Agenda item

4.1

The Community Assembly received a presentation from Inspector Darren Starkey, Central Safer Neighbourhood Area (SNA), on the new policing arrangements in the Central Assembly area following a restructure of the SNAs.  The Central SNA now covered the Walkley, City Centre, Broomhill and Hillsborough Wards and was coterminous with the Community Assembly boundary.

4.2

Inspector Starkey reported on the staffing levels in the Central Safer Neighbourhood Team, the general priorities of South Yorkshire Police in terms of crime prevention, current statistics in terms of crime levels, challenges for the SNA and key issues in the area at the present time.

4.3

Members of the public and the Community Assembly raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                    The Police regularly reviewed crime statistics in Tasking Meetings, so would be aware of any specific spikes in crime in certain areas.  If there were increases in crime, they would look at preventative work in those areas, and increase resources if possible.

·                    The Police were making increasing use of software which could be downloaded onto items such as laptops and mobile phones, and which enabled the Police to track the whereabouts of such items if they had been stolen.  The public could also use websites such as www.immobilise.com or www.preyproject.com to register any items of value on a national database, and which enabled the Police to return any goods to their owners if located after being stolen or lost.

·                    The Police were aware of the recent rise in street robberies and car crime in the Upperthorpe area and had deployed additional resources to deal with the increase. It mainly involved teenagers and a number had been arrested and were presently in custody.  A number of offenders had been caught with stolen goods by using the tracking software.

·                    If the Police suspected goods had been stolen, they could either visit the offender if they knew where they lived, and scan the goods in question, or use the tracking software to locate the goods.  They also undertook such checks at second hand shops and were able to scan suspected stolen goods which had been handed in at police stations.

·                    A very high proportion of crime was committed by people known to the Police.  This was particularly prevalent in respect of the recent instances of crime in the Upperthorpe area.

·                    It was agreed that the Witness Protection System could be operated more efficiently in order to provide greater assistance and protection for those people coming forward to give evidence against offenders.  The Police worked with such people under the Community Justice System, and aimed to give people more confidence to come forward to provide evidence.  It was accepted that it was not easy for people to provide evidence, but there was a facility for reporting anonymously through Crimestoppers.

·                    Those members of the public who had volunteered to compile Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) diaries for the Police, and who were likely to receive visits from the Police, should be encouraged to make their own arrangements with the visiting Police Officer in terms of whether the Officer should wear plain clothes or whether they should meet at a venue other than the resident’s home.  This would then make the members of the public less susceptable to reprisals. This would also apply to victims of crime.

·                    The Police worked closely with licensees and the Council’s Licensing Service in connection with problems of alcohol-related ASB.  Whilst the Police could object to the opening of licensed premises or request reviews of the operation of such premises if they considered there were grounds to do so, they did not have the powers to stop new licensed premises from opening.  In terms of the issues regarding alcohol-related ASB in the Broomhill area, the Police continued to work closely with the City’s two Universities in connection with students’ drinking habits. The City Centre was designated as an Alcohol Restriction Zone, and the Police were looking at the possibility of extending the zone to specific areas just outside the City Centre.

·                    The “101” number was the Police’s preferred contact number for the public reporting non-urgent issues as it provided a better method of logging such calls on the system.

·                    The Council could request information from the Police in terms of calls received through the “101” contact number, when drafting plans for road safety schemes, including 20mph zones.

·                    The Police had found that the allocation of funding by the Community Assembly in terms of the provision of youth clubs and other activities for young people had contributed towards reducing crime levels in such areas.  The Police worked with the Council to look at which areas such funding should be targeted.

·                    Staffing levels in the Central SNA were greater, by varying degrees, than all of the other SNAs.

·                    It was appreciated that consistency in terms of staffing in the SNA contributed towards keeping crime levels down on the basis that the Police Community Safety Officers (PCSOs) were familiar with the area and representatives of community organisations and members of the public formed trusted relationships with such Officers.  It had been accepted that there had been a recent change in the Central SNA, which had occurred as a result of the PCSO requesting a transfer to another Community Assembly area.

·                    It was understood that the plans to extend the Alcohol Restriction Zone to cover a number of neighbourhoods just outside the City Centre had been proposed by a number of different bodies and agencies.  Information had been received from the Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT), which indicated that extending the boundary of the Zone would provide the Police with powers to deal with any alcohol-related ASB linked to licensed premises.

·                    There had been an increase of 14 offences in terms of sexual crime for a given period ending April, 2012, compared with the same period in 2011.  There were a number of specialist Police Officers who dealt with offences of this nature.

4.4

RESOLVED:  That the Community Assembly:-

(a)       notes the information reported as part of the presentation, together with the responses to the questions raised; and

(b)       thanks Inspector Darren Starkey for attending the meeting, making the presentation and responding to the questions raised.