Minutes:
The presentation was given by Sergeant Paul Thomas, from the Bromley North Safer Neighbourhood Team.
Sergeant Thomas commenced by outlining some of the main changes that had occurred during 2017:
· Policing Numbers had reduced
· The Mayor’s directive of maintaining two District Ward Officers per ward had been achieved earlier than planned
· Uncertainty with respect to the BCU trials and whether or not this would affect Safer Neighbourhood Team base closures
· Disruption caused by Grenfell and terrorist attacks
· Increased focus on Safeguarding and Child Sexual exploitation.
Sergeant Thomas explained that both the Town Centre Teams for Bromley and Orpington had been maintained. Good relationships had been developed with both BIDs. In December, a funding stream had been negotiated with the Bromley BID that had allowed extra patrols in Bromley Town throughout the Christmas period.
The Safer Neighbourhood Teams had been monitoring the potential BID in Beckenham and Penge, and would be looking to develop positive relationships with the BID should the vote be positive.
Data was presented concerning the number of notifiable offences for Bromley during December 2017. The total number of offences that were notified was 206 during that period. The highest percentage of these offences (100) related to theft and the handling of stolen goods. Sixty four of the theft offences were for shoplifting. The second highest percentage of offences pertained to violence against the person where 67 offences had been recorded.
The Committee was updated concerning the night time economy for Beckenham and Bromley. Much work had been undertaken to review licenses of various premises. The Tasking Team had been lost and so consideration had to be given concerning how to manage the DWO shift patterns. Representations had been made centrally and now a new shift pattern had been established which meant that the Police were patrolling on Friday and Saturday evenings until 4am.
A new tactical plan was being developed in line with the new shift pattern, the new tactical plan was referred to as ‘Operation Resolve’. This would be aimed at the night time economy issues of ASB and Crime, particularly violence with injury. Part of the plan was to renew the working relationships with partners like security guards and street ambassadors. As the England football team had qualified for the World Cup, a tactical plan to deal with this would need to be developed. The Chairman wondered what the relationship was between the high number of violent offences against the person, and the consumption of alcohol.
A Member commented that when Jonathan Booth had been the local Police officer assigned to dealing with licensing issues, he had received regular reports concerning crime committed in the night time economy. He stated that this was no longer the case. He noted that several key premises including O Neil’s, Vu Vu and Bar Du Vin had been granted extensions to their licenses, and that these were all in close proximity geographically. He expressed the view that the relevant statistics were required so that night time economy violence could be tracked to the relevant premises. He felt that an obligation existed to the Police to ascertain if LBB had granted extensions on licensing applications that had subsequently led to an increase in violence. Mention was also made of the increased pressure on NHS resources exerted due to increases in alcohol fuelled violence.
The Committee agreed that it would be a good idea if another joint meeting could be held between the Public Protection PDS Committee, and GP&L to discuss the problem and seek solutions.
A Member enquired if there was a definition of ‘night time economy’? Sergeant Thomas said that the definition had been subject to change; in terms of time, the night time economy was generally regarded as referring to a time period commencing at 9pm, and ending at 4am.
RESOLVED that a joint meeting be held with the GP&L Committee to discuss problems in the night time economy relating to licensing and alcohol related ASB and violence.