Verbal update
Minutes:
The Partnership received a verbal introduction and update on her priorities from the new Borough Commander, Treena Flemming. The Partnership were advised that she had previously held roles within counter-terrorism, sexual offences and safeguarding teams and her strengths lay in protecting children and vulnerable adults due to her previous experience. The Borough Commander advised that she was in the process of visiting all of the teams within the new policing model to understand how the model was working on the ground. As part of ways to ensure that the model was working effectively, the Borough Commander advised that she was looking at the shift patterns for the Safer Neighbourhood teams to ensure that it was reflective of peak demand levels. The Partnership were advised that feedback was crucial in the developing the model and the Borough Commander encouraged partners to provide that feedback.
The agreed priorities for the partnership were set out as anti-social behaviour, robbery non domestic abuse/violence with injury and wanting to reduce those numbers and also solve these crimes. The Borough Commander advised that she would look to ensure that dangerous offenders were taken off the streets, but acknowledged the role of safeguarding and the crucial role played by trauma-informed practice in understanding why an individual, particularly a child, might behave as they do. A holistic performance package was advocated, which wasn’t just about sanction detections but also about understanding what that victims of crime wanted and the intervention required to change the experience of the victims and make it better for them.
The following points were raised in discussion of this item:
a. The Partnership sought assurances about trauma informed practice and the need to adopt the same model and language across different partners. In response, the Borough Commander advised that the Partnership had her full support in that respect and that she was keen to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable children.
b. The Partnership welcomed the increase in police numbers and sought reassurance about how public confidence in policing could be increased. In response, the borough commander advised that part of this related to police presence and the need to ensure police resources were channelled to the right place at the right time and that shift patterns were reflective of demand. Part of the response was also identified as needing upskill of police officers in better investigation at volume crime and trying to shift the the focus away from response times toward getting the correct outcomes from the outset. Part of the solution was also set out as talking to communities to reduce the fear of crime and to be able to communicate the stats in a way that establishes the reality of crime in Haringey. It was acknowledged that this was perhaps not an easy task and would require support across the partnership.
c. The Partnership also requested some reassurance about police support and resources around schools engagement. In response, police colleagues acknowledged that there were some vacancies in the schools team but set out that this was something they recognised and were keen to support engagement with schools and young people. The Borough Commander advised that she would being looking at the resourcing as part of a wider review of policing numbers and resources, however she recognised the role that response officers had in engaging with young people and the importance of this. The Partnership were also advised that police colleagues were very supportive of the Youth at Risk Strategy and that they would be working closely with partners to support its delivery.
RESOLVED
That the update was noted.