Agenda item

Overview update Briefing covering:

·       Domestic Abuse and VAWG

·       Antisocial Behaviour

·       Serious Adult Violence

·       Reducing Offending

·       Reducing high volume crime

·       Delivery of the Prevent Strategy

·       Trends in levels of crime and ASB

(Relevant to all areas of the Community Safety Strategy)

Mr Clifton presented his report on community safety in Barnet over the last nine months during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Coordination of the various subgroups had been maintained throughout the pandemic including the Domestic Violence MARAC, Integrated Offender Management Panel, Serious Adult Violence Panel, Reducing Offending Strategic Group, Channel Panel, Prevent Strategy Steering Group, Community Safety MARAC and Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) Working Group.

Crime had reduced overall during this period, driven largely by restrictions implemented due to the pandemic. The year to the end of August 2020 showed 2,000 fewer offences than the previous year, but violent crime had stayed around the same level. There had been an increase in robbery of 10-20% which was much lower than the increase seen prior to the pandemic.

Mr Clifton reported that there had been no reduction in antisocial behaviour (ASB) during the 12 months to the end of August. There had been 13,000 calls to the police compared to 8000 in 2019. Many of these related to reports of Covid restriction breaches, particularly in residential areas. The Community Safety MARAC which tackles ASB meets regularly to review the most complex and persistent cases and to put in place risk assessments and action plans. This process had performed strongly during the pandemic. 

Five Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) had been implemented, and the four that related to street drinking had resulted in a 40% reduction in calls to the London Ambulance Service.

Mr Clifton reported that domestic violence (DV) and violence against women and girls (VAWG) have been a major focus of the Council throughout the last nine months, as the Covid restrictions presented the potential for an increase in cases and for possible difficulties in reporting. The Community Safety Team has worked closely across a range of VAWG partnerships to reconfigure a range of services to support victims and work with perpetrators on behaviour change. The DV MARAC meetings have been increased from monthly to weekly which resulted in a faster turnaround of risk assessments and action plans, and it is hoped that this change can be maintained. The DV Strategy for Barnet is currently being refreshed, and details would be circulated after the meeting. Mr Clifton noted that he would be grateful if Board Members could provide feedback on this.

Action: All

Mr Clifton reported that last year the Council’s Senior Management Team discussed the need to identify and have interventions for adults at risk of serious violence, and had increased provision for this group. The Serious Adult Violence Panel was introduced on a pilot basis to review individuals who are at risk of being involved in violence and to put a plan in place. Individuals who are managed under the Youth Offending Team (YOT) transitioning to adult services at 18 years of age had been identified as at risk due to a potential reduction in their oversight. Mr Clifton noted that the Panel has reviewed over 30 cases since May 2020 and put supportive interventions in place. Also, the Integrated Offender Management Programme continues to run and has achieved a reduction of 20-40% in offending.

Mr Clifton reported that burglary in Barnet remains higher than average for London. A successful bid was made for the Home Office Safer Streets Fund of £300,000, which would be focused on designing out crime in Hendon. 

The Prevent Strategy continues to be delivered in Barnet with the Channel Panel meeting regularly and training being rolled out to Barnet staff.

Mr Clifton reported that over 500 staff and residents had signed up as Hate Crime Reporting Champions as part of the Barnet Zero Tolerance to Hate Crime Project. Work is ongoing to enable voluntary and community sector partners in Barnet to act as Hate Crime Reporting Centres.

Ms Hirani reported that in 2019/20 across England and Wales, 105,090 hate crimes had been reported to the police, over three quarters of these being racially motivated. Hate crime in relation to sexual orientation had increased by 19% to 15,800; relating to transgender identity, increased by 16% to 2,500 and disability hate crime had risen by 9% to 8,500. In incidents where victims’ religion was recorded, half were targeted against Muslims and 19% were anti-Semitic.

In London between January and September 2020, hate crime had risen by 17%, and nationally by 25%. The Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner had stated that this was likely to have been driven by the rise in frustration during the pandemic and people with mental health conditions not being able to access support services during the pandemic. Arguments over the use of face coverings had led to abusive language, particularly racist language. Most of the reporting related to localised neighbour disputes or abuse directed at strangers in the street, largely comments over the use or non-use of face masks. A recent Home Office report showed that racial hate crime had increased during the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests.

