Agenda item

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

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

i)                 The report analyses the five priorities identified in the borough of Enfield and discusses the performance compared to other London boroughs, over a two year period dated between 01/12/2015 to 30/11/2017.

ii)               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.

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

iv)             Andrea then went through the priorities in detail and provided figures, data and the proposed measures for each one.

v)               In-depth discussions then took place around each priority and further clarification was sought regarding the proposed measures and how it was envisaged that these would work.

The following questions and comments were raised:

Q.      The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has recently announced that there will be a significant increase in targeted Stop and Searches by Police in London as part of efforts to combat rising crime violent crime. What are Enfield Council and Polices’ views on this?

A.       Stop and Searches are much more transparent now since the introduction of Body Cameras. This has certainly paid off as it is now accepted across the Police that Stop and Search has much more transparency and is now more effective. Council Teams have a very high percentage of Stop and Searches and a very high conversion rate

Q.      Do all Police Officers wear Body Cams?

A.       In short yes, although some detectives don’t and pro-active Officers often don’t wear it either as they are in plain clothes therefore wearing a Body Cam would be too obvious. Officers who do wear Body Cams have to advise the individual that they are using them.

Q.      Are a lot of crimes carried out by repeat offenders and if so what are the statistics for this?

A.       I do not have these figures to hand but the Police do target habitual offenders.

Q.      The report does not contain figures on arrests and conviction rates. Would it be possible at a future date to include more specific figures in the report?

A.       This week the Council analyst will have access to Police data therefore more police figures/statistics will be included in future reports.

          Action: Andrea Clemons

Q.      How do the Police and the Local Authority support the families of murder victims?

A.       Following a murder incident in the borough a ‘Gold Group’ meeting is convened the very next day. This group is made up of Officers from the Murder Squad, Local Authority as well as lay members. One of the agenda items is how to manage and support the family of the victim and much discussion goes into thinking about any possible threats and risks around the family. The Police nearly always provide the family with a Family Liaison Officer.

          Councillor Lappage commented that the level of compassion and dedication she sees from the Police when dealing with the families of serious crimes is very moving.

Q.      What is the average age of people arrested for knife crime offences?

A.       As an average the age of knife crime violence is 20 years old.

Q.      Yet again Travellers have moved into the Bowes Road area. There are also a lot of beggars around the A406, particularly windscreen washers. All this is causing a lot of anti-social behaviour in the area, for example, shop lifting, aggression etc. What is being done to address these issues?

A.       The problem with Travellers has been an issue over the past few months and Enfield Council has worked tirelessly to deal with this problem resulting in the High Court granting an Injunction Order for a three year period preventing anyone (persons unknown) from setting up encampment on any land specified on the Enfield Council map. The Police also respond as quickly as they can to address these issues.

The Chair thanked Andrea for her informative update and Superintendent Kelly for his contributions too.