Agenda for Crime Scrutiny Panel on Tuesday, 26th January, 2021, 7.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting/Remote - please use the links on the Agenda Front Sheet to join the virtual meeting

Contact: Susan O'Connell - email:  susan.o'connell@enfield.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

WELCOME AND APOLOGIES

Minutes:

Apologies had been received from Cllr Lee David-Sanders. In his absence the Vice-Chair, Councillor Joanne Laban chaired the meeting.

 

Cllr Nneka Keazor joined the meeting but due to technical difficulties was only able to hear and was not able to contribute.

 

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

3.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 152 KB

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2020.

Minutes:

agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 4 November 2020.

 

4.

UPDATE FROM THE LONDON FIRE BRIGADE pdf icon PDF 347 KB

To receive an update from the London Fire Brigade on the work they are

doing to reduce crime.

Minutes:

Due to technical difficulties Station Commander Andy Lewington was unable to join the meeting. This item was therefore deferred to the next meeting.

 

5.

SERIOUS YOUTH VIOLENCE

This report is not attached to the agenda and will be circulated ‘to follow’.

Minutes:

A presentation was received from Detective Superintendent David Kennett and Superintendent Chris Jones.

 

NOTED:

1.    There have been significant reductions across Serious Youth Violence, Knife injury victims under 25, Total Knife Crime, Gun Crime and Personal Robbery when comparing 2019 to 2020. Covid 19 has had an impact on these figures. If Enfield’s performance is compared to its peers in similar areas good progress has been made.

2.    North Area Violence Reduction Group (NAVRG) is a strategic panel chaired by DS Kennett that seeks to combat serious youth violence, and coordinates activity. A sub committee steering group supports the NAVRG. There is a funded crime analyst to provide data as to where crime is happening and an administrator to support the actions and the comprehensive action plan. This project is funded by £40k of Home Office (HO) funding on a yearly basis and a monthly report is provided to the HO. This unit is governed by the Violence Suppression Unit at MOPAC.

3.    The aims and objectives of NAVRG are to tackle Serious Youth Violence across Enfield and Haringey; co-ordinate activity across Police, Local authority, criminal justice and charity sectors; and to focus activity on the most vulnerable parts of the community.

4.    NAVRG meets every 6 weeks and reviews key information on crime hotspots, this group dictates what analysis is needed for each meeting. There is a tactical plan, which has various strands and actions, each active participant takes ownership of parts. This is complemented by a media and communications section which looks to actively publicise good work.

5.    Some examples of success were highlighted such as; School Robbery Plan, research and creation of safe spaces for young people (Operation Sharda); support for vulnerable young people whilst in police custody (Operation Alliance) and the victim support focus on vulnerable young people.

6.    The approach to young people is one of engagement, encouragement and education and where necessary prevention and enforcement. Engagement is critical with young people and it is important that the first experience with policing be a positive one.

7.    There is a Youth Independent Advisory group (YIAG) which is co-chaired by Superintendent Jones and a youth worker from Bruce Grove Community Centre. This is very well attended and has gone from strength to strength with young people ranging from 13-18 years old from the police cadets, Enfield Youth Mayor and Deputy Mayor, the care system, the youth offending service and from colleges to express their views.

8.    In Enfield, there is a fulltime police cadet coordinator, one dedicated youth engagement officer and 2 sergeants and 16 PC’s in the Safer Schools team covering secondary schools, colleges and primary schools’ single point of contact.

9.    During lockdown engagement has moved to online lessons and 134 cadets have been retained.

10.Examples were given of activities undertaken prior to December demonstrating engagement and successful partnership working.

11.Whilst Covid has helped to reduce street activity, it has also reduced the supply of drugs which has led to drug dealers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

SAFER & STRONGER COMMUNITIES BOARD PARTNERSHIP PLAN pdf icon PDF 4 MB

To receive the Safer & stronger Communities Board community Safety Plan 2020-22.

Minutes:

Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety presented this item:

 

NOTED:

1.    The refreshed Community Safety Plan is included within the agenda reports. This reflects on crime figures ending 2019. The priorities have also been reviewed against issues related to Covid.

