Agenda item
Debate
To debate key issues affecting the Borough.
One year ago, the Borough Police Commander attended a Council meeting to debate crime and community safety in the borough. The Borough Commander will attend this meeting to provide an update with particular reference to the recent disturbances in parts of London and elsewhere in the country.
Minutes:
The Mayor invited Matt Gardner, the Borough Police Commander to address the meeting. Matt Gardner thanked members for inviting him back one year after he had first attended a Full Council meeting. He stated that he would report on the progress of the Brent police partnership and comment on the disorder that had recently occurred on London's streets and elsewhere.
During the last 12 months the emphasis had been on dealing with crime and enforcing law and order. Matt Gardner stated that there was a need to bring discipline to the small number of people in the borough that did not want to live by the rules. He was getting this message across to his force and driving forward a performance culture. There had been a 10% increase in sanction detection rates. Within a peer group including Haringey, Lambeth and out of London authorities the level of detection in Brent represented the second best performance in the UK (measured against Boroughs placed in Brent's most similar group). The level of offenders brought to justice represented the best performance within the Metropolitan Police. From public opinion surveys undertaken, the confidence in the police within Brent had risen from 34% to 77% taking Brent from the bottom three and putting it within the top five for London.
Matt Gardner referred to the appointment that day of Bernard Hogan-Howe as the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and how his direction would be important in focussing the resources of the police in London. Crime was divided into two categories - victim crime and state crime where persons were found to be carrying drugs or a weapon. State crime had increased by 28% in the year end 2010/11 and was currently sitting at +48% for the current performance year 2011/12. Matt Gardner asked if councillors were aware of the number of arrests in Brent over the last year and informed them that 13183 arrests had taken place making it the third highest arrest rate in London. There were 700 police officers in Brent supported by the Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).
The Commander referred to the use of stop and search. He understood that some young people felt aggrieved over the use of this and accepted that the police did not always get it right. But it involved a relatively small number of people and upon analysing a sample of 100 cases of stop and search he found that 84% of those stopped had a criminal record, 77% were stopped in one of the four highest crime rate wards and 60% were stopped between the hours of 14:00 and 23:59. Added to this Brent had the highest judicial outcome from stop and search in London.
Referring to the work of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs), Matt Gardner accepted that there was a role for them to take part in community activities but he stressed not at the expense of being in uniform on the streets. The SNTs had increased their arrest rate by 62% from 567 to 919 cases in the last year and this demonstrated that they were a serious law enforcement unit within the borough. Further to this, SNT sanction detections had risen by 274%.
Matt Gardner reported that there had been a doubling of the level of resources pulled in to cover London wide events meaning less resources locally. His inspectors were held to account within a strong performance culture and there had been a drive to improve sickness rates resulting in 2,400 officer/staff days being gained and the sickness rate being the lowest in London for police officers, PCSO's and police staff. An award and recognition event had been held where 83 police officers and staff had been recognised for their work. Other issues mentioned by the Commander included the partnership work carried out with the senior officers of the Council, identifying the top 100 families in the borough causing the greatest concerns, anti-social behaviour issues and stepping up work with the Council to deal with brothels operating in the borough. This was 'work in progress'. The Commander said that he would continue with stop and search where necessary and expressed concern over the rise in the number of robberies being committed in the borough. Budget cutbacks of 20% had nearly been achieved but future funding remained uncertain.
Matt Gardner went on to refer to the civil disorder that had happened in August. He asked why there had not been riots on the streets of Brent. His view was that this was because of the unbelievably strong community spirit within Brent and because of the very effective partnership working with the Council which had been able to provide the police with additional vehicles, lift parking restrictions where needed and maintain a 24 hour response to providing clean-up operations. There had been constant communications maintained between the police, council and other agencies and councillors had made themselves visible to reassure local people about the situation. Another factor had been the use of police intelligence with 80 search warrants being executed and 35 Brent residents identified as committing public disorder offences. The message put out to would be trouble makers had been that Brent was not the place to cause trouble because there were too many police officers on the streets.
Matt Gardner finished by particularly thanking the Leader of the Council, the Lead Member for Crime and Public Safety, the Chief Executive, the Director of Strategy, Partnership and Improvement and the Head of Community Safety. He stressed the importance of maintaining the level of partnership working seen during the disturbances.
