Agenda item

CHAIRMAN'S UPDATE

Minutes:

The Executive Director, in his role as acting Chairman, suggested that Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe commence the Chairman’s update as this was a matter that historically was undertaken by the Borough Police Commander.

 

Mr Boothe confirmed that the BCU (Basic Command Unit) tri-borough model had started on 19th March. The new BCU had amalgamated the boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and Bromley under one over-arching Police command. The Police were now in a transitory stage where final preparations were being made. The BCU would go live in January 2019.

 

The Group were informed that there would be four strands to the BCU, each overseen by a Superintendent:

 

·  Neighbourhood Policing

·  Investigations

·  Response

·  Safeguarding

 

Mr Boothe gave assurances that neighbourhood policing would remain largely unchanged, and that funding for this was ring-fenced. He stated that Safeguarding was a key area, and this included Child Sexual Exploitation, Domestic Violence, and Children and Young People who were ‘Missing’. The Safeguarding strand would be overseen by Detective Superintendent Paul Warnett. The Superintendents would take up their new posts on 7th May. Each Superintendent would be supported by a Chief Inspector; two Chief Inspectors would be assigned to support Safeguarding. The primary aim was to develop the most effective policing model.

 

The Chairman referred to the current SBP Strategy and advised that it would be reviewed in the light of the new BCU model.

 

Mr Warnett expressed the view that there would be no significant changes to local policing. Crime levels were increasing in many areas, but ASB levels were decreasing; some of this reduction was due to the success of Community Impact Days. Increases had been seen in levels of non-domestic violence and in the carrying and use of weapons. Some of the increased numbers may have been due to the increased number and effectiveness of Police interventions.

 

Mr Warnett was concerned about the increased size of the weapons that were being seized. CCTV had been a big help to the Police in supporting their efforts to tackle gun and knife crime. People armed with weapons had been entering Bromley from other boroughs like Croydon and Lambeth. Mr Warnett promised to bring in examples of some of the weapons that had been seized.

 

The response to ‘I’ and ‘S’ calls was good, with both being just under 90% in terms of successful responses in the relevant time frames.

 

Mr Warnett commented on recent concerns around the number of cars in the Bromley Police fleet and gave assurances that there would be no significant loss of service and that Bromley Police still had the use of in excess of thirty vehicles. It was confirmed that the fleet would still be based at Bromley South Police Station.

 

Ms Baldwin (Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board) said that due to lack of effective communication, some people felt nervous about possible changes that could arise from the implementation of the tri-borough BCU. She hoped that communications could be improved in the future.

 

Mr Warnett appraised the Group concerning burglary. He confirmed that burglary figures had increased. There appeared to be two distinct groups that were responsible for this. One group was from outside of the UK and the other was connected to the ‘Traveller’ community. The groups tended to target high value properties and the group from abroad tended to leave the UK to avoid apprehension. Mr Warnett stated that Bromley Police had a very effective burglary squad, and he was confident that arrests would be made.