2.    How the priorities are selected are detailed in the report and remain unchanged with additional 2 priorities; tackling illegal drugs and raising awareness of how to deter vehicle crime.

3.    The priorities were then gone through the report provides an overview of findings on the priority, what action will be taken and examples of communications.

4.    Examples were provided under each priority of work in that area. One such example of communication on Domestic Abuse is included to promote the work of a coordinated Domestic Abuse hub bringing together a number of council services in order to ensure the best wraparound of support for victims of domestic abuse.

 

Comments, questions and queries raised:

·         How does the plan take into account the current pandemic? Officers confirmed that the assessment was undertaken before the pandemic. Most of the work listed under the ‘what will we do section’ has continued or has been adapted so that it can continue despite the restrictions.

·         How many of the bullet points broadly speaking are continuation and will they be prioritised if they cannot all be delivered with the timeframe of the plan? At least a third of the work has started and it is hoped that it can all be delivered. Regarding prioritisation those areas that cause the most significant levels of harm would be the areas that would be prioritised.

·         Are the priorities in order in the plan? The priorities are not listed in order although violence is the top priority.

·         Has the elderly been targeted by scams during Covid? There have been a number of scams as the pandemic has gone on. However, there is no evidence that older people have been particularly targeted. Work is being undertaken with Adult Social Care with things such as linking ring doorbell with their carer.

 

7.

SAFER & STRONGER COMMUNITIES BOARD PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT pdf icon PDF 1 MB

To receive a report from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety

Minutes:

Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety presented the report.

 

NOTED:

1.    The report shows crime figures for the whole of 2020. Overall crime is down by 6%; Residential burglary has reduced by 28% and Serious Youth Violence by 33%. However, Domestic Abuse Violence with injury has increased by 1.7% and ASB calls have increased significantly by 81%. Hate Crime although smaller number has increased in some categories by 44%.

2.    Table 1 compares Enfield to London.

3.    Under keeping young people safe and reducing their risks from crime all categories have reduced except Gun Crime Lethal Barrelled Discharged Offences which went up by one more offence. Attention was also drawn to the fact that Enfield has the 4th largest population of 0-19 in London with lots of young people coming in and out of the borough for school. Enfield currently has the highest level of serious youth violence in London. During lockdown Enfield has had significantly higher reductions.

4.    There is a huge reduction in Robbery of Personal Property Offences this links heavily with serious youth violence. These offences are often young people on young people.

5.    Domestic Abuse Incidents have increased by 11% this is slightly above London. This crime has been exasperated by lockdown.

6.    There is a large increase in Racist and Religious Hate Crime offences, the lockdown has had a significant impact here.

7.    There has been a huge increase in ASB, for April and May 2020 alone there were over 5200 calls received by the Police. This has been largely driven by noncompliance with Covid restrictions and regulations.

8.    There will be communications campaign on Vehicle crime reaching out to vehicle owners and how to avoid becoming a victim of vehicle crime. There have been reductions in vehicle crime during the year with the exception of theft from a motor vehicle.

 

Comments, queries and questions raised:

·         Regarding Domestic Abuse how have we been dealing with extra cases during lockdown? The significant piece of work on this has been the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Hub that has been running since May. There have also been communications campaigns to encourage people to access help as soon as they can.

·         Whilst there has been a reduction in Serious Youth Violence, Enfield is the highest in London do we know why this is? Enfield has a large youth population. If it was viewed at the rate per population Enfield would be 5th or 6th in London. It should be noted that Enfield’s reduction one of the largest in London, a lot of work has been undertaken on schools and open spaces and the work undertaken to pre-empt the release of Covid restrictions. It is hoped that the reduction can be sustained.

·         Looking at the summary on page 1 of the report whilst there are a lot of decreases. There are also some areas that have gone up and Enfield is not performing as well as London. Officers advised that ASB has gone up everywhere, Child  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

CRIME SCRUTINY PANEL WORK PROGRAMME 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 150 KB

To note the Panel’s agreed work programme for 2020/21.

Minutes:

The work programme was noted, and it was agreed that the London Fire Brigade item was deferred to the next meeting.

 

9.

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

To note that the next Panel meeting is scheduled to take place on:

 

Tuesday 16 March 2021-7:00pm

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting was noted.