Agenda and minutes

Apologies: Apologies for absence were received from: Mr J Bell,

Mr P Burrows-Smith, Mrs A Dhillon, Ms C Edwards, Mr C Jarvis, Mrs A Lawtey, Mr D Leftwhich, Mrs C Phelps, Mr M Press, Mrs A Style, Cllr D Trigg, Mr R Turk, Mrs S Wellesley and Mr K Wood.

Welcome: The Chairman welcomed Detective Chief Superintendent Rick Turner to his first meeting as Borough Commander, prospective new members and members of the public.

The Chairman introduced Alan Johnston, the Council’s CCTV and Careline Service Development Manager who had been invited to speak about the use of Rapid Deployment Cameras (RDC’s) in the borough.  He tabled a leaflet, which set out the way in which the RDC’s were helping to make the community safer, having been used in conjunction with the police for the last three years.  Mr Johnston spoke in detail about the way in which they were used in the fight against crime, Anti Social Behaviour and reducing the Fear of Crime.  The borough currently had eight RDC’s of different styles that reflected the change of technology over the last three years.  The RDC’s had been used in more than forty locations.  Mr Johnston answered a number of questions from members, which included decisions about prioritising where the cameras were placed, costs, data collection, the length of time that data was kept and the issue of “trawling” through the recorded data.  The Chairman thanked Mr Johnston for his informative presentation.

N.B. The RDC information leaflet was available on request to Mr Johnston as was his presentation.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2007.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 March 2007 were received and approved and the Chairman authorised to sign them subject to an amendment to page one under the heading “Police” “16 April” to read “10 April” and at minute 72 (c) “telephone calls” to read “emails”.

Superintendent Davies had reported back to the CPP to say that monitoring would be undertaken and that other information in relation to telephone answering and response times would be available once C3i was introduced in the borough, later in the year.  Mrs Page asked about the need for improvements in response times and DCS Turner said that once the transition was underway there would be a marked improvement.

Recipients of e-mail banking scams forward them to Bank Safe Online.Bank Safe Online is a banking industry initiative to help online banking customers stay safe. It provides advice and updates on scams. Suspicious emails or websites can be reported to them direct by: opening the suspect email, clicking the forward button and sending it to reports@banksafeonline.org.uk (or attaching the suspect email to a new email).

Their informative website is at www.banksafeonline.org.uk  

The response to the question about scam emails was noted.  Copies of a leaflet on the issue produced by the Office of Fair Trading were tabled.  It was suggested that the leaflets be made available at places such as libraries and community centres.  Details about how to obtain free copies were set out on the leaflet. 

No official response had been made by BTP but it had been suggested that whilst officers would not be patrolling the trains if they were off duty, they would take action if a problem arose. 

To be presented by Chief Superintendent Rick Turner – circulated separately to members of the CPP

In presenting his first report to the CPP, DCS Turner said that the statistics contained the comparisons since the beginning of the year with the figures for the previous year.  He said that was the way in which the report would be presented in the future.  It was all to do with work in progress. As members had received his report in advance of the meeting he referred them to the Executive Summary on page four, which set out last year’s figures and he said that the borough had performed well.  The data was set out in a traffic light format, red amber and green (amber being within 10 per cent of target).  Most of the outcomes for last year were on green apart from those connected to motor vehicle crimes.  The sanction detection rate had been high and the borough had been in the top performing five of the 32 London Borough’s.

Since 1 April there had been a significant decrease in most crime areas and members were asked to look at the report for the complete list.  With regard to domestic violence CS Turner said that it was difficult to get women to Court but there was a positive arrest policy in place.  PSA targets had been set four years ago and a new process of target setting would begin for 2008.  A member of the public asked if the dark green used in the report could be made lighter as it would make the black writing easier for some members to read.

An opportunity to raise any questions or concerns relating to general policing matters, which affect the whole community

(a)  When asked about the lack of targets for Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) DCS Turner said that problems such as graffiti and the carrying of knives were reflected in other categories within the report.  The community had the opportunity to feed back on crime issues and fear of crime issues at their local PLG meetings.

(b) It was suggested that the crimes committed by people from outside the borough should be shown in the report and DCS Turners said that could be considered.

