Agenda item

The Panel received a presentation which provided an overview of crime performance data in Haringey. The Panel also received a report for noting which set out performance information for Community Safety and also provided a response to queries raised at the previous panel meeting in relation to; the Gangs Matrix, incidents of serious youth violence in Haringey since December 2018, building community capacity space for young people and funding streams to address serious youth violence. The following arose from the discussion of the presentation and accompanying report:

a.    In relation to proposals for building community capacity space for young people, the Panel noted that discussions had taken place with a number of venues, regarding the potential to run youth projects from their premises. A number of sites were identified where suitable community organisations could be linked together. The organisations being linked as part of phase one, were from the Haringey Community Gold consortium. To avoid any potential post code issues, the report set out that further suitable locations would be identified from across the borough.

b.    The Panel suggested that it would also be useful to see the data presented as per head of the population as well as a percentage increase. The Panel also sought clarification around the locations used in the data, in response officers advised that this was generally ward specific data but that sometimes this was drilled down to a specific hot spot location such as Turnpike Lane. Officers commented that this was a MOPAC dataset and that the methodology used was set by the Mayor’s Office. Officers agreed to clarify whether faith, homophobic and islamophobic hate crime were all subsets of the wider racist and religious hate crime. (Action: Eubert Malcolm).

c.    Panel members acknowledged the positive improvements around gun and knife crime. The Panel sought clarification around why homophobic hate crime was not a bigger priority for the Borough. In response, officers advised that although this was a serious issue, priority had been given to violent offences, which caused a significant degree of harm to the public, as well as high volume offences.

d.    In response to a question about the reasons behind the rise in hate crime, officers advised that this likely reflected an increase in both the number of incidents taking place as well as an increased level of reporting. The data used was reflective of 3^rd party reporting for hate crime i.e. through religious and community leaders.

e.    The Panel raised concerns with the figures that showed an increase in figures for domestic abuse. In response, officers advised that the data showed that there was degree of clustering of incidents in areas of highest housing density, however some of the increase may also be explained by increased levels of reporting. Officers also cautioned that the data could be slightly misleading as all of the high clustering was in the east of the borough, which could give a misleading impression that domestic violence was not prevalent in the west of the borough.

f.     In  response to a question, officers acknowledged that there was  the link between higher crime rates and high footfall areas. Officers also advised that in addition to litter sweeps that officers were also undertaking knife sweeps with police colleagues.

g.    In response to a question around whether an increase in crime was anticipated when the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium opened, officers advised that it was difficult to say definitively, however it was suggested that with such a high police presence on match days and very good CCTV coverage it was likely that any increase would be managed. Officers suggested that rather than a spike in volumes of crimes it was perhaps more likely that the types of crimes would be different on match days.

h.    In response to a question, officers acknowledged that there was a significant increase in burglary offences in January, particularly in the west of the Borough. Officers advised that they had been in contact with residents around closure of access to gates to particular locations and had even offered to provide some funding for those gates where it was needed.  Officers advised that they were preparing some advice for all members on crime reduction measures and agreed to circulate this information to the Panel members. (Action: Eubert Malcolm).