Agenda item

To follow

The Director for Housing and Communities, Mr Andrew Cotton, introduced the Presentation for Crime and Disorder and highlighted the following:

 

Ø  Apologies were given by Cllr Alan Pearson, the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Communities who could not be present at the meeting to introduce the Presentation.

Ø  The CSP focussed on local issues but operated within a national context.

Ø  The Partnership had entered into a Perpetrator Scheme which would be delivered in Melton at the homes of the families involved.

Ø  Funding for the Perpetrator Scheme had been made available from the office for the Police and Crime Commissioner and from the Partnership.

 

The Communities and Neighbourhoods Manager, Mr Albert Wilson and Inspector Audrey Danvers, NPA Commander for Melton and Rutland provided a presentation which had also been issued with the agenda.

 

During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

Ø  The Partnership would allow engagement within the community, to understand concerns of the community.

Ø  UAVA and Turning Point  were engaged with the Partnership in regard to drug misuse and domestic violence.

Ø  Covid was a key focus for the CSP due to the impact that lockdown has had on the community, crime and people’s health and wellbeing.

Ø  There had been an increase in the number of domestic abuse victims presenting as homeless and in search of housing.

Ø  The council’s new tenancy agreements would allow officers far greater power to be able to take stronger action its own tenants who were found to be using drugs within the property or committing drug related crimes.

Ø  The police posted regularly on social media providing details of the visits they had been undertaking in rural areas regarding anti-social behaviour, burglary and rural crime.  This had had a cumulative impact on reducing incidents.

Ø  The Violence Reduction Network attends the CSP meetings and is undertaking work with the under 25s and those who had been found in possession of weapons or been involved in violent crime to understand the causes behind their actions.

Ø  Both the Community Officers and the Violence Reduction Network had been going into schools to gain an understanding of the issues that schools were facing and to engage with students.

Ø  The police were currently undergoing an environmental audit of the town centre focussing on the Bentley Street and Rutland Street areas to make an assessment of what work would benefit these areas with better lighting and CCTV monitoring.

Ø  The council had recently issued a closure notice on a property which had significant number of Covid-19 Regulation related breaches and drug related activity.

Ø  In response to a question regarding the increase in drug related issues, Mr Wilson advised that this was a reflection of the police being more responsive to the increased reports coming in from the community and being more proactive in relation to stop and searches.

Ø  Mr Wilson highlighted that when housing officers were going into properties where it was suspected drug activity, from a tenancy management perspective they were immediately having discussions with the police and other agencies to investigate.  This area had been under reported previously.

Ø  Officers were recording public order offences more meticulously.

Ø  Non-compliance with Covid Regulations were not recorded as public order offences.

Ø  In response to a question regarding how the Partnership looks at not just the risks of drugs but inquisitive crime Mr Wilson advised that over the last 12 months they had been engaging with a high number of people who had been seen as repeat offenders and through joint working with the housing teams and case management teams there was a positive effect of change in behaviour.

Ø  By taking a broader holistic look at people’s circumstances and their families the Partnership can offer long term support through the various agencies of the partnership.

Ø  In response to a question regarding the intervention from Probation, Mr Wilson advised that Probation are a key statutory partner and have liaised with the Partnership regarding the rehousing of individuals as they come out of prison. Probation have an understanding of the cohort of people who are causing issues.

Ø  Inspector Danvers added that they have an Integrated Offender Management Team who work with a number of different agencies including Probation. The Offender Management Team feed into the monthly meetings of the local offender management structure.

Ø  Inspector Danvers agreed that beat officers would attend and engage with local youth groups if they were invited.

 

Inspector Danvers highlighted the following:

 

Ø  There had been an increase of 100 localised officers throughout Leicestershire bringing knowledge of where the local hotspots were in terms of drug use and dealing.

Ø  There are a number of officers working 10 different shifts and information and intelligence is shared amongst officers on the different shifts.

Ø  There would be an additional 5 officers starting at Melton next month.

Ø  Having more resources had reduced the response time dramatically in the last 12 months as officers would have previously had to travel from Leicester.

Ø  There had been nearly 400 stop and searches in Melton during the last 12 months of which nearly a 1/3 were found to be carrying either a weapon or drugs.

Ø  There was a local dedicated Neighbourhood Policing team and a dedicated Neighbourhood Intelligence officer.

Ø  There had been a number of warrants undertaken at key addresses.

Ø  Section 8 notices had been issued at some properties which advise people that if the police have to attend the property on subsequent occasions their tenancy could be in jeopardy.

Ø  The police were far more aware of the signs of exploitation of youngsters and vulnerable people and could identify, through the Partnership, the level of support required for such individuals.

Ø  Violent crime was seen mainly at the weekend at pub closing time pre covid. Due to the current lockdowns there isn’t now a clearly defined pattern to violent crime though there has been a slight uplift at school finishing times. Extra resources had been put in place where there was seen to be a pattern.

Ø  Crime investigators were managing investigations keeping victims up to date.

Ø  Have introduced the Neighbourhood Link and are trying to encourage as many people as possible to sign up to it to enable the police to survey members of the community and what their concerns are. The top 3 concerns in four out of the five Melton beats was drugs.

Ø  On one estate in Melton there had been targeted operations and over 20 stop and searches over one weekend in January 2021. 

Ø  The public feels more encouraged to report drug issues and other crime when there is an increase in police activity and resources around known drug/crime areas.

 

The Committed thanked Mr Wilson and Inspector Danvers for their presentation.