Agenda item

To receive the report of Supt. Rhona Hunt, Supt Partnerships North Area and Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety.

Received the report of Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety and
Superintendent Rhona Hunt, Supt Partnerships North Area, highlighting the following:

(i)            Enfield Safer Estates Team were formed to increase safety for residents in council housing areas in the borough. The Council has contracted with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime previously and the current contract was signed in 2019 and extended to the end of March 2023.

(ii)          Five estates (Ayley Croft, Joyce & Snells, Lytchet, Klinger and Shires) are designated as ‘priority estates’ where the team are expected to focus most of their attention.

(iii)         The contract covers 1 Police Sergeant post and 15 Police Constable posts. This meets the MPS supervision ratio of 1 PS:8 PC. The council are invoiced based on actual resourcing levels. Any vacant posts or any abstractions from Safer Estate Team duties are not charged. The estates team currently consists of 1 Police Sergeant and 11 Police Constables.

(iv)         Neighbourhood officer abstraction rates are high. The Safer Estates Team are protected from abstractions, except in extreme circumstances, in which case the Council is not charged.

(v)          Crime across the priority estates increased by 20%. This represents a total increase of 99 offences (20/21-21/22). This increase is higher than the overall 5.1% increase in crime across the borough.

(vi)         However, these areas disproportionately contribute to the overall borough average. The five priority estates are located in the East of the borough where there is a greater density of population and higher levels of crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) are reported.

(vii)        An increase in drug offences should be interpreted as an indicator of the proactivity of the team as these offences are discovered by officers. Drug crime has been identified as a major driver for violent crime and ASB, not just on the estates but in the wider community.

(viii)       Four out of the five priority estates recorded a reduction in the number of ASB calls in the past 12 months when compared to the previous year. A reduction of 27.9% equates to 94 less reports of ASB across the estates.

(ix)         Rape is a priority crime type for the MPS. A review of the offences within this geographical location in the period reported revealed that this significant increase included historic offences which have been reported in the period shown, offences which have taken place inside private premises between parties known to each other and offences on sex workers working in the vicinity of priority estates. Safer Estate Team officers, Operation Boxster officers and Public Protection specialist investigators are working tirelessly to ensure women and girls are safe in Enfield.

(x)          The team work in close partnership with council officers. The flow of intelligence between the Safer Estates Team and the ASB Co-ordinators allows the council to re-direct police resources to target crime and ASB issues impacting residents without delay. The team also attend events such as resident association meetings to provide an accessible service for local residents.

(xi)         Further information was provided on the benefits of the funded team and recent examples of the good work that had taken place were shared.

(xii)        Overall the report demonstrates that the team have contributed a significant number of patrols and proactive interventions in the reporting period. Their work is directly linked to SSCB priority crime types and is of benefit to local residents and council ASB officers, who they work closely with.

The following comments and questions were raised:

1.    With regards to recruitment to the four vacant posts on the Estate Teams Supt Rhona Hunt said that they would very much like to fill these but realistically are not in a position to do so over the next couple of months.

2.    There is a real challenge if Ward Officers are abstracted as this impacts greatly on residents as visibility to the public is vitally important in terms of intelligence gathering and pro-active work.

3.    Estate Team Officers are not abstracted except for in exceptional circumstances. Their abstraction rate is significantly lower than other Neighbourhood Policing Teams on the BCU. The terms of the contract ensure consistency and resilience in resourcing to estates.

4.    The Estate Team Officers remain consistent and are fixed in their posts resulting in a solid team of officers which increases public confidence. Members agreed that this was very reassuring to hear.

5.    Intelligence gathering is a key focus for the team. The team includes experienced officers with significant knowledge of the local area. This is invaluable to operational impact and has led to them identifying a number of individuals who frequent the estates as being wanted by police, some of whom had been outstanding for a significant period of time.

6.    The Estate Teams often work with their corresponding Neighbourhood Ward Teams and have been able to draw in additional teams to assist with focussed work on the estates. They have also worked with new recruits to train them in street-based policing skills bringing additional resources to the areas, in addition to the commissioned service.