Minutes

Apologies: Apologies for absence were received from: Mrs C Atkinson,

Dr V Cable MP, Mr N Davies, Mr J Demont, Mrs A Dhillon, Councillor C Head, Mr D Leftwich, Mr C Mann, Mrs C Phelps, Mrs S Wellesley and Mr G Wheeler.

Welcome: The Chairman welcomed new members and members of the public.

(a)   The Minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2006 were received and approved and the Chairman authorised to sign them subject to the following amendments:

• Minute 38 Gillian to read Jillian
• Minute 43 (d) Styles to read Style and
• Minute 44 Opperational to read Operational.

(b)   The Minutes of the Executive Committee meeting held on 13 November.2006 were received.  It was noted that the MPA had suggested that meetings of the Executive Committee should be held more often.

Sergeant Duke, deputising for Inspector Foden, responded to Mr Gale’s question saying that the 20 miles per hour speed limit could now be enforced, however, currently a warning was being given; those who exceeded 30 miles per hour were being issued with a fixed penalty notice.

(a) CS Edwards apologised for not providing his usual full report.  Copies of the Borough Commanders Monthly Management Report Score Card were tabled.  Three sections were set out on the sheet, which showed “Crime and disorder, vulnerability and harm are prevented and reduced”, “More offenders brought to justice” and “Security is improved and the public feel reassured”.  He spoke in detail about the figures and what they represented.  The percentage figures were colour coded, red, which equated to 10 per cent worse than target, amber could do better and green on target.  Motor vehicle crime continued to rise above last year’s figures and the public needed to work with the police in order not to make it easy for offenders.  He said that overall the crime picture in the borough was good; Richmond was the safest borough in London, which was reflected by the figures.

Mrs Style said that Barnes had been the target of motor vehicle crime and work undertaken by the SNT had helped to improve the situation.  Members were encouraged to speak to their SNT officers about all crime incidents and to also raise issues with them immediately or at their ward PLG meetings.

Ms Edwards spoke about the use of bad language on public transport and CS Edwards said it was a problem that that was difficult to police, however, Transport for London (TFL) had funded 18 Community and Police Support Officers to police buses and trains.  They would be in place in June.  Asked what the chain of command would be for the officers CS Edwards said that TFL would guide and steer the service, which would be implemented by his Sergeants.

(b) A member of the public spoke about her car widow being smashed and said that crimes were often not reported because they were thought to be too small.  CS Edwards said that all crimes should be reported, there should never be an acceptance of any crime.  The crime may be part of a wider spate, which together could be used as evidence.  The SNTs were there for that purpose.

(c) Councillor Williams acknowledged the importance of statistical information but said that there was a need to consider if they were needed, given the rationality and proportionality and the money spent on collecting them.  He asked if there was anything that the CPP could do in that regard.  CS Edwards agreed, but said that good data was genuinely making a difference.

(d) CS Edwards referred to the consultation meeting on the expansion of Teddington Police Station that had taken place in Teddington on 22 January 2007.  He said that it was a challenging meeting that had enabled the community to come together to hear about what was being proposed and for the public to speak about their concerns.  He could not categorically say that the expansion would not happen but it was unlikely in light of the issues raised at the meeting.  It was not now clear whether the boroughs of Kingston and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

(a) Dr Atton asked if it was true that the police rapid response vehicles were to be based at Twickenham.  CS Edwards said that the proposal was that the unit would be based at Twickenham police station but that would now be dependent on what happened about Teddington police station.  There could be a total of 10 police cars a 40 percent increase.  CS Edwards spoke about Command Control and Communication (3Ci), which would be introduced in the borough in August, he said it would help the deployment of vehicles and would make it easier for them to be monitored.

(b) MS Westmorland spoke about the sanction detection rates for victims of domestic violence and asked if perpetrators were “chastised” rather than charged.  CS Edwards said that although they needed the victim’s assistance they now had three choices when domestic violence was the issue including bringing victimless prosecutions.  If someone was cautioned that would remain on their record and the information used at a later date.

(c) Mr Press referred to the issue of drugs and alcohol mentioned in the Borough Commanders report and asked if problems were being kept under wraps.  He said that he often saw very drunk young people late at night vandalising bus stops and spraying graffiti on property.  CS Edwards said that enforcement was not always what was needed, effective drug programmes would help in some instances.  In high crime boroughs it was legal to drug test on arrested, however, Richmond upon Thames was not yet one of those boroughs.  With regard to alcohol CS Edwards said that as this was the first year of the new law it was too early to tell if that was a contributing factor.

The issue of those cycling more than two abreast in the parks was raised and Sergeant Duke said that that cyclist were advised that no more than two cyclists should ride side by side, although he acknowledged that it did happen.

