Agenda item

A brief verbal report will be provided by Andrew Francalanza on the organisation and work of Victim Support.

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.     Independent Custody Visitor (ICV) Scheme

Before looking at Crime Statistics, Andrew Francalanza gave a presentation on the work of Victim Support Services. He highlighted the following

·         Victim Support has been delivering services to victims of crime for more than 40 years and providing support for witnesses when attending court for more than 25 years.  Until last year this had been supported by the Ministry of Justice but was now funded by MOPAC

·         Grants had been given to the Victim Support service for the 12 month period from October 2014. This is for a revised service. There is now a new process for enhanced priority referrals, and for standard referrals with a focus on vulnerable and repeat victims.  New services have been introduced for children and young people and also for international visitors.  All victims of crime are referred to the victim support service, which now also includes victims of business crime and motor vehicle theft. There is a strong focus on partnership working with the use of specialist services.

·         There are two strands of referral - either ‘enhanced priority’ or ‘standard’ referrals. For standard referrals an option is given to victims that they can contact the team. A needs assessment is undertaken for victims who are then supported by volunteers who have specialised training.

·         A new enhanced service is now provided to young people. Also support and advocacy is provided to international visitors who become victims of crime in London. The support provided for young people is shaped by the risk level, where a victim is under 18 years, work is also undertaken with their parents/ carers.

·         The main office for the service is based in Old Street but a number of outreach sites are also used across Enfield and they work in partnership with other services. They provide emotional and practical support such as help with the completion of forms, accompanying the person to Court and cover safeguarding issues. They do not, however, provide a counselling service. The team raise awareness and promotes their work at events particularly at schools.

The following issues were raised

·         Each borough has a victim support team. In Enfield there is a service delivery manager and assistant together with approximately 12 volunteers covering the borough.  They have a support line which is open 24 hours a day all year excepting Christmas and New Year’s day.  The office is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and volunteers are available all week until 8pm.

·         Victims of domestic violence are supported by ‘Solace’ however work is undertaken in partnership with them and with Enfield’s Women’s Centre.

·         Under the Ministry of Justice reforms there is the potential to have more than one service provider in future. Andrea Clemons reminded the meeting that there was also a victim support worker currently working in LBE’s Community Safety team.

·         It was confirmed that money donated for the Enfield area could be ringfenced solely for victims in Enfield.

·         The support provision for small local business victims of crime was welcomed.

Andrew Francalanza was thanked for his presentation.

Contact details for Victim support are:

Victim Support, 50 Banner Street, Octavia House, London EC1Y 8ST 020 7268 0200  - website  www.victimsupport.org.uk

Facebook – www.facebook.com/victimsupport

CRIME STATISTICS

Chief Inspector Ian Kibblewhite and Sergeant Carl Robinson presented the MOPAC and Police data on the following:

·         Recorded Crime. 

·         Anti-Social Behaviour

·         Public Confidence & Victim Satisfaction

·         Complaints against Borough Officers /Staff

·         Stop and Search

They highlighted key issues and the group raised a number of points as follows –

Recorded Crime.  Using the Borough police data (scorecard).  The total offences, for Enfield is generally showing decreases against the rolling 12 month figures and also a reduction against the MOPAC challenge of sustained 20% reduction by March 2016.  This applies to Burglary-

(-3.6%), Robbery (-14.8%), Theft from Motor vehicle (-37%) Theft of Motor Vehicle (-10.5%), and theft from person (-20.4%). The two crime types that show an increase are Criminal damage (+3.5%) and Violence with Injury (+25.8%).  Domestic Abuse cases are up 24% which indicates an increase in the number and confidence of people coming forward to report incidents. There was an increase in the number of homophobic crimes reported and it was thought this also was mainly as a result of greater confidence in reporting incidents.

