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 01/03/2016 to 28/02/2018.

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)             Of the 32 London boroughs, Enfield is currently 5^th for Serious Youth Violence in the year ending February 2018, compared to 7^th the previous year. Enfield has seen an increase in the last year of 94 offences.

v)               Knife Crime in Enfield has increased by 41.3% in the year to February 2018 compared to the previous year. London has experienced a smaller increase in Knife Crime of 25.4%. It was noted that this could be as a result of less challenge, e.g. reducing Stop and Searches may well have impacted on this increase in Knife Crime.

vi)             Information was provided on the Youth Outcomes data between 25/01/2017 to 24/01/2018.

vii)            A table was also included in the report detailing the main outcome of the offence including various referral rehabilitation orders and different intervention programmes.

viii)           During the year analysed there were 1409 offences which equated to 542 young people known to Enfield Youth Offending Unit, of which 88% were male and 12% female.

ix)             The top three offence types were Violence against the Person, Drug Offences and Theft and Handling Stolen Goods.

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

The following questions and comments were raised:

Q.      Councillor Smith felt that the actions shown in the Main Outcome of Offence table were unclear. In particular it seemed that where an alleged crime had taken place the majority of these had resulted in ‘No Further Action’ being taken. Why was this?

A.       There could be many reasons for this but one example would be where there had been insufficient evidence available in order to take the case to court. It must be remembered that sometimes the figures presented do not tell the whole story.

Q.      Referring to the table detailed on page 5 of the report, clarification was sought as to what a Section 91 Order was?

A.       It was unclear as to what this was, but Andrea agreed to find out and clarify this at the next meeting. It was also felt that it would be useful to invite a member of the Youth Offending Team to a future meeting, as they would be better placed to explain some of the Youth Offending Data in more detail.

          Action: Andrea Clemons/Susan O’Connell

Q.      Since the beginning of the MetTrace project in Enfield, there has been a burglary reduction of 33.2% (563 less burglaries) in the MetTrace areas. Why do you think the MetTrace project has had such a positive impact?

A.       The MetTrace project has proved to be a great deterrent as simply the burglar does not want to get trace liquid on them. Burglaries in Enfield are much more targeted, focused and organised therefore the introduction of the MetTrace Project has made these areas much harder to go and burgle. Advertising and promoting of the MetTrace project has also contributed to its success.

Q.      The figures showing an increase in Knife Crime are shockingly high in such a small space of time. Are the reasons for this known?

A.       There are several factors driving this increase, by and large the main one of which is the selling of drugs. There is now very much a culture of protection of criminal enterprise. Four months ago most suspects and victims were 23/24 years old. Sadly in Enfield this age is decreasing. Younger children are increasingly becoming involved in county line activity and the majority of the stabbings are ‘tit for tat’ around the gang tensions between Enfield and Haringey.

          Another common place factor is that victims refuse to co-operate with the Police as they are usually somehow involved (sometimes but very rarely it can be because they are too scared to talk to the Police due to the possible repercussions)

          To give some reassurance Enfield Police are working very closely with Haringey to address these issues. However it must be recognised that the Police alone are not going to solve this; it is a social problem that needs the support and engagement of the community as a whole including parents and schools.

Q.      Given that more and more young people are becoming involved in crime, has there been an increase in truanting from school or is it happening out of school time?

A.       Most of the crime related activity is taking place out of school time.

Q.      How are the Police engaging with young people who are becoming involved in these types of crimes?

A.       Gang Unit Officers visit families to speak to the young people in an attempt to get them into some sort of engagement programme. They talk to them about the consequences of gang/crime involvement which often results in arrest/prosecution and even death. The Gang Unit Officers also go into schools to engage with young people. So all in all there is a lot of engagement working taking place which includes engaging with the families of young people who are on the peripheral of gang/crime activity. However despite this ongoing work it is still often extremely hard to encourage young people to engage with and talk to the Police.

Q.      The Parent Engagement Panel (PEP) representative said that they used to have a lot of engagement with the Police but not nearly as much now. We are a major part of the community who work closely with our young people therefore it is crucial to have engagement with the Police.

A.       Detective Superintendent Tony Kelly said that he was very disappointed to learn that engagement between the Police and the PEP had reduced over the years. This was something he was keen to see happen and would therefore follow this up with his Partnership Team and discuss this matter further with the PEP representatives.

          Action: Detective Superintendent Tony Kelly

Q.      The Enfield Youth Parliament representative asked if it was felt that the Police speak to young people in the appropriate way to encourage engagement.

A.       The Gangs Unit engage and work very well with young people as they do not look like your average Police Officer as they are in plain clothes etc. However the Police will always welcome ideas of the best ways to engage with young people.

Q.      The Parent Engagement Panel used to have ex-gang members coming in and engaging with projects such as the Youth Engagement Panel. Is this initiative something that could be re-visited in the future?

A.       As part of the Schools Projects, e.g. Assure and Operation Crest, the Police go into schools and talk about gangs and the risks involved etc. and this is something that ex-gang members are involved in.

          The Police also have monthly meetings around gangs and crime and what is becoming apparent from the information shared at these meetings is that former gang members are now out of fashion as they no longer have the credibility that they once did. Gang crime has moved on and it is now very much a business enterprise.

Q.      It was felt that the current strategy for dealing with gang/knife crime is clearly not working. What is the plan going forward to address this very concerning situation?

A.       There does need to be a wider dialogue around what is currently happening, what is falling through the gaps and what is needed going forward. There is work to be done for sure but plans are in place moving forward which will hopefully result in a marked improvement.

.

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