase this information.

·       Under Target Establishment, the first sentence should read the target strength of police officers in Enfield as of 1 May 2017 is 554.

The minutes of the previous meeting were AGREED.

To receive a report from Detective Inspector Chris Skelt.

Detective Inspective Chris Skelt introduced his report on knife crime in Enfield. The report covered the problem profile, MPS comparisons, trends, offence breakdown, hotspots and plans to tackle the issue.

The following points were raised:

·       The majority of victims are Afro-Caribbean; aged between 15-19 years old and injured as a result of GBH with intent rather than robbery or other offences.

·       Peak offending times are Wednesdays at 3pm and late Saturday early Sunday morning.

·       Knife injury victims across the MPS, Enfield are in the top three worsening Borough’s by volume looking at volume difference comparison. In Enfield in the rolling year this has meant an increase of 42 victims. In June 2017 Enfield has seen a reduction of 20% in offences compared to June 2016. 30.3% of these offences were Gang related.

·       Comparing knife injury victims over 25 years old on the same volume basis Enfield is 10^th across the MPS with an increase of 17 victims in the rolling year. 17.7% of offences were Gang related.

·       Trends showed a clear spike in May which included 2 murders; numbers have reduced in June and July as at the time of the meeting.

·       Total knife crime in Enfield in the rolling 12 months shows an increase of 16.5% equating to 69 victims, under 25’s over this period shows an increase of 97.8 equating to 37 victims, Under 25’s comparing June 2016 to June 2017 shows a -33% decrease equating to 3 less victims.

·       The key locations with hotspots show Edmonton Green as the busiest ward and Hertford Road as the busiest street.

·       Details of habitual knife carriers were provided these are those people who have been previously charged with knife crime offences.

·       The work to tackle gangs in Enfield is ongoing and is making a difference. A recent police operation targeting one of the main gangs resulted in many of the senior leaders being charged or remanded.

·       The suspected reason for the increase in knife crime is an unstable drugs market. This is thought due to the successful work with gangs in the borough with less gang related knife crime; very few victims are willing to either report or assist police investigations into their injuries, and police intelligence also suggests disputes over drug territories.

·       The report detailed the work being undertaken and the Enfield Knife Crime Plan summary including Operation Bremont and the MET wide Operation Sceptre. In Enfield we also proactively seek to use Section 60 search powers, this has been used 5 times in the last year, more than any other borough in the MPS. This power must be sanctioned at borough commander level and must be intelligence led with evidence to support. This allows police the power to search a specific area and anyone in this area based on the fact that they are in the area.

The following questions and comments were taken:

Q: Does the Council have any powers over its tenants if their children commit serious crimes?

A: Yes the Council does have powers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

Examination of crime statistics received from MOPAC to include:

a)    Recorded Crime

b)    Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

c)     Public Confidence & Victim Satisfaction

d)    Complaints against Borough Officers/ Staff

e)    Stop and Search

f)      Taser Deployment

Superintendent Jenny Barnett introduced the figures in the new format for the Board to take a view. These have been presented by Neighbourhood, broken down by wards monthly and quarterly. The figures have also been provided for the same period last year to provide a means of comparison.

The Board found these very helpful and easier to read, it was suggested that a Ward league table was provided in future with a time comparison table. Jenny also said that the next report will incorporate this along with the addition of ASB broken down by the different types. 

ACTION: Supt Barnett to make the changes for the next meeting.

Q: Is Smart Water still being rolled out across the borough?

A: Yes this is still rolling out and will continue to target high burglary areas.

Queries were raised over the substantial increase in the Crime Data figures for last quarter by comparison to 2016. Superintendent Barnet to check figures and report back on this

ACTION: Supt Barnett to look into these figures.

Examination of crime statistics:

a)    Recorded Crime

No figures were provided for this.

b)    Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

No figures were provided for this

c)     Public Confidence & Victim Satisfaction

No public confidence figures as yet. For victim satisfaction this has improved from near bottom to 27 across the MET, more work still to be done with the way we treat victims of violence with injury, motor vehicle crime and hate crime victims.

d)    Complaints against Borough Officers/ Staff

The current figure is 24 with 90 in the previous 12 months.

e)    Stop and Search

For this quarter in 2016, Enfield officers searched 687 people; the same quarter in 2017, Enfield officers searched 942 people and are still achieving the target 20% positive response.

At this point the meeting discussed the Stop and Search Group, this is now up and running and receiving figures. Feedback was received from group members who were pleased with the progress made. The Chair said that it would be helpful if the members could be broadened to include membership outside the SNB.

Jenny advised that body worn cameras are already being used and that 85% have now been distributed. They will be worn by all field officers and footage will be available in future for the stop and search group to view.

f)      Taser Deployment

The following relates to the number of times a Taser was used by police in the borough in the last quarter (April to June):

-        Drawn, 6 times

-        Tasers aimed at a suspect, 1 times

-        Taser aimed and the red dot placed on subject, 7 times

-        Drive stun, 0

-        Fired, 7

-        Unauthorised discharge, 0

To receive an update from Chief Inspector Jenny Barnett.