The Mayor invited councillors to raise issues and ask questions of the Borough Commander. A point was made that many trials had to be stopped when witnesses did not attend, thereby wasting a lot of police time. It was asked if the 700 police officers in Brent referred to was a reduction from last year. Concern was expressed over the level of sanction crime, dispersal rates and the increase in robberies. The effect of partnership working and engagement with young people was recognised but it was asked if there was anything else the Council could do. A question was asked about how data on satisfaction levels was obtained and how sickness rates had been brought down. The Commander replied that wasted time at trials was an issue which he discussed with the Borough Prosecutor, there had been no decrease in the numbers of police officers and financial savings had been made by other means. He stated that sanction detection was necessary at the level indicated in a borough like Brent and dispersal zones were an effective tool in which the SNTs played a critical role. On a quarterly basis, 500 victims of crime were surveyed to gain a view on the confidence local people had in the police. Sickness rates had been brought down to an average of 5.2 days for police officers which was substantially less than the Metropolitan Police average.
It was asked if reconsideration would be given to extending the Notting Hill carnival footprint into Kensal Green. A question was asked around the release of DNA figures for those not subject to section 5 public order charges. The hope was expressed that the disturbances would be assessed over a period of time to allow a more considered analysis of what happened. It was suggested that past assurances had been given that SNTs would remain within their areas at all times but on a number of occasions they had been deployed away from their areas. The Commander replied that the carnival would not be extended into Kensal Green unless intelligence indicated a need - an issue that would be addressed centrally at New Scotland Yard. There were currently six outstanding cases where suspects were being traced through their DNA. He would be able to supply figures regarding section 5 arrests outside the meeting. He explained that it was only under exceptional circumstances when SNTs would be taken away from their area and all officers had to be mobilised during the disturbances. However it was important to allow some flexibility across neighbouring ward boundaries. The Commander stressed that he agreed 'flexing' of SNT officers across the borough into neighbouring wards. To be unable to put police and PCSO's where intelligence and crime demanded was not an effective use of his people.
Reference was made to the large number of arrests made in the borough and further explanation sought over the reasons for this. It was asked if the police felt well equipped to cover the Olympics in 2012. The comment was made that apart from the demonisation of young people another unedifying aspect of the disturbances was the public disagreement between the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police. The Commander replied that reasons for arrest ranged from shoplifting to murder and that the number of arrests was high because his police force worked hard to achieve this. He could supply a breakdown of all the arrests outside the meeting. All police leave had been cancelled for the period of the Olympics and changes to shifts would mean police officers working 12 hour days. He wanted to re-assure everyone that the event would be there to enjoy and that police resources would allow this. However, the Commander asked for it to be remembered that police resources would be stretched and that if a police presence was requested for any local events taking place during the period of the Olympics this needed to be borne in mind.
A question was asked as to how many youth gangs there were and what was done to engage with the young people involved in them. It was said that some residents' confidence in the police was undermined by their experience of receiving a poor service in response to dialling 999 and that using the 101 number had not helped. Reference was made to three muggings in Gladstone Park and the police comment that people should not go to the park alone. This seemed to be unfair advice to people who wanted to visit the park. With reference to the SNT's, it was requested that there be more effective engagement between the teams and ward councillors. The Commander replied that he did not know the exact number of gangs operating but suggested it could be 20 or more. He could not comment on what intervention might be available. Many people received a good service from dialling 999 or 101 but as he had said earlier it was not possible to deliver a perfect service. Nevertheless he felt the 101 service would get better and relieve pressure on the 999 service. The Commander added that the councillor who asked the question had asked the same question at a previous public meeting where a large majority of the audience had expressed great satisfaction with the option the '101' number offered. An arrest had recently been made in connection with the incidents at Gladstone Park. Before then it had been important to send out the right message to people before a grip on the situation had been taken. There were arrangements in place for communication from the SNTs to be channelled through the appropriate Executive Lead Member. He did not know if this had happened but there would continue to be efforts made to improve communication.
Councillor John (Leader) concluded the debate by congratulating the Borough Commander on doing a first class job during very difficult times. She referred to motions to be debated later in the meeting which showed the confidence councillors had in the local police service. Councillor John reminded members that partnership working with the police was nothing new in Brent. She expressed irritation over the number of times she heard it suggested that trouble would break out in Brent during the period of the recent disturbances. It was a measure of the community strength along with the joint action taken that meant little trouble occurred. The sharing of information had been excellent. She had attended the cctv control room to see it in operation. Feedback from a meeting of London borough leaders at the House of Commons revealed that the community action taken on the St Raphael's estate had been recognised at a London level. The police had been effective in dispelling rumours that circulated about possible trouble spots and she thanked Councillor Beswick (Lead Member for Crime and Public Safety) for ensuring a good level of communication was maintained. Councillor John agreed that time was necessary to analyse what had happened to cause the disturbances but in the meantime she thanked all those involved in minimising the impact it had on Brent.
The Mayor thanked councillors for their contributions and thanked Matt Gardner for his attendance.