Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting and said how pleased he was to see such a great turnout. An apology for lateness was received from Councillor Chris Dey.

Members of the Council are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest

Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety to provide a verbal progress

update.

Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety provided a progress update highlighting the following:

i)             Andrea thanked the Committee for the opportunity to provide the performance update and reminded Members that it is framed to support Enfield’s Partnership Plan (4 years – 2017-2021).

ii)            The crime agenda is very dynamic, and things change therefore it is important to regularly review the plan.

iii)           Members were reminded of the priorities in the Partnership Plan which are:

·         Reducing burglary and keeping people safe at home;

·         Tackling violent crime – in all its forms

·         Keeping young people safe and reducing their risks from crime;

·         Promoting cohesion and tackling hate crime;

·         Dealing with anti-social behaviour.

iv)           A recent strategic assessment showed that the above were still relevant priorities. There was also a suggestion of including vehicle crime as a priority however, although it is recognised that this is an important crime, the harm caused by it is less than that caused by violent crime so the decision was made not to include it as a priority, which would require one of the other priorities being dropped, although work will continue in the usual way around combating vehicle crime.

v)            Enfield’s Safer & Stronger Communities Board will be meeting next week at which time a new Action Plan will be developed and Andrea agreed to report on this at the next meeting of the Crime Scrutiny Panel.

Action: Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety

To receive a report from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety and Dawn Evans, Community Safety Intelligence Officer.

Andrea Clemons Head of Community Safety presented this report and highlighted the following:

i)             Andrea thanked the Committee for the opportunity to provide the Community Safety Performance Report. She said that she would be focussing tonight on Violent Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour but would be happy to answer questions on any aspect of the report.

ii)            Total notifiable Offences in Enfield have increased by 10.3% in the year ending February 2019. In London, there has been a smaller increase of 2.1% in the same period.

iii)           Residential Burglaries have increased by 13.5% in the year ending February 2019.

iv)           Serious Youth Violence has decreased in the last year in Enfield by 5.8% and London has also experienced a similar decrease of 5.1% in the same period. Enfield is currently the 3^rd highest borough in London for Serious Youth Violence victims.

v)            Domestic Abuse with Injury has increased in Enfield by 4.9% in the year to February 2019. ASB calls have reduced in Enfield by 2.2% in the year ending February 2019, compared to the same period in the previous year.

vi)           The borough of Enfield recorded the fourth highest number of Serious Youth Violence victims out of all the 32 boroughs, consequently dropping from worst (1^st) borough at the end of February 2019 and is almost level with our bordering borough Haringey, recording 378 victims in the same period, equating to an increase of 11.2% in the last year.

vii)          Graphs were included in the report detailing Enfield’s position out of the 32 London boroughs for gang related offences.

viii)        In the year ending February 2019 Knife Crime in Enfield has increased by 9.7% compared to the previous year. London has experienced a smaller decrease of 0.3% in the same period.

ix)           Non-Domestic Knife Crime injury victims under the age of 24 make up nearly 50% (n=87) of all knife crime injury victims in Enfield and overall there has been a reduction of 8.4%, recording 87 victims in the last year, compared to 95 the previous year.

x)            Enfield recorded a total of 50 Gun Crime Personal Robbery offences, compared to 17 recorded the previous year.

xi)           There were 2496 Residential Burglaries in Enfield in the year ending February 2019, compared to 2200 in the previous year, an increase of 13.5%. Enfield is significantly above London which recorded an increase of 3.4% in the same period.

xii)          Residential Burglaries in Enfield experienced a reduction in February 2019 after a peak in January 2019 and remain slightly higher than this time last year.

xiii)        A new rollout of MetTrace has been confirmed for 2019, areas and timescales have yet to be confirmed.

xiv)        Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) calls have reduced in Enfield by 2.2% in the year ending February 2019. In London, there has also been a decrease of 1.6% for the same period.

xv)         The report included further information on each of the priorities in detail and provided figures, analysis and data. Tables showing the types of orders  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1049.

To receive a report from Daniel Hunt, ASB Co-Ordinator, Community Safety Unit.

RECEIVED a report from Daniel Hunt, ASB Co-ordinator, Community Safety Unit.