The following issues were raised –

• It was confirmed that the MOPAC figure given for ‘violence against the person’ includes domestic abuse cases.  It was thought that the way the data was shown in MOPAC tables was somewhat misleading. The figures provided by Ian Kibblewhite gave ‘percentages’ data.  For the next meeting data from the Borough ‘scorecard’ would be given which would show actual numbers as well as percentages. It was hoped that this would allow a clearer understanding of the information provided.
• It was asked if the increased reporting of racist and religious hate crimes was also thought to result from more people being confident in the reporting systems and Ian Kibblewhite thought that this was so.  However it was commented that it helped for people to be able to have face to face interaction with the police and there were concerns that this was not always possible in light of police station closures.
• Andrea Clemons stated that the MOPAC data shows Enfield has shown greater improvements than many other boroughs in the number of recorded incidents for many crime types.  Although there remained issues of concern, the borough had benefitted from additional officers being positioned here and it was thought we were moving in the right direction. She pointed out however, that violent crime had shown an increase in all London boroughs and Enfield does have a high rate for this crime.
• Ian Kibblewhite referred to a change in the recording of ‘Violence against the person’ crime. Formerly, where police had been called to a fight and a victim did not wish to report a crime then it would not be recorded. This no longer applies, and the crime will be recorded.  It has resulted in almost twice as many incidents of this nature being recorded compared with previous years. By April the same method of recording incidents will be shown for the 12 month period and therefore comparisons can be made on a like for like basis.
• It was expected that Bradley Few (MOPAC) would attend the next meeting of the Safer Neighbourhoods Board. Councillor Lappage would raise the issue of attendance by the MOPAC representative at SNB meetings with Joanne McCartney (GLA Member).

Anti-Social Behaviour

ASB is continuing to show a big reduction against the previous 12 months, down by 28%, repeat callers down by 10.2%. The ASBAG (Anti-Social Behaviour Action Group) meets every month and Ian Kibblewhite described the objectives/ purpose of the group which includes the identification of individuals at risk of harm, reviewing and monitoring the multi-agency response to cases and ensuring an action plan is in place to provide support to the victim and to tackle the reported ASB.  The purpose of the group is to ensure that the seriousness of a case is not lost and that the issue can be dealt with collectively.

The following points were raised

• The aim was to ensure that ASB issues were dealt with effectively without having to resort to the Court system.
• Noise nuisance issues would be recorded, and ASB calls are logged. Members of staff now contact informers to check that they are happy with any action taken.
• Representatives from the Mental Health Trust take part in the ASBAG group, and it is hoped that this would be a formalised arrangement for the future. Reference was made to the problem of inappropriate discharge of ‘at risk’ individuals which is time consuming for police officers to deal with.  In a case of this nature a formal letter would be sent to appropriate hospital doctor/ specialist stating their concerns.

Public Confidence & Victim Satisfaction

Superintendent Carl Robinson updated the meeting on public confidence and victim satisfaction in Enfield, which overall is given as 77.4% compared with 78.8% for previous year 13/14. He referred to areas where they were hoping to improve public confidence by updating public on ‘twitter’ and having regular meetings with CAPES.  Also by providing information to victims of crime, explaining what is happening and managing expectations.

The following points were raised

• That it would be difficult to provide updates on a Ward basis because of the small numbers involved.
• It was thought the accessibility for public to speak to officers at police stations is a factor in improving public confidence, although it was accepted that police officers needed to be ‘on the street’
• In answer to concerns raised about people reporting crimes at a police station where perpetrators are also present, Carl Robinson spoke of the use of appointment cards. He said members of the public are encouraged to make an appointment when a police officer would come and visit you in your home.
• The MOPAC data up to September 14/15 shows there is a 1% point gap in satisfaction levels of white and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) victims in Enfield (white 78%, BME 77%) which is lower than the MPS average of 6% points.

Complaints against Police

Enfield has 24 open cases and the average time to deal with a case is 60 days. This compares with Haringey (154 days), Hackney (108 days) and Waltham Forest (147 days). There have been 123 cases in the last 12 months, with 12 appeals of which 5 were upheld (4%). If a complaint has been upheld and if an officer has been found to have done something wrong there can be a criminal investigation, internal investigation, or it can result in some officers leaving or training undertaken. Reference was made to the use of body cameras mainly for frontline officers which has proved very effective as information can be downloaded for evidence in Court cases.  It also reduces the possibility of complaints being made against officers.

e) Stop & Search

It was requested that a representative be included on SNB to take the place of Caroline Berry (Stop and Search Community Monitoring Group). The success rate for December shows that 24% of searches in Enfield resulted in an arrest, with 36% of searches for stolen property successful, and 12% of 155 drug searches, 80% of 5 firearm searches, 33% of 9 weapon searches were successful.  The aim is to concentrate searches on the right people, and the importance of building up trust in the community was stressed.

f) Independent Custody Visitor Scheme

Peter Waterhouse, from the Independent Custody Visitors Panel spoke of the work of the Panel at the last meeting.