Minutes:
The Police Update was provided by the Deputy Borough Commander (DBC), Superintendent Trevor Lawry.
The Committee heard that MOPAC (Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) 7 offences continued to decrease against the financial year baseline of 2011/12. The current performance of Bromley Police was -16.5 %-- this was a further 0.3% fall from the previous update.
This could be broken down as follows:
Burglary -26.9%
Criminal Damage -10.2%
Robbery -48.8%
TFMV -26.4%
TOMV 4.8%
Theft Person -8.2%
Violence W/I 7.0%
(TFMV=theft from motor vehicles; TOMV = theft of motor vehicles; W/I = with injury).
The Committee heard that while overall this was a positive picture—challenges remained. There was currently a rise in TOMV and criminal damage offences. It was noted that a seasonal spike was normally seen at this time of year in these offences, but the police were working hard to target those areas. There had been a rise in the theft of mopeds that had contributed to the increase in the TOMV figures. There had also been a rise in the number of vans being stolen, often with keys left in them by workmen. It was felt that in many cases, the primary motivation for these thefts was not the van itself, but the tools that the van contained. Many people were leaving their vehicles unlocked, and car thieves were now skilled in dealing with digital technology that had previously worked effectively as a deterrent against theft.
Cllr Samaris Huntington Thresher asked if TOMN was more prevalent in certain areas. It was noted that a hotspot for the theft of mopeds was Penge. The theft of high end vehicles tended to be related to burglaries.
Violence with injury offences although higher than what the police would have hoped for, was beginning to fall against a high of 10.8% in May 2015. Bromley was significantly lower than the rest of the metropolitan police area, which had seen over a 17% increase.
Superintendent Lawry informed Members that the number of sex offences reported was increasing. He commented that this was a nationwide phenomenon. He felt that a possible explanation was that the public were more confident in reporting sexual offences, and that this had resulted in increased figures.
Cllr Richard Williams asked about hate crimes against the lesbian and gay community, and queried if the Police employed a designated LGBT officer. Superintendent Lawry clarified that a LGBT officer had been designated. Cllr Williams stated that he would like to have a meeting with the officer concerned.
The Committee were briefed with an update concerning police response times. Immediate grade calls were achieving 90.9% in 15 minutes. The average time to get to an urgent request for service was 8 minutes 48 seconds. Standard grade calls were achieving 92.5% in an hour. This included the Halloween period where there was higher demand and the police were pleased with these statistics.
Met Trace
Met Trace would be rolled out to over 440,000 homes over a three year period. Houses had been identified by the analysis of 3 years’ worth of data. In year one, 4300 houses had been identified. Bromley Police had provided 1200 households with kits. Surprisingly, nearly 300 households refused them.
While engaging with the public concerning “Smart Water”, the police also provided crime prevention advice. The intention was that one in seven households would have “Smart Water” delivered by the end of the programme. It was noted that an individual could purchase “Smart Water” privately for a cost in the region of £70.00. Cllr William Harmer asked if there was a cheaper alternative. Mr Alf Kennedy (Neighbourhood Watch) stated that members of NW could get the product for a discounted rate of £25.00.
The Chairman was surprised to learn that not all households wanted the “Smart Water”, and asked if this was the case, could the packs designated for these households be redistributed. The Deputy Borough Commander confirmed that this could be done.
Gangs
There were 30 identified gang nominals who lived in the borough and a further 12 nominals who had close gang associations. Of the 30 gang nominals, 6 were in custody and 24 lived in the community. Most of these belonged to Bromley’s gangs, but some belonged to other gangs as they had been moved into LBB as part of harm reduction strategies.
The current hotspots for gang activity were :
1. Penge - High Street, McDonalds, Penge Rec, the Groves Estate
2. Anerley - Betts Park, Streetwise.
Tensions existed between the gangs in Penge, and between gangs in Southwark and Lewisham. Cllr David Cartwright referred to previous issues where LBB was not informed of gang nominals being moved in from other boroughs. The Deputy Borough Commander informed the Committee that LBB and the Police were now being informed, and that gang nominals were now more likely to be “imported” from further away.
Cllr Michael Tickner stated that human beings were “tribal” and that we all want to “belong”. He speculated therefore, on what sort of diversionary activities or groups could be set up to create a positive sense of belonging. The DBC informed the Committee that gang members tended to be identified by either the type of criminality that they were involved in, or by their tastes in music. He mentioned that the Police and LBB were looking to employ the services of GAV (Growing Against Violence) and other diversionary activities, but that the issues were not easy to resolve. Any diversionary activities would need to be very targeted.
The Chairman agreed with the concept of “tribality” and noted that many gang members came from dysfunctional families. She believed that gang membership provided such individuals with a substitute “family”. Superintendent Lawry stated that there was an aspect of that, but the problems were multi-faceted.
Early Intervention
The police were currently bidding for schools early intervention which would involve skilled speakers going to schools and giving presentations and workshops on how to identify gangs and also concerning prevention strategies.
Presentations had been given to staff around Bromley, including colleges and the Children’s Trust, to assist staff in identifying vulnerable youths and the reporting of potential gang nominals.
Finances
The financial picture for Bromley Police was not confirmed. The funding was impacted by three predominate parts:
* Main grant
* How the main grant is split between forces
* Specific grants such as National and International Capital City Grant (NICC)
The Deputy Borough Commander mentioned that the Deputy Mayor had written to the Policing Minister along with 5 other Police and Crime Commissioners regarding how the funding formula was applied. This was before Bromley Police received confirmation of their main grant; it was expected that pressure would be applied to grants such as NICC by other major cities.
The current financial situation meant that the Police were unlikely to know what their financial position would be like until late December / early January 2016. Because of this, no further financial decisions would be made until January 2016 at the earliest. The Chairman thanked Superintendent Lawry for providing a concise and clear police update.
RESOLVED that the Police update be noted.