Agenda item

To receive the report of Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety.

Andrea Clemons Head of Community Safety presented the report, highlighting the following:

(i)            The report provides an update on performance against Enfield’s Safer Stronger Communities Board priorities up to 31^st July 2021.

(ii)          These priorities are:

·         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 tackling hate crime

·         Dealing with anti-social behaviour

·         Additional focus on tackling illegal drugs and raising awareness to deter vehicle crime

(iii)         Due to the submission deadlines for the September 2021 Crime and Scrutiny Review meeting, Police data for August 2021 was not yet available, this report therefore includes data to the end of July 2021.

(iv)         Total notifiable offences in England decreased by 1.8% in the year ending July 2021. In London, there was a higher reduction of 8.2% in the same period.

(v)          Residential burglaries in Enfield decreased by 26.4% in the year ending July 2021, with a 17.1% reduction in London.

(vi)         Although Enfield continues to have high levels of Serious Youth Violence (SYV) victims, we have experienced a decrease of 18.8% in the year ending July 2021, compared to 2020. This is very similar to the London average which was 18.6% in the same period.

(vii)        In the year to July 2021, there were no London Boroughs where an increase in Serious Youth Violence victims was recorded.

(viii)       In the year ending July 2021, Knife Crime in Enfield had decreased by 18.6% compared to the previous year. London experienced a similar reduction of 21.9% in the same period.

(ix)         Gun crime offences in Enfield decreased by 28.4% in the year to July 2021. London experienced a reduction of 22.2% in the same period. These figures demonstrate how the Met Police have made some significant gains in tackling Gun Crime.

(x)          Domestic Abuse Violence with Injury decreased by 10% in the last year, while in London there was a smaller 5.1% decrease.

(xi)         Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) calls decreased in Enfield, with a 2.1% fall in call numbers in the year ending July 2021, compared to the same period the previous year. In London there was an increase of 2.4% in the same period.

(xii)        With regards to Interfering with a Motor Vehicle there had been a decrease of 23.8% in the year ending July 2021. In London, there was a decrease of 26.4% in the same period.

The following comments/questions were raised:

1     Membership details for the SSCB would be circulated to Members of the Crime Scrutiny Panel as part of the next report.

Action: Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety

2     Explanations were provided on various detail included in the report. For example, Superintendent Chris Jones clarified the definition for the offence of ‘Interfering with a Motor Vehicle’ which could, for example, involve tampering with the door handle.

3     With regards to Serious Youth Violence numbers Enfield has a large youth population and the borough also imports into schools daily. Covid has had a big impact and there have been some fluctuations linked with young people returning to school, hence targeted police work around school times. The peaks also reflect releases in lockdown measures as people return to their everyday business.

4     Simon Crick, BCU Commander, MPS advised that offences in most crime types are decreasing but it was recognised that detection rates need to increase. There is however a shortage of Detective Constables across the organisation. Work is taking place to address this issue, but it is a slow process which will take time. A shortage of Detectives unfortunately impacts on the ability to detect crimes. However, the focus over the next few months is to look at ways of driving crime detection up.

5     What is the impact locally on Police Officers being called upon to patrol central London protests? This continues to be and has always been a major issue which has a huge impact. However, all London protests must be policed which is of course extremely challenging.

The Chair thanked everyone for their informative updates.