Minutes:
The Borough Police Commander updated the Committee as follows:
The MOPAC 7 recommendations and targets had been set originally over a four year period, and one year remained.
Over the last year:
· Overall offences had decreased by 16.5% to 9816 offences, this compared to 11,750 offences that had occurred from the baseline year of 2011/12
· Burglary offences had decreased by 26.8%, which was a decrease of 916 offences
· There had been an increase in violence with intent offences which had increased by 7.7%
The Borough Commander outlined the Current MOPAC 7 performance:
· Burglary was down by 17.8% or 543 offences
· Robbery was down by 26.4% or 141 offences
· Theft from motor vehicles was down by 14.7% or 278 offences
· Theft from persons was down by 20.9% or 73 offences
· Criminal Damage had increased by 21% or 249 offences
· Theft of motor vehicles had increased by 23% or 129 offences-a high percentage of these consisted of the theft of motorcycles in the Crays and Penge areas)
· Violence with injury had increased by 18% or 310 offences ( 85 of these offences were classed as Domestic Abuse, and 225 were classed as non-domestic abuse)
· Confidence with local policing was now 66% which was an increase of 3%
· Satisfaction from victims of crime had increased from 79% to 82%
The Borough Commander informed the Committee that violence with injury and sexual offences had increased, and that these increases had not just been seen in Bromley, but across the whole of the Metropolitan Police Service.
The MPS had also seen a small increase in hate and disability crime, and the reasons for this were not clear.
Looking ahead to 2020 the Committee were informed that the MPS was not a “protected” public service in terms of budgets. So far the MET had reduced annual spending by £550m, reduced police staff numbers by 3000 whilst protecting police officer numbers and PCSOs, sold buildings to reduce running costs, introduced the Local Policing Model with brigaded hubs for intelligence, duties/resources and custody.
The Committee heard that further challenges lay ahead, as more cuts of between £700m-£800m were planned. The MET Police Commissioner had spoken about the impact that this would have on the number of police officers and PCSOs. Work was currently underway to assess if a borough wide structure could be supported and how this would integrate with other public services. The Borough Commander felt that the MPS, and policing in Bromley would look very different in 2020, but naturally there would be consultation and communication with relevant stakeholders.
It was the case that in the last few months, road safety enforcement operations had taken place in ten locations across the borough. As a result of these operations, 804 vehicles had been stopped, 45 FPN’s had been issued, 27 other vehicle offences were reported, 55 breath tests were carried out, 9 vehicles were seized and there were 7 arrests.
A member enquired as to the nature of the hate crime that had taken place. The Borough Commander answered that these had taken a variety of forms including Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, Homophobia and Disability hate crime. A more detailed analysis of this was taking place, and more data would be available in around two weeks time.
The Chairman referenced “Operation Equinox” which had resulted in a closure notice being applied to a local night club, and the establishment not being able to open on a Saturday. The Committee felt that this was a positive outcome as it demonstrated that the local authority and police were serious in attempts to reduce anti-social behaviour.
A Member asked the Borough Commander what the policy was concerning pursuing offenders that were riding motorbikes. This was because the Member was aware that in his ward, there were riders on motorbikes with no registration plates, no helmets, speeding, and generally being a nuisance. This was a cause for concern to local residents. The Borough Commander explained that it was not police policy to chase motorbike riders in case the riders fell off. This could result in a possible IPCC investigation. Car chases would sometimes be called off if judged to be too difficult or dangerous, sometimes the police would use “rammimg” techniques to end a car chase if appropriate. Occasionally the police would use helicopters which was a good way of tracking suspects.
A Member wanted to praise the work of Sergeant White and the rest of the police in the West Wickham Ward.
The Borough Commander appraised the Committee concerning the relationship between Uniformed Response Teams and Safer Neighbourhood Officers, and how this had changed under the Local Policing Model. The number of Uniformed Response Teams had increased, and the resources for this had been drawn from the Safer Neighbourhood Teams. There had also been a change in shift patterns, and a change in the duties undertaken by the SNT; part of this was greater daytime activity.
Another change was that the number of cars that were previously allocated for appointments, had now been allocated to the response teams instead. Dedicated Ward Officers had been established to provide police visibility on the streets. There had also been a rebalancing of PCO’s. There were currently around 1800 PCO’s in the MET, and Bromley had been above strength in this area, which had resulted in PCO’s been redeployed to other units.
A member enquired how many PCO’s would transfer to Police Officers, and commented that it was not good to lose PCO stock. Finally, it was noted that no new recruitment was being undertaken for PCO’s at the present time.
RESOLVED that the Police update be noted.