NOTED:

i)             Enfield has historically had an issue with street sex work, which is mainly being reported in the Fore Street area (Upper Edmonton Ward).

ii)            In contrast knowledge of the locations of brothels suggests that they are located more widely across the borough.

iii)           Over the past few years the profile of sex workers has changed from being local females, known to be Class A drug dependent users to largely being eastern European females. There are however still a high number of Class A drug dependent users still actively working in the area.

iv)           The eastern European sex workers have previously stated to police and others that they are here as economic migrants with the purpose of earning as much money as possible to send back home to their families. However, it is believed that there may be the possibility that this activity is being controlled and there may be instances of human trafficking taking place.

v)            As part of its response to these issues Enfield Council has previously commissioned outreach work delivered by the Terrance Higgins Trust to work with sex workers around their sexual health. Joint operations have also been carried out with the police and immigration to the Fore Street area and to other known brothel locations. The Salvation Army also conducts outreach work in the Fore Street area to offer assistance to the sex workers who may have been trafficked.

vi)           MOPAC (Mayors Office Policing and Crime) provided resources to deliver the Change Program in Enfield. This program is run independently and is ultimately self-funding. It is a conditional cautioning option offered to people arrested for and pleading guilty to kerb crawling. Individuals attend a one-day program which highlights the personal, social and legal issues with using sex. This program has been used in several other areas with a high degree of success in stopping re-offending.

vii)          MOPAC funding is also being used for a Display Vehicle which has been used in the Fore Street area making people aware of the issues and warning people not to use sex workers.

viii)        This is part of a targeted communications campaign which also includes posters, which are currently placed in bus stops reminding kerb crawlers of penalties for kerb crawling activity.

ix)           Enfield Council has also implemented a Public Spaces Protection Order which applies to the whole of the borough and prohibits prostitution related activity. This new power has allowed for the Police and Council to carry out more targeted operations from which fixed penalty notices have been issued on individuals.

x)            Enfield Council also work with landlords where brothels have been reported to ensure they are taking action to stop the activity which has an impact in the community.

xi)           Local data information was provided in the forms of charts and tables. In the year 14^th March 2018 to 13^th March 2019 there have been 126 calls to the Police about ‘Prostitution Related  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1050.

To receive an update from T/Superintendent Neil Billany, North Area BCH (Enfield & Haringey) - Neighbourhoods

RECEIVED an update from T/Superintendent Neil Billany North Area BCU (Enfield and Haringey) – Neighbourhoods.

NOTED:

i)             Enfield and Haringey Police merged on the 9^th January 2019 to form the ‘North Area basic Command Unit’.

ii)            This is part of a wider efficiency driven project across London that has seen the 32 traditional borough command units come together to create 12 BCU’s.

iii)           Since 9^th January officers and staff have been assumed from two additional commands, with Child Abuse Investigations and Serious Sexual Offences now being managed and investigated locally.

iv)           The North Area BCU is currently led by DCS Helen Millichap with a wider SLT of 5 Superintendents and 6 Chief Inspectors. DCS Millichap will be leaving on 12^th April 2019 at which point DCS Trina Fleming will take up the post. Superintendent (Neighbourhoods) Nigel Brookes had now left the MET to join Kent Police and Neil advised that he would only be covering the post temporarily until 8^th May 2019.

v)            An update on each strand was provided namely; Headquarters, Emergency Response Teams (ERT), Neighbourhoods, Local Investigations and Safeguarding.

vi)           Since the 9^th January response times are closely monitored as a key indication of how the merge is progressing. Response times have improved slightly since the point of ‘go live’ and are better than this time last year for both Enfield and Haringey.

vii)          Inspector Erica Crawshaw remains the Neighbourhoods Inspector for Enfield, with all 7 Sergeants working across the wards at the point of going live remaining in post.

viii)        Work is ongoing to find suitable accommodation for the losses of Southgate and Enfield Police Stations, with wards teams needing to remain base don, or close to, their allocated area in order to reduce travelling time and spend more time on the streets.

ix)           The Safeguarding Team is largely based at Edmonton Police Station with pan-BCU responsibility. Amalgamation of officers from the Child Abuse Command and Sapphire (Serious Sexual Offences) has seen new officers join the BCU, however the remit on Safeguarding is now larger than before, so comparisons around total officer numbers would be misleading at this stage.

x)            It is also fair to say that Enfield has benefited greatly of late from additional resources posted to the borough on a long-term basis, from the Territorial Support Group, the Violent Crime Taskforce, armed officers and mounted branch and dog patrols.

Following Neil’s update the following questions/comments were raised:

·         Challenges faced since the merge on 9^th January were discussed and various questions were raised.

·         With regards to vacancies and the timescales for filling these Neil advised that conversations were currently taking place on how data will be presented across all 12 BCU’s and it was hoped that this would be available shortly.

·         Discussions took place regarding Section 60’s and how and when these were used.

·         Information was provided on the local CAPE meetings. These are an opportunity for members of the public, Police Neighbourhood Teams and Councillors to come together to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1051.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2019.

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on the 10^th January 2019.

To note the work programme for 2018/19.

NOTED and agreed the Work Programme 2018/19

To note that future meeting dates will be confirmed at Annual Council in May.

NOTED that this had been the last meeting of the Panel for the 2018/19 Municipal Year. The dates of future meetings will be agreed at the meeting of Annual Council on 8^th May 2019.

The Chair thanked Members for their attendance on the Panel over the past year and also thanked officers and the Police for their continued support and guidance on issues which was very much appreciated. He also thanked the Youth Parliament Representatives and members of the public for their regular attendance and engagement too.