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)             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 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 10.2% in the year ending November 2018. In London there has been a smaller increase of 1.2% in the same period. Enfield has seen the biggest increase in crime in the last year, compared to all other London boroughs.

vi)           Residential burglaries in Enfield have increased by 23.3% in the year ending August 2018

vii)          Serious Youth Violence has increased in the last year in Enfield by 8.8% and London has experienced a decrease of 5.2% in the same period. Enfield recorded the highest number of SYV victims in the last year in London and is currently the borough with the highest levels of SYV in London.

viii)        Of the top 3 boroughs, Enfield experienced the only increase in SYV in the last year, equating to just over one victim per day and averaging 33 victims per month.

ix)           Knife Crime in Enfield has increased by 20% in the year to November 2018 compared to the previous year. London has experienced a smaller increase in Knife Crime of 1.1%.

x)            Just under half of all Non-Domestic Knife Crime injury victims in the last year were under the age of 24, accounting for 49%. Although the trend in Knife Crime victims under 24 have decreased over the last year, there has been an increase in recent months.

xi)           There were 2467 Residential Burglaries in Enfield in the year ending November 2018, compared to 2001 in the previous year, an increase of 23.3%. Enfield is significantly above London which recorded an increase of 11.5% in the same period.

xii)          Residential Burglaries in Enfield have seen a significant increase on the borough in the last two months from October 2018 and have continued to increase in November 2018 and is predicted to increase in December, due to the historical seasonal pattern around Christmas time. This seasonal pattern has also been mirrored in London.

xiii)        Year three of MetTrace was rolled out in Enfield on the 14/06/2017 in various Wards across the borough. As of 17/10/2018 there have been 5,246 kits distributed since the start of year three and the project aims to distribute a further 3,995 by the end of 2018.

xiv)        Since the beginning of the MetTrace project in Enfield 45 months ago, there has been a burglary reduction of 26.1% (593 less burglaries) in our MetTrace areas, the rest of Enfield shows a reduction of 1.1% (62 less burglaries).

xv)         It was hoped that the MetTrace project would be extended beyond March 2019 and confirmation of this was currently being sought.

xvi)        Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) calls have reduced in Enfield by 0.9% in the year ending November 2018, compared to the same period last year. Prostitution related calls have remained the same at the end of this year, compared to the previous year. This is linked to the recent targeted police enforcement in problematic areas in the borough.

xvii)       A table was also included in the report detailing the percentage change for Enfield and London for Serious Youth Violence and all other Gang related offences.

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

xix)        With regards to Issues and Challenges it was noted that Serious Youth Violence is the highest priority currently and in response to an ‘emergency situation’ in December Police Officers had been redeployed from the Metropolitan Police’s Territorial Support Group (TSG) to deal with these issues. Police Officers based in other parts of the borough had also been told to target crime hotspots.

xx)         Andrea added that December’s fall in serious youth violence may well have been linked to a higher number of police officers patrolling the borough including officers from TSG and other resources.

xxi)        The increased police presence also coincided with a reduction in other crimes, including gang-related offences, hate crime and anti-social behaviour.

xxii)       Superintendent Nigel Brookes said the emergency response was continuing in January and would include measures such as stop and search which he insisted was being used in an ‘appropriate and intelligence led way’.

The following questions and comments were raised:

Q.        What more can be done outside of the current interventions to address the increase in Serious Youth Violence?

A.        As part of the Serious Youth Action Plan the North Area Violence Reduction Group (NAVRG) has been created. This group which meets every six weeks carries out very targeted work and is consists of senior representatives from various partnership groups including Enfield and Haringey Councils, the Metropolitan Police, Courts Services, London Fire Brigade, North Middlesex Hospital, Mayors Office for policing (MOPAC), Business Sector and several others.

Enfield Council is also looking to work with boroughs that have seen a reduction in youth violence, such as Croydon to see if it can replicate their successes. A lot of funding has gone into tackling youth violence. While other areas have been rejigged this is not an area that has been reduced.

Q.        When moving resources internally to tackle youth violence have you noticed an increase in other crimes in the borough?

A.        No, there has not been an obvious increase.

Q.        What are boroughs like Croydon doing that has resulted in a reduction in Serious Youth Violence and can this be replicated in Enfield?

A.        Enfield already has lots of good practices, so it is hard to know/see what has happened which has resulted in an increase in SYV in the borough. This is not to say that more cannot be done, but we are trying. For example, Enfield Council already procure an additional 16 Police Officers to work solely on our Housing Estates carrying out targeted work daily.

Q.        What is the detected rate for Residential Burglaries?

A.        There is a 3.1% detection rate for Residential Burglaries.

Q.        It is good to hear about MetTrace and how well it is working. However, it has not yet been rolled out to Grange Ward therefore could this be considered if the project is extended as this is an area that has recently been targeted for burglaries and vehicle theft.

 A.       Yes, this is certainly something that can be looked at.

Action: Andrea Clemons

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