Agenda item

Briefing Note of Chief Legal Officer and West Midlands Police

The Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee received a Briefing Note of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services and Daryl Lyons, Chief Inspector of West Midlands Police that responded to a request from Members for details of the Coventry Community Strategic Priorities, which was approved by the Coventry Police and Crime Board, and an explanation of how the partnership would address the priorities highlighted in the annual strategic assessment.

Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) were the statutory body that brought together local partners to solve shared issues around: Crime and Disorder, Anti-Social Behaviour, Drug and Alcohol misuse, and Reoffending. The CSP in Coventry met as the Police and Crime Board (PCB).

Each year the Partnerships were required to undertake strategic assessments to help to inform their priorities. The root causes of crime and disorder were complex and multi-faceted, but local partners were well placed to respond and continue to work hard to understand how to make real and lasting impacts.

The strategic assessment, attached as an Appendix to the Briefing Note, was created, on behalf of the CSP by West Midland Police Partnership Intelligence Liaison Team (PILT). The Assessment was a regionally agreed service that provided each CSP with an annual report looking at the last 12 months. The document consisted of and was informed by, both local data, contributions from the local CSP members, and from a public survey, where members of the public were asked for their views on community safety in the city.

The strategic assessment looked back at data and events in the previous year and was also a predictive tool used to anticipate future issues in the city. The information was used by the PCB to set priorities and actions for the Partnership to improve community safety in the city.

The responsibility for delivering the strategic priorities, which were set out in the Appendix to the Briefing Note, ultimately lay with the PCB, although they were allocated and managed by the sub-groups, which supported the Board. The chairperson for each sub-group was a PCB member and answerable to the Board for the priorities that fell in their specific areas. Some of the priorities were ‘cross-cutting’ and collective ownership was taken for those issues.

The sub-groups that supported the PCB and were responsible for managing, delivering, and monitoring:

•  City Tasking: This group covered public place-based issues, safety, and reassurance

•  Harm and Abuse Reduction Partnership: This group responded to and sought to reduce a range of vulnerabilities/issues which ranged from domestic abuse, sexual violence, hate crime, modern day slavery etc

•  Reducing Re-Offending Group: Reducing reoffending and the resulting harm, integrated offender management and tackling serious and organised crime

•  Prevent: responded to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat faced from those who promote it; preventing people from being drawn into terrorism and ensuring that they were given appropriate advice and support; and worked with sectors and institutions where there were risks of radicalisation that needed to be addressed.

The PCB met quarterly and received the document that detailed performance against the qualitative and quantitative. Specific reporting was limited to ‘exceptions’ i.e. under, or over performance. Further scrutiny of the plan was undertaken by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, who had a representative on the Coventry PCB.

In considering the Briefing Note, the Committee questioned and received responses from officers and the Chief Inspector of West Midlands Police, in respect of the matters summarised below:

·  Use of Images from City Centre CCTV - West Midlands Police use Coventry City Council CCTV images in future communications for incidents, where it did not compromise a conviction

·  Data sharing with Members - dialogue between Members and the Community Safety Partnership regarding the data that could be shared, and context included

·  Average speed cameras - impact of average speed cameras in the city and where the fines were sent

·  Police officer strength in the city compared to actual strength - levels of police establishment in the City including vacancy rates

·  Police estates in the city – plans for police estates in the City

·  Motorcycle crime – growing crime of theft of motorcycles and use of motorcycles in criminal activities.

·  Vehicle crime – Vehicle crime detection rate highest in the Police force and was a focus

·  Motorcycle ride-outs – major events, countrywide attendance, drone assisted surveillance of events, plans in place where planned events

·  Domestic abuse – Strategy in place for domestic abuse, quantitative measures via monthly stats in assessment reports, Prevent Training undertaken

·  Access for data sharing networks – large sharing network, sub- groups bring intelligence together

·  Cyber Crime – responsibility of ROCU

·  City Centre - further action required to make the City Centre safer

·  Night-time economy - Night-time Economy Steering Group chaired by Police inspector and Strategic Lead for Regulatory Services, funding for Night-time Czar in Coventry

·  Police officer lists for local development posts – keep Members up to date on local policing teams

·  Crime re-offenders – Police process for supporting offenders and work undertaken by Youth Offending Service/Board (now Youth Justice Services) to encourage children not to commit offences/re-offend

·  Employment of ex-offenders – Council process in place

·  Drug and alcohol misuse – Council Policies in place to support

·  Ward meetings with Police – encourage monthly Ward meetings with Police to meet with local residents to inspire and motivate the reporting of criminal activity

Members requested the following:

·  Dialogue between Members and the Community Safety Partnership regarding the data that could be shared, and context included - Legal Services be consulted regarding sharing data between partners for future use

·  Request that West Midlands Police use Coventry City Council CCTV images in future communications for incidents, where it did not compromise a conviction

·  Average speed cameras - gather data from Traffic Management and circulate information to Members on the impact of average speed cameras in the city and where the fines were sent, and consider for the relevant Scrutiny Board

·  Established police officer strength in the city compared to actual strength - circulate information to Members on levels of police establishment in the City including vacancy rates

·  Police estates in the city – Request information about plans for police estates in the City, from the Police and Crime Commissioner

·  Up-to-date officer lists for local development posts - circulate information to Members on local policing teams

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee:

1)  Notes the content and actions in the Strategic Priorities designed to address community safety issues in the city.

2)  The Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities, who is the Coventry Police and Crime Board (PCB) chairperson, be requested to take further action to make the City Centre safer.

3)  A letter be sent to the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority requesting that funding be provided for the role of a Night-time Czar in Coventry.