Agenda item

The Scrutiny Panel will hear from the following, outlining priorities and areas of challenge:

Cllr Nneka Keazor, Cabinet Member for Community Safety & Cohesion

Tony Theodoulou, Executive Director People

Anne Stoker, Director of Children & Family Services

Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety

Superintendent Chris Jones, Met Police

Cabinet Members and Officers will be asked to leave the meeting at this point.

Councillor Keazor, Cabinet Member for Community Safety introduced the local priorities for 2020/21 from the Community Safety Partnership in Enfield. A Strategic Assessment has been completed in order to inform the plan for the update the 2017-21 Safety & Stronger Community Partnership Plan.

The findings of this assessment were presented to the Safer & Stronger Communities Board in July. It was agreed that the existing priorities should remain and to have additional focus on some other priorities including tackling illegal drugs and developing communications around tackling vehicle crime.

The Panel are reminded that the priorities are decided by the level of harm caused by each offence and additionally the volume and impact on local communities. The Mayors Office for Policing and Crime have also agreed complimentary priorities with local police.

The Panel are reminded of the existing priorities as follows:

·         Tackling violent crime in all its forms;

·         Keeping young people safe and reducing their risks from crime;

·         Reducing burglary and keeping people safe at home;

·         Promoting cohesion and preventing hate crime;

·         Dealing with anti-social behaviour

Extra focus will also be placed on tackling vehicle crime due to volume of crime and tackling supply of illegal drugs which is a significant driver for violent crime. So the strategy and the actions will be delivered within the context of the current Covid and lockdown restrictions, and the additional challenges highlighted through the Black Lives Matter movement.

The strategy will be present in draft to the Safer & Stronger Communities Board in November. This can be shared with the scrutiny panel afterwards. Actions within this will reflect new work and commissioned services and aligned plans such as the North Area Violence Reduction Plan.

The following areas are proposed for consideration by the panel are;

To continue with serious youth violence as the number one priority; burglary; ASB including hate crime; all violence including domestic violence;  drugs and vehicle crime; tackling sex work; reoffending including probation changes and review of the Police and Crime Commissioner by the Home Office.

Tony Theodoulou, Executive Director People added that serious youth violence is an area of great concern in the borough.

Superintendent Chris Jones was present at the Safer & Stronger Board when these priorities were set and agrees with them. He shares the concern around youth violence and young people are his number one priority. He has looked at how policing is effective in terms of schools policing which has enabled a review officers and move officers where needed to ensure engagement with headteachers and the young people that goes to those schools is more positive dynamic and proactive. The police and the Community Safety Unit have been working closely on a school robbery plan for when schools return this week. This involves dedicated officers fixed posts with the CCTV with the local authority providing safe routes to and from school, working very closely with the transport police. The police have integrated a youth independent advisory group. The founder membership had been police cadets to get this up and running. It should be noted that 20% of police cadets have been diverted as a diversionary measure due to their behaviour. This group has been supplemented with a programme that is being run talking to children in care and young people involved at the edge of local gangs and some young people who are on bail for offences such as knife point robberies. This is create from a police point of view a significant consistent and coherent channel of communication with young people.

There is significant work in Enfield and Haringey around young people involved in criminality such as gangs and county lines.

In terms of other crime types with the Black Lives Matter protest and some of the significant incidents that happened on North Area Basic Command Unit in terms of homicides and other community tensions around the policing of Covid and stop and Search. This has been challenging time.

Officers were thanked for their attendance and providing a comprehensive overview.