Ms Hirani reported that in Barnet so far during 2020, 603 racist or religious hate crime offences had been recorded by the Metropolitan Police; 93 were anti-Semitic and 14 Islamophobic; 10 were related to disability; 54 homophobic and 3 transgender hate offences. Barnet held its Hate Crime Awareness Week during October, with much of it being online due to the pandemic. Two webinars, on safeguarding - recognising and reporting hate crime against vulnerable people, and online hate, harassment and extremism, including how it can be communicated via chat rooms and video games, had been held and are available to view online. The Hate Crime Bulletin had also been circulated to all Hate Crime Champions and all Hate Crime Reporting Centres.

Ms Hirani added that the Metropolitan Police hosted stands in the community in Barnet, Brent and Harrow on hate crime reporting, to allow the public to speak to Community Support Officers about issues. These would continue throughout the year. 

Mr Ben Norfolk presented the Performance Dashboard slides.

• Burglary had reduced significantly over the past year but had been on an upward trend prior to lockdown
• There had been very little change in violent crime, Barnet having the third lowest level in all London Boroughs.
• There had been an increase in knife crime in Barnet since the previous year
• There had been a decrease in gun crime incidents
• Domestic abuse sanction and detection rates had fallen from 13% to 12% but the volume of DV had not increased significantly
• The total number of anti-social behaviour (ASB) calls had increased during lockdown.

The Chairman asked what is being done to prepare for the potential increase in robberies when footfall returns after lockdown measures are relaxed. Mr Clifton reported that the Community Safety Team is working closely with neighbourhood policing teams, focusing on the hotspot areas. Police updates are being used to brief the Council’s CCTV control room.

The Chairman requested an update on the progress made by the introduction of regular briefings to CCTV control rooms. Mr Clifton noted that there are now daily updates on the locations of robberies, with the time of the incident and description of suspects. He added that it is too early to know what the impact of this has been but as footfalls increase he will update the Board.

Action: Mr Clifton

The Chairman enquired how quickly a response to incidents could be implemented, given the increase in robberies, such as deployment of the mobile CCTV units. Mr Clifton responded that this depends on the location and technical requirements. Over the past two years a more dynamic response had been achieved with rapid deployment cameras that can be situated at a site within a week, though it can take longer than this, but the work is ongoing. 

Ms Bateman asked whether the data show whether victims of ASB include any adults at risk. Mr Clifton responded that the Community Safety MARAC deals with a range of victims, including some with vulnerabilities. Mr Leng offered to review the Community Safety MARAC data with Ms Hirani, to ensure that no vulnerable victims are being missed. Every victim of crime seen through the Community Safety MARAC is considered in relation to vulnerability. There is both a mental health and an adult safeguarding representative and if any concerns arise, enquiries are made to ensure that the individual is offered the appropriate services.

Action: Mr Leng

Ms Bateman noted that Mr Ray Booth is Chairman of the Access to Justice Group and asked whether a report could be presented to this group. Superintendent Rawlinson noted that all ASB incidents are risk assessed for vulnerability in victims. Victims are recorded on the police Merlin system and shared with the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). Any high-risk or persistent incidents are referred to the Community Safety MARAC. Currently the reports on ASB have largely been regarding Covid rule breaking with no signs of an increase in crime related to vulnerability. 

The Chairman asked whether stands had been organised for specific wards, with Member involvement as was the case the previous year. Ms Hirani noted that due to the pandemic the stands had only had police presence for 2020. Mr Clifton offered to share the virtual workshops schedule with all Members so that they could attend. 

Action: Mr Clifton

Dr Djuretic commented that she would like to understand, and try to work with communities to prevent, the issue of racial abuse in relation to face coverings. Mr Clifton offered to meet with Dr Djuretic, Mr Booth, Ms Hirani and the Chairman to discuss this further.

Action: Mr Clifton

The Board resolved to note the report.