Minutes:
A presentation on Town Centre Security was given by the INTU General Manager, Kate Miller, and Georgia Hillyard, Security Manager.
The Committee were provided with various facts and figures, and it was interesting to note that 47% of INTU customers were over 55, and that 70% of customers were female.
Ms Miller highlighted the recent additions of five new restaurants and other new retail developments. Slides were shown of various events including a Lego event and a Child Autism event.
Ms Hillyard explained that she was responsible for various areas, including Guest Services, Training and Counter Terrorism initiatives. It was noted that a live training exercise had taken place in March 2016, where various partners took part, including the police, police cadets, LFB and LAS. Another live exercise was planned.
Ms Hillyard introduced the various training programmes that INTU provided, one of these was Project Griffin. Project Griffin aimed to advise and familiarise managers, security officers and employees of public and private sector organisations across the capital on security and counter-terrorism issues. It worked by encouraging the public to be vigilant and to report suspicious behaviour and activity around their community. This would help to combat both terrorism and crime.
Project Griffin was developed by the City of London Police and was introduced in central London in April 2004 as a joint venture between the City and Metropolitan police forces. Project Griffin had been adopted by police forces across the United Kingdom and overseas.
Another training initiative was Project Argus. Project ARGUS was an initiative developed by the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) and delivered by Counter Terrorism Security Advisers (CTSAs) throughout the UK.
It was a three hour multimedia simulation posing questions and dilemmas for participants working in syndicates and aimed to raise awareness of the threat from terrorism, providing practical advice on preventing, handling and recovering from an attack.
INTU was also an SIA approved contractor.
It was noted that Simon Day was a finalist in the security category of the UK Heart Safe Awards 2016. It was also noted that Freddie Harris had received the Borough Commander’s Commendation for his actions during events that had occurred at INTU during Boxing Day 2015. It was further highlighted that Ms Hillyard was a finalist in the Security Manager category at the ‘Women in Security Awards’.
The Chairman enquired if there were figures available for shop lifting, and if a ‘Shop Safe’ scheme was operating. It was confirmed that INTU did have a Shop Safe radio system, and that most of the retailers also had a radio. This meant that good communication existed between shops and the security team. It was noted that there was at least one shoplifting incident every day. It was noted that the new restaurants had increased the footfall into the shopping centre. This was known as ‘spend and dwell’.
A Member enquired how many defibrillators were in the centre. It was confirmed that two existed in the Mall, outside of Menkind and Debenhams. The Member commented that their location was not well defined. It was noted that INTU had staff who were defibrillator trained. A Member enquired how long it took to get a defibrillator to someone suffering cardiac arrest. This was estimated at 2/3 minutes. It was noted that a defibrillator was also located at the police station.
The Portfolio Holder asked if Laurie Grasty (LBB Resilience Officer) had been involved in the live event. It was confirmed that Ms Grasty was aware of the event, and had limited involvement in it. The Portfolio Holder stated that the involvement of Ms Grasty in such events should be widened.
The Portfolio Holder asked about the lanyard system for individuals with special needs. It was explained that a lanyard could be obtained from customer services. The individual with the lanyard was able to show the lanyard to INTU staff, and then a message could be conveyed to a parent or guardian via customer services if necessary.
The Portfolio Holder expressed concern about the quality of INTU CCTV images, which she felt was not up to standard, and asked if INTU were going to upgrade their CCTV system Ms Miller stated that it may be the case that image quality varied depending on the particular camera, but that it was also the case that an upgrade was being considered.
The Vice Chairman asked what shoppers should do in the event of a ‘lone wolf’ attack. The advice was to ‘Run, Hide and Tell’. This meant that they should run away from the danger and find somewhere to hide.
Sergeant Paul Thomas from the Bromley Town Centre Policing Team also presented.
Sgt Thomas stated that his team consisted of two full time police officers, two part time officers, and three PCSO’s. The main issues that they had to deal with were shoplifting, personal theft and ASB which included begging. They also had to be aware of CSE, ‘wanted people,’ knife crime and terrorism. His Team also advised businesses on security, and was involved in the administration of ‘community resolution’ and ‘restorative justice’. There was a focus on prolific offenders where every effort was made to convict and imprison.
One of the objectives of the police town centre team was deal with ASB, and keep the town centre safe, and to this end sometimes community protection notices were used. To convict pickpockets, good CCTV was required. A prolific offender had recently been jailed for three months. The town centre team employed a variety of tactics including dedicated visible foot patrols, surveillance, and stop and search.
A Member enquired how it was possible to bar someone from the Town Centre; Sgt Thomas clarified that this would require the backing of the court. A Member asked for some more information concerning the beggars in Bromley. Sgt. Thomas clarified that most of the beggars were ‘professional’ beggars and were in fact housed.
A Member asked how Sgt. Thomas felt about young people gathering together in groups, and if this was gang related. Sgt. Thomas responded that sometimes gatherings were gang related, but not always. Sometimes the gatherings were just kids being kids.
Sgt Thomas concluded by inviting Members to come on foot patrols with the police town centre team.