(c) A members of the public asked about the figures for crimes against the elderly and more vulnerable members of the community.  CS Turner acknowledged that while there were some crime categories, which included those against older people, there were no classifications for the more vulnerable.  The Chairman said that when the issue of highlighting the figures for crimes against older people had been discussed previously there had been a negative reaction to the idea.  The Chairman said that an initiative was being introduced shortly to support the housebound and the vulnerable in the borough.  Further ideas on how to support the more vulnerable would be welcomed.  Issues could also be raised with SNTs

ACTION: Mrs Taylor to find the previous minutes regarding the discussion about older people, which would be forwarded to the questioner (they contained crime figures against older people).

(d)A member of the public spoke about the beggars at Richmond railway station and those who waited near cash points, which she thought was a form of ASB.  CS Turner reported that Transport for London (TfL) had allocated 18 PCSOs to the borough from mid June.  They would be patrolling on buses and at train stations, which should help the situation at the station.  He then spoke about the difficulty that arose when charging those beggars that were homeless and those that were not.

(e) Mr Shaw referred to CS Turner’s report and the shortage of accommodation for the 18 PCSO’s and CS Turner said that nine would be based at Richmond and nine between Teddington and Twickenham.  They would be moving around the borough, as they would be working on the transport links.  The Chairman asked members to let Mrs Taylor have any information for Inspector Brown, who was the officer responsible for the 18 PCSO’s, regarding bus routes and times when there were particular problems.

(f) Ms Westmorland said that the taxi driver bringing her to the meeting had suggested there be a PCSO’s presence on the forecourt at Richmond railway station between 11pm and 2am.  It was acknowledged that would be part of the remit of the new PCSOs.

(g) Mr Demont asked if the limited powers of the PCSO’s could be increased.  CS Turner said that he would report back to the CPP in due course as the Commissioner was currently reviewing their powers.

(h) Mrs Parry raised the issue of the travellers that were living on the edge of the A316 and members discussed at length the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

The Royal Parks OCU Policing Plan 2007/2008 – Appendix B

Safer Parks Questionnaire (Emailed to members previously) – Appendix C

The Royal Parks OCU Policing Plan was noted.  Members were reminded that there was still time to complete the Safer Parks Questionnaire.  Mr Burrows-Smith had attended the Richmond Safer Parks Team meetings would report back in due course.  It was unclear if those meetings would be run on the same lines as PLGs in the borough.

The Chairman’s meetings for April/May, made on behalf of the CPP were noted.  She spoke about the launch of Dog Watch on 4 April in Heathfield, which could be introduced to other parts of the borough; it involved the community acting as eyes and ears for the Council.  At the meeting on 21 May with the MPS Property Services, they were informed that 36 per cent of SNTs were without a base.  The issue of a base for the Barnes SNT formed part of the discussion.  CS Turner spoke about the issue locally regarding police accommodation.  Various options were being considered and Richmond police station would not be sold until the needs of the borough could be met.

ACTION: CS Turner to keep the CPP informed of progress.

The Vice-Chairman’s meetings made on behalf of the CPP were tabled and noted.

Oral update from the Vice-Chairman

The Vice-Chairman said that as could be seen from her list of meetings most of them had been in connection with Stop and Search the details of which she reported.  They included that in Richmond black people were 12 times more likely to be stopped and searched than a white person, according to 2001 census data.  She explained the outcome of the random sample undertaken with CI Enoch using the details of the last 70 people entered on the S&S database.  The exercise would be repeated once a month for a few months, then appraised to decide next steps.  The results would be reported back to the CPP.

NB Subsequent to the meeting it was agreed that a presentation would be made on Stop and Search at the CPP meeting in September.

For Information

The Newsletter was noted.

For information

The CPP’s budget monitoring report: April 2006 to March 2007 was noted.  A number of expenses had not been included and the under spend was £989.67.

To note that copies of the Joint Report are available on request to the Administrator.

Mrs Taylor reported that on 2 May the then Mayor, Cllr Bill Treble, had launched the posters produced at the YCC event held in February 2007, along with mouse mats produced using the same poster.  Copies were tabled and members informed that the mouse mats were available on request to Mrs Taylor.

To follow

The report on the visit to Waldegrave School, produced by David Noakes, Community Safety Partnership, was noted.  Mrs Taylor said that the session had been well received.  Each of the 25 pupils was given a safety alarm and domestic abuse information.  The outcome of the questionnaire on safety issues included:

Ø      That the crimes that most concerned them were physical violence/assault (69%) and rape/sexual assault (61%)

Ø      That 100% of the respondents felt either safe or fairly safe in the daytime but only69% after dark.
That 15% thought crime was rising in their area compared to 54% who felt it had stayed the same or was falling

Ø      That twice as many felt anti-social behaviour (ASB) was rising (31%) compared to those who felt crime was rising.

