Agenda item

The Police update was provided by the Borough Police Commander.

The Borough Commander provided a MOPAC 7 crime update in statistical form as follows:

Bromley Crime Update

The data expounded upon by the Borough Commander is provided in the minutes in table form for ease of understanding and reference.

The Committee heard that until further notice, the MOPAC 7 dashboard was still the primary data set. No updates were available concerning the possible transition to a BCU command structure.

The Commander informed the Committee that there had been a rise in sexual offences, child exploitation and people trafficking. Good progress had been made in reducing burglary, robbery and theft from motor vehicles. The overall MOPAC 7 crime figures showed that Bromley Police had achieved an overall reduction in crime of 19.2%, compared with a target of 20%. There were still some concerns regarding the number of violence with injury offences. The increase in the number of recorded VWI offences, may have been due to an increased confidence felt by the public in reporting these issues to the police. 

Response times to 999 calls continued to be good, with 90.3% of calls that required a response time of 15 minutes answered on time. Calls that required a response time of 60 minutes had been answered in 88.9% of cases. Customer satisfaction levels had risen to 84%. Confidence in local policing had risen from 70% to 72%. 

Councillor William Harmer asked if Bromley had an acute problem of violence and disorder. The Borough Commander responded that it was difficult to compare town centres in this regard, other boroughs had different circumstances and resources. It was noted that Ronnys Bar/Nightclub had now been closed. Paul Lehane (LBB Head of Food Safety and Licensing) informed the Committee that a successful review of the premises licence for Vu Vu had been undertaken. Consequently, the review conditions had led to the requirement of Vu Vu management to make sure that staff were put onto the street to help keep order, and this had led to reductions in crime. The Borough Commander expressed disappointment that the Bromley BID had not been willing to support Street Marshalls. 

Councillor Cartwright asked if crime figures were available for ASB, and stated that there was an issue of public confidence in Mottingham. He also expressed the view that police time in Mottingham was being lost due to excessive travelling by police officers. The Borough Commander stated that ASB data could be supplied if required. Councillor Cartwright asked if the Borough Commander would be able to provide the Committee with a rolling 12 month figure for ASB.

Councillor Kim Botting was not present at the meeting, but had submitted a request in her absence for an update concerning crime in the Knoll area. No update was available on the night.

Councillor Richard Williams outlined a recent true scenario to the Borough Commander and asked for his advice. He stated that recently a young woman with a toddler had knocked on his door at 3am, asking for money. He asked the Borough Commander what he should do in such circumstances. The Borough Commander responded that a judgement had to be made in such circumstances as to whether or not the woman and child were in genuine distress, and if there were any safeguarding issues. The Police were not aware of these issues as nothing had been reported. If there was a concern, then the Police could be contacted.

Members heard that the current total level of police officers stood at 456, which equated to being overstaffed by 30. There had been no issues to report concerning Euro 2016.

The Committee heard that there had not been any incidents of reported hate crime subsequent to the EU Referendum. It had been noted that there had been two incidences of threatening social media comments directed towards a UKIP MEP.

The Chairman asked if any progress had been made concerning the ‘cat killer’ who had struck in Petts Wood, and if there had been any further incidences. She asked whether cat owners were being warned to keep their pets inside at night. The Borough Commander responded that similar crimes had been reported in a number of boroughs and were being actively investigated. He said that the Police were not publicising the ‘cat killer’ activities too heavily in case this encouraged similar crimes. One forensic post-mortem had been undertaken to date.