Agenda item

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 Police presence cannot be seen on the streets it’s not there. But this is often not the case. There are a lot of ongoing operations in the borough where you won’t necessarily see Officers, but important work is still taking place.

xii)          He did accept however that SNT Officers are often pulled off for other ward issues. This is due to a number of serious crimes in the borough, for example shootings and stabbings and the decision then has to be made by the person at the top of the tree where to best direct the resources. Life and death decisions are being made all the time and it was felt that this is not always communicated to the public.

xiii)        Superintendent Jones went on to say that he absolutely believes in Community Policing and being visible. There’s a finite number of Officers however dealing with other serious issues. He advised that he has made sure that the Neighbourhood Officers are recording when they are pulled off their wards, using a recording method called CALM. This is also used by MOPAC.

xiv)        He added that his promise is that he will always champion Safer Neighbourhood Policing with local Officers on wards. He was however mindful that he was not in charge and there are so many other crimes happening; gangs, sexual exploitation of children, county lines etc. what therefore is the priority and where do you put the police resource?

xv)         Councillor Yusuf felt there was a need for more CCTV. He also asked about the possibility of more police vehicles as he was aware that Safer Neighbourhood Officers were having to use public transport to travel around the wards/brough. Superintendent Jones confirmed that he had recently had a lengthy conversation around vehicle allocations and transport with a view to addressing this issue going forward.

The Chair thanked Superintendent Jones for his interesting and informative updates and looked forward to him attending future meetings to provide further reports.