Further outreach to schools and youth groups would take place during the year.

The Chairman informed members that the SNTs were being asked to encourage young people to attend meetings and that sub-groups might be set up in the borough to enable them to have a voice.  The Travelling Caravan model worked well in some areas, where the SNT Sergeant and the Chairman visited schools and day centres, which built up a mosaic.  The issues raised were monitored and reported back to the local community.  Cllr Williams said that each PLG should have a cross section of the community represented at its meetings.   The composition of all SNTs/PLGs would be looked at next year.

A Report on the Review will be available at the July meeting.  Members who still need to return their organisations application form are asked to do so as soon as possible

The final report on the results of the Biennial Review would be available at the next meeting.

Members to note that nominations for the above should be with the CPP’s Administrator by 4pm on 31 July 2007

Members noted that nominations for the above should be with Mrs Taylor by 4pm on the day of the next meeting – 31 July 2007.  Mrs Kyrle-Pope had served, as Chairman since July 2002 and under the terms of the Constitution was able to hold the post for a further year.

NB Subsequent to the meeting it was found that the there was no restriction on the tenure that a CPP Chairman could serve.

Members to be asked to agree that authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Chief Superintendent to agree the CPP’s Annual Report

Members agreed that authority to approve the CPP’s Annual Report for 2006/2007 be delegated to the Honorary Clerk, The Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Chief Superintendent.  The report would be available at the next meeting.

The dates for future Green, Safe and Clean weeks had been circulated previously.  Cllr Williams explained that once each year there was a specific week in which each ward was “blitzed” to ensure that they were green, safe and clean.

Emailed previously.  Please look at this before the meeting http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/council_government_and_democracy/council/contacts_consultation_feedback/current_council_consultations/controlled_drinking_zones_consultation.htm

Cllr Williams spoke about the Controlled Drinking Zones and informed members that the consultation, which was on the Council’s website, would continue until 1 June 2007.  He reinforced that the zones were not “no drinking” zones but that they would gave the police more powers when problems arose.

Cllr Williams informed members that the next half-day seminar would be held on 4 July 2007 and was a briefing by experts from the Youth Offending Team.  Application forms and further information would be circulated in due course.

The last meeting had been held on 22 May 2007.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 April 2007 were tabled and noted.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 April would be circulated in due course.

The minutes of previous meetings were not available.

Two meetings

The minutes of the meetings held on 24 January and 21 March 2007 were noted.

The next meeting was being held on 14 June.

The last meeting had been held 8 May 2007.

The next meeting was being held on 4 July.

No meetings had been held since the last CPP.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2007 were noted.

The minutes of the Executive meeting held on 28 March 2007 were noted.  The next full PLG was being held on 27 June.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 June would be circulated in due course.

No meetings had been held since the last CPP.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 April would be circulated in due course.  The next meeting was on 14 June.

NO date had been set for the next meeting.

Report for information – Appendix - J

The report was noted, although there was some disquiet about the format.  Members suggested ways in which the lay out could be improved, which included Mrs Parry’s suggestion that a column be added setting out where stations were manned or not manned.

ACTION: CS Turner undertook to write to BTP about the current format.

ACTION: Mrs Taylor to note Mr Shaw’s suggestion that a report be produced by the new Transport PCSOs after their first three months.

(a)   MPA’s Consultation on policing priorities for 2008/2009.

ACTION:  Mrs Taylor to circulate the letter setting out the details of the Consultation.

(b)MPA’s Work on Community Engagement and Counter Terrorism.

The Vice-Chairman would be attending the meetings being held at the MPA on 31 May and 28 June 2007, where the above would be discussed and she would report back to the CPP at the next meeting.  All members of the CPP were invited to attend the meetings and details were available after the meeting.

(c)Week of Peace 9 to 16 September 2007.  Mrs Taylor reported that David Noakes was the Council’s lead officer for the Week of Peace.  An initial meeting had been held earlier that day and a number of ideas had been discussed. 

ACTION: The CPP to be kept informed of progress.

Tuesday 31 July 2007

The next meeting would be held on Tuesday 31 July 2007 at 7.00pm at York House. 

NB Members to note that the annual “networking” get together would be held at the end of that meeting.

There being no further business, the Meeting, which began at 7.00pm, ended at 9:00pm.