Minutes:
The police update was provided by Superintendent Craig Knight. The Group was informed that there had been a rise in offences which was expected at this time of year—however the rise had been sharper than anticipated. In the rolling 12 months, burglary had risen by 4.2%. Two ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) operations were planned which would be a collaborative effort involving Kent and Surrey police.
Non domestic abuse violence had risen by 4% in the last month; however, overall crime levels had reduced. There had been a small increase in the number of ASB calls over the last month, and most of these were related to abandoned vehicles.
The Superintendent was pleased to inform the Group that street robbery had fallen by 15%. Over the rest of London there had been an increase in robberies of 2%. In Bromley there had been a 17% decrease in knife crime which compared to a 7-8% rise in London as whole. So overall the numbers were good. There had been a rise in the number of public order offences reported—an increase of 14%. The Superintendent stated that there had been a rise in the number of public order offences because more crime was being detected and more arrests were being made.
Mr Knight stated that theft was on the increase because the public were not doing the basics like locking doors and windows. The police were considering adopting a name and shame policy for people that were being silly in this regard by not taking even the most basic crime prevention precautions. There was a need for the public to be educated in terms of crime prevention. Public satisfaction was 71%. The number of ‘I’ calls responded to within the target times was 82%, and it was 84% for ‘S’ calls.
Mr Knight was asked if the police used Crime Prevention Officers and the answer to this was affirmative.
It was asked if there would be any adverse effects regarding performance as a result of the new BCU command structure. Mr Knight responded that there would not be any loss of performance. In fact, with respect to the tri-borough BCU, three separate response sites had been retained. This was designed to avoid dips in performance. Mr Knight informed the Group that there had been a significant loss of senior officers.
The good news was that more money and resources would be provided for Safeguarding, the number of schools officers was increasing, and there would be more emphasis in looking after vulnerable people.
The Head of Business Continuity and Resilience for LBB (Mr David Tait) asked if the police had sensed any increased community tensions after the murder in Penge that had taken place on November 4th. It was noted that in addition to the murder, there was an incident where 3 shots were fired from a vehicle. It was the case that specific individuals were causing tensions. Resultantly, extra resources had been deployed in the area and this included the deployment of uniformed and plain clothed officers. A Section 60 Order had been used. Events were being monitored daily.
Mr Knight was asked if the police used a dedicated burglary squad, and the answer to this was no. Mr Knight expressed the view that the dedicated burglary squad had not proved more effective in dealing with burglary offenses.
Finally, Mr Knight briefed the Group about the operations that had been undertaken to deal with burglaries that had been orchestrated by organised crime gangs and about operation ‘Be Safe’ which was aimed at providing crime prevention advice to the public.
RESOLVED that the police update be noted.