Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting and introductions were made. Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Dino Lemonides. An apology for lateness was also received from Councillor Anne Brown.

Superintendent Chris Jones introduced himself and advised that he had been in post for the last couple of months and was responsible for Neighbourhoods and Schools.

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

The Chair, Councillor Lee David-Sanders declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he is the Enfield and Haringey Greater London Authority Conservative candidate.

To receive the North Area and Enfield Residential Burglary Report.

RECEIVED an update from Superintendent Chris Jones.

NOTED:

i)             Chris began by acknowledging that the report being presented could be better in that some of the information provided was somewhat vague or lacking altogether. He apologised for this but gave his assurances that future reports to the committee would include more detail and better data. He had asked for a ‘deep drive’ review to include a 9 to 12-month analysis (rather than a four-week analysis as was included in the current report) and this would be provided moving forward.

ii)            In 2019 there were 2471 burglaries reported in Enfield, am increase of 12% compared with 2018.

iii)           Enfield is the second highest out of 32 boroughs with only Barnet reporting more burglaries.

iv)           Enfield Lock ward had the highest number of burglaries with 210 reported and Bowes ward has the lowest with 81 reported (this was incorrectly detailed in the report as Highlands having the lowest reported).

v)            The majority of suspects remain unidentified, but of those seen or identified 91% are reported as male, 55% as IC1 and 26% between the ages of 20-29.

vi)           The peak times were shown as early evening (1600 to 2000 hours) though late morning and afternoon are close in volume, and the peak day was Friday although there was little difference between the weekdays which as a whole were much higher than the weekends.

vii)          Information was provided on the North Area BCU Burglary Reduction Strategy which included Officer development, Intelligence development and Prevention.

viii)        Prevention tactics include:

·         Cocooning at all burglaries.

·         Temporary cocoon watches- patrols in areas with recent burglaries conducted at peak times.

·         Installation of prevention devices for repeat victims – covert alarms, smart water, ring cameras.

·         Target hardening in hot spot areas/top streets.

·         Target hardening for artifice burglaries: conduct welfare visits to vulnerable residents assessing risk and offering advice and guidance, liaise with Age UK, local support services, carers and utility companies to identify what support/protection can be offered to vulnerable people. Liaise with Social Services to communicate with vulnerable residents they are already in contact with.

·         Awareness campaigns: leaflet drops offering simple advice to avoid becoming a victim.

·         Social media campaigns covering current trends and the use of Crimestoppers.

·         Neighbourhood watch schemes.

·         Offices to attend any burglary committed in a hotspot area.

Following Superintendent Jones’ update the following comments and questions were raised.

·         Councillor Anderson asked for clarification regarding the acronyms used throughout the report and clarification was provided.

·         With reference to the table on Page 3 of the report Members asked that a ‘total’ column for each ward be included in future reports.

Action: Superintendent Chris Jones

·         Following the restructure of the North Area BCU, it was recognised that there was still great deal of work to do to tackle burglaries and this required a holistic, co-ordinated approach from the Police and other partners.

·         Superintendent Jones advised that more traffic operations/days of action would be implemented around high crime hotpspots. A brief plan was coming forward around neighbourhoods  ...  view the full minutes text for item 465.

To receive an update on the Structure of the North Area BCU and Officer vacancies.

RECEIVED an update from Superintendent Jones on the Structure of North Area BCU and Officer Vacancies.

NOTED:

i)             Information was provided on the North Area BCU. The structure is made up of the following units: Response, Neighbourhoods, Safeguarding, CID and HQ (Headquarters).

ii)            Vacancy figures were detailed for each of the above units which equated to a total of 51 vacancies across the North Area BCU.

iii)           This coming year 174 new Officers will be employed across both Enfield and Haringey in the North Area BCU. This increase in resource is hugely encouraging as numbers to play a part in the Met’s ability to function properly.

iv)           Superintendent Jones spoke about the HQ Unit and how this functioned. He explained that the operations room was based at Edmonton Police Station but straddled both Enfield and Haringey boroughs for command and control. An Inspector oversees the operations room whose responsibility is to drive borough business and sieve through the high-level crime which is taking place and prioritise accordingly.

v)            Further information was provided on the Safer Neighbourhood and Schools Teams and the plans for these going forward.

vi)           Discussions took place regarding the turn-over and recruitment rates across the BCU and clarification was sought as to whether these rates were improving? Superintendent Jones provided information on the various successful, recruitment drives and schemes that were currently taking place. He was not aware that the BCU turn-over rate was particularly high and said with the right leadership, skills and resources in place, this would reduce the turn-over rate going forward.

vii)          Councillor Anderson asked if the 174 Officers coming in was a net gain after retirement, leavers etc? He felt that it would be useful to see some comparison data for police numbers over the past five years as this would prove useful.

viii)        Superintendent Jones responded by saying that in his twenty-two years of Police service he had never experienced a full capacity of Officers. He said that the proposed 174 new Officers would plug some of the vacancies. He also confirmed that promotional figures were not included in the 174.

ix)           Superintendent Jones said that he could not emphasise enough how the recruitment is boosting morale. He also said that he feels very positive with the numbers coming through. There is no magic wand, but it is a much better position than when he took up post in November 2019 when he was faced with a sea of vacancies, now there are hardly any.

x)            Superintendent Jones said that his team will deliver the best possible services with the resources available. He said at a future meeting he would go through what he’s told his Officers regarding what is expected of them and what they will be held to account for.

xi)           Residents raised concerns that the Safer Neighbourhood Teams  (SNT) keep getting pulled off to cover other ward duties. Crime then goes up and residents lose confidence. Superintendent Jones replied that sometimes there is a misconception that because  ...  view the full minutes text for item 466.