The target strength of police officers is 554 there will be 525 by the end of July. We are particularly short in Chief Inspector roles, where 3 posts are now being advertised.

We are also still low on numbers of probationers coming through. The figure for October will increase will approximately 17 more probations coming through.

There will be multiple officers posted out of the borough for the Notting Hill Carnival but Dedicated Ward Officers will remain in place.

Since Edmonton Custody suite closed and detainees have to be charged in Haringey (Wood Green) or further afield should Haringey be full, the number of arrests has not been effected and   has not gone down.

There should be 2 dedicated ward officers and 1 PCSO in all wards, however there are vacancies in certain areas and these are being advertised. The top 100 wards in the MET will receive an uplift in numbers and Enfield has 7 of these wards. The extra officers from this are; 1 Inspector, 1 Sargeant and 12 PCSO’s and Enfield has put them into one unit and uses them as a neighbourhood tasking team.

To receive an update from chief Inspector Jenny Barnett.

The three priorities for the borough were confirmed as:

·       Keeping Children Safe

·       Gun & knife crime

·       Outstanding suspects

Keeping children safe is a new priority and includes child sexual exploitation, child exploitation and gangs.

Following a successful pilot in Leyton and Barking spit guards are being introduced in custody suites.

There will be an uplift in Taser trained officers and there is also a change in that previously these could only be used when working in pairs and now individual officers will be able to use. A further 1867 officers will be trained and there will be a total of 2500 devices over a 2 year period across the MET.

It is still expected that under the new policing model that Enfield will merge with Haringey but this may take longer than originally anticipated. All BCO’s Commanders have been chosen, for Enfield this will be Helen Millichamp.

The response team have now commenced doing their own investigations for low level crime, so far this has had no negative effect on numbers of cases being dealt with.

All field officers will be getting their own tablet so can complete their own reports with victims. Those working in an office will be getting a laptop. This will save on time and administration.

A recent meeting has taken place with Head Teachers and the Pupil Referral Unit to discuss producing material on child sexual exploitation and knife crime for use by teachers in schools. This would be in age appropriate blocks and likely to include a DVD.

There will be closures of front of house offices across the met. There are currently 437 in place and will eventually be less than 100. Enfield Town front counter will eventually close, the police station itself will remain. There will be hubs for the dedicated ward officers to work out of these must be open 24/7, they must have secure space for equipment and space to store bikes. There will be at least 2 teams of ward officers working from each hub. There will be a consultation on this.

The Chair will provide an update on the SNB project funding application for 2017/18.

The successful funding bids were:

Enfield Women’s Centre

To develop a new training programme for young women up to age 25 focussing on understanding healthy relationships, spotting the signs of an unhealthy relationship and empowering young women to say no. Thereby preventing them from becoming victims of crime.

Grant- £6,000

Enfield Disability Action

To work with the women’s centre to adapt and deliver the training programme for young men and women with disabilities and special educational needs. Thereby preventing them from becoming victims of crime.

Grant - £6,800

Enfield Children and Young Persons Service and Enfield LGBT Network.

To support and empower LGBT young people to prevent them from becoming victims of Hate Crime, Domestic Abuse and cyber bullying. Through the provision of healthy relationship workshops and a fortnightly peer support group.

The workshops will explore the issues of recognising healthy and unhealthy relationships, issues of self-esteem and self-worth and giving them the tools to be able to report if they or their friends become victims of crime.

Grant - £5,035

St Giles Trust

SOS+ LiVVE (Local Intervention: Violence, Vulnerability and Exploitation) School’s Project.

This funding bid is to provide a 2 x intervention programmes to 2 schools in Enfield and the programmes aim to tackle gang exploitation, drug-dealing and exploitation. The project will see SOS+ deliver workshops around gangs, drug-dealing, knife crime/violence, and child sexual exploitation to targeted groups and whole year groups to affect a cultural shift. The project will also provide training days for teachers/parents. The SOS+ Project provides targeted support to children and young people across London identified as being at serious risk of expulsion from school, offending and/or gang involvement.

Grant - £8,900

The chair confirmed that he had not been involved in the agreement of the bid from enfield Children and Young Persons Service and Enfield LGBT Network.

The Grants Sub Group will continue to administer this process.

The role of Safer Neighbourhood Panels and their effectiveness was raised and it was agreed that this would be an agenda item at the next meeting for discussion.

ACTION: Committee Administrator

Future meetings have been arranged for the following dates at Enfield Civic Centre starting at 7pm:

·       Thursday 2 November, 2018

·       Tuesday 16 January, 2018

·       Tuesday 27 March. 2018

To note the dates of future meetings of the SNB being held at the Civic Centre:

·       Thursday 2 November 2017

·       Tuesday 16 January 2018

·       Tuesday 27 March 2018