Councillor Williams spoke about the new Safer Parks Teams being established in both of the borough’s parks.  The one for Bushy Park would take place in February; no date had yet been set for Richmond Park.  The Chairman asked that Mrs Taylor be informed of the dates for the launches.

(a) The Chairman’s meetings on behalf of the CPP were set out on the agenda at Appendix D.  She apologised that she had been unable to attend all those listed due to ill health.  With regard to the St Margaret’s and North Twickenham PLG/SNT party Dr Atton reported that it had been a successful event, which had been well attended.  The successful launch of the Hampton North PLG had been held on 25 January 2007, which she had also not attended.

(b) The CPP’s Annual Work Programme, agreed by the Executive Committee at the November meeting, was noted.  It was pointed out that the wording in the first column of page three should read “would be” not “was”.

ACTION: Mrs Taylor to amend the error.

(c) It was with great regret that the Chairman spoke about Chief Superintendent Edward’s retirement from the police force.  He had been a great champion of the work undertaken by the CPP, in particular his support in ensuring the work of the PLGs continued with links to the SNTs.   The Chairman paid tribute to the work he had undertaken for the Division, the community and the CPP and said that he would be greatly missed.  In response he said that having served for 30 years it was time for a career change.  He had enjoyed the challenges that the last three years had brought him and thanked members of the CPP and the community for their support.

The Group’s budget monitoring report for April 2006 to January 2007 was noted.

The 13^th YCC would be held on 28 February 2007 at the RFU, where the accommodation was being provided free of charge.  The key issues for the day would be Stop and Search, Criminal Damage and Street Crime.  For the first time a joint event was being held with schools from Hounslow.  A report on the event would be available at the next meeting. 

Mrs Style spoke about gang fights between different areas/boroughs and asked if it would be possible to raise the issue at the YCC.  She thought that young people from within the borough talking to those from other boroughs about the issues that caused problems might help the situation.  It was suggested that it was an area that could be addressed at a future conference.

ACTION: Mrs Taylor to note for the following year’s Conference.

Mrs Lawtey reported that two operations had been cancelled before Christmas but that one had been held in Kew involving SNTs and Council officers.

The Chairman said that Mr Johnston had been unable to attend the meeting, however, he had reported that there were no pending instillations of CCTV cameras apart from the RFU scheme mentioned last year.  He hoped to have more information to report after April following a report he was preparing for the Council Leader.

Mrs Lawtey spoke about the Seminar and said that the programme for the day would be circulated shortly.  The Probation service would be making presentations on a number of areas of their work including public protection and supervising offenders.

In Mrs Atkinson’s absence Chief Inspector Enoch spoke about the S&S meeting held on 22 January 2007.  He explained that he had knowledge of S&S from his previous role.  He said that the main issue for the Richmond Group was looking at disproportionality; Richmond was above average for the number of black people stopped per numbers of population.  Mrs Atkinson had asked him to look at the statistics, to see if that was an issue.  A new database had been set up which would help with the problems experienced previously with data collection.  The age for stops had been raised and he would be looking at that aspect as well.  At Councillor Trigg’s request he would also look at the statistics for each ward.  CI Enoch and Mrs Atkinson would be attending a conference on 23 February on how communities hold the police to account.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 September 2006 were noted.

The last meeting had been cancelled due to a power cut.  The next meeting would be held on 11 April 2007.

The launch of the PLG had taken place on 25 January 2007.

No meetings had been held recently.

No meetings had been held since the last CPP.

No meetings had been held since the last CPP.

No meetings had been held since the last CPP.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 December 2006 were not available.

No PLG meetings had been held since the last CPP meeting, due to preparations for the Teddington Police Station meeting on 22 January 2007.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2006 were noted.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2006 were not available.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 January were noted.

The minutes of the Planning Meeting held on 5 December 2006 were noted.

The statistics report from BTP for periods nine and ten were noted.  Ms Westmorland referred to the 110 pedal cycle offences for period 1 –10 2006. 

Mrs Page said that at a previous meeting Chief Superintendent Morgan,

had agreed to find out why the referrals from BTP had reduced during the last two years.  To date there had been no response.

Mr Press informed members that he had been in discussion with BTP about an on-going problem on a bridge in Teddington.  He had been told that CCTV cameras would be installed.  To date he had heard nothing further about the proposal.

ACTION: Mrs Taylor to write to BTP about the three questions raised.

(a) The MPS/MPA Annual Report 2005/2006 was available on request to Mrs Taylor.

(b) The Central Operations Newsletter January 2007 had been emailed to members and copies were also tabled.

(c) Copies of the contact details for the borough’s SNTs were tabled.

Asked by Mr Hood if he was expecting to need assistance with enforcement when the smoking ban came into force in July 2007, Chief Superintendent Edwards said he anticipated that it would be a smooth transition.

The next meeting would be held on Tuesday 27 March 2007 at 7.00pm at York House.