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

RECEIVED a report from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety.

NOTED:

i)             This was a new piece of work for the Community Safety Unit as it had come to light when attending addresses to investigate claims of anti-social behaviour that in fact Cuckooing was taking place at the property. This is where the resident is often confined to one or two rooms with the rest of the dwelling having been taken over by criminal exploiters (often drug dealers). They may also be victim to physical and other abuse by the exploiter.

ii)            Because we know that one of the unintended consequences of on street enforcement can be to drive criminal activity out of sight, there needs to be an alertness to the risk that vulnerable people might be exploited for use of their properties by criminals. The risk to the criminal exploiter is minimised as they are able to implicate the legitimate resident in any criminal or anti-social behaviour.

iii)           The Community Safety Unit work with a number of partners and Council officers to identify and protect vulnerable people at their addresses.

iv)           The Council’s Environmental Protection Team (EPT) have undertaken work on properties which have untidy front gardens, and which may pose a risk to occupants who might be vulnerable to cuckooing.

v)            The EPT is made up of 5 officers and a team leader and are a council resource which has been augmented with external funding to allow for a more proactive response.

vi)           Referrals for this element are generally related to properties that have front gardens/yards that might be overgrown with vegetation or rubbish dumped or littering in them, giving an outward signal of potential vulnerability of the residents.

vii)          The Safer and Stronger Communities Board receive funding from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and allocate an element of this to the new project which allows for additional focused work to be carried out by the EPT at high risk addresses without recharge.

viii)        The aim of the project is to deter burglars and cuckooing of vulnerable people’s addresses – providing a speedy service to reduce vulnerability through improving the appearance of vulnerability at at least 20 high risk addresses in order to reduce crime and abuse of the resident by exploiting criminals.

ix)           The project is proceeding well. In quarter three visits have been carried out at addresses that were identified as potentially vulnerable as they had a build-up of rubbish and poorly maintained front gardens.

x)            So far eight addresses have been found to have issues with rubbish and accumulations outside (and sometimes inside) the properties and have vulnerable occupants. The vulnerabilities relate to mental health conditions (some are hoarding) and vulnerable due to age also.

xi)           Four of the addresses were jointly visited with colleagues from social services due to the vulnerability of the occupants in order to support and follow up, and also referred for colleagues to follow up on security measures.

xii)          In addition to this project the Council’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 467.

To receive an update from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety.

Andrea Clemons Head of Community Safety presented this report.

NOTED:

i)             Andrea thanked the Committee for the opportunity to provide the performance update. She reminded Members that it is framed to support Enfield’s Partnership Plan (4 years – 2017-2021). She said that tonight’s update would focus on the challenges faced.

ii)            The report analyses the five priorities identified in the Borough of Enfield and discusses the performance compared to other London boroughs.

iii)           The measures reflect the priorities in our own 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)           The report demonstrates progress in crime figures against the five bulleted priorities above.

v)            Total Notifiable Offences in Enfield have increased by 8.2% in the year ending December 2019. In London, there has been a larger increase of 8.5% in the same period.

vi)           Residential burglaries in Enfield have increased by 11.7% in the year ending December 2019. Enfield is significantly above London levels, where there was a 0.6% decrease in the same period.

vii)          Enfield is a large borough with an estimated 131,707 households (GLA Estimates 2017) which equates to a rate of 21 residential burglaries in the last year per 1000 households in Enfield, compared to 18 residential burglaries in our neighbouring borough Haringey.

viii)        Over the last year, Enfield has followed a similar pattern in residential burglaries as recorded in the capital. From September 2019 there was a sharp increase in offences in Enfield following the seasonal trend, however, in Enfield and London this trend decreases in December 2019.

ix)           Enfield remains the 2^nd highest borough in London for Serious Youth Violence (SYV) victims and has increased by 29.8% in the year ending December 2019, compared to the last year. Enfield remains above London recording a smaller increase of 9.5% in the same period.

x)            The borough of Enfield recorded the second highest number of Serious Youth Violence victims out of all 32 London boroughs, notably ahead of our bordering borough Haringey recording 398 victims (Enfield recorded 501 victims). Enfield is marginally behind the borough of Westminster, the highest borough in the capital, recording 560 victims in the same period.

xi)           On average, Enfield recorded 42 serious youth violence victims a month in the last year, equating to just over one victim per day.

xii)          Enfield has the 4^th largest youth population aged 1-19 in London accounting for just over a quarter of the total population. When considering the rate of SYV per 1000 population aged 1-19, Enfield recorded a rate of 6 victims over the last year, the same rate as boroughs with smaller populations such as Haringey, Islington and Hammersmith and Fulham.

xiii)        A thematic map was discussed detailing the distribution of Serious Youth Violence victims by ward in Enfield in the year January 2019 to December 2019. Over the year,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 468.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th September 2019.

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th September 2019.

To note the Work Programme 2019/20.

NOTED the Work Programme 2019/2020.

To note the date of the next meeting as follows:

Tuesday 17 March 2020.

NOTED the date of the next meeting as follows:

17^th March 2020.

The meeting will commence at 7:00pm