Agenda item

This briefing details information about the Robbery Executive Group.

The Partnership received a written briefing about the Robbery Executive Group. The briefing was introduced by Joe Benmore, Interim Head of Community Safety & Enforcement, as set out in the agenda pack at pages 29-34.

The Partnership were informed that the Robbery Executive Group formed in early January in response to a significant increase in robbery offences in Haringey, particularly in the east of the Borough. As part of the ongoing work to deal with robbery in the Borough, the police had set up a violence suppression plan, and had conducted numerous activities around Tottenham Hale and other wards significantly affected by robbery.

It was noted that another issue within the Borough were young people who were perpetrators of repeat offences. There had been discussions to support this cohort of young people strategically by assembling a co-ordinated group, which would entail linking different providers within the community with various activities such as the Young People At Risk Action Plan and North Area Violence Reduction Plan, in order to divert young people away from criminality.

Furthermore, the Interim Head of Community Safety & Enforcement made the following observations:

• There was a need to develop a whole system approach
• There would be a BBC programme in the evening at 6.30pm regarding Operation Virtus, an operation targeting violence and drugs in Haringey and Enfield
• Operation Surge, which was a joint partnership operation along Wood Green High Road on 20^th February that involved the police, key council services in Haringey such as the licensing team and Children’s services
• Operation Barboza, which was a joint Transport for London and British Rail operation that was due to be carried out at various stations across the Borough, for example Finsbury Park and Tottenham Hale.

The Interim Head of Community Safety & Enforcement stressed that there was a need for some way of co-ordinating activities in the Borough, and the Robbery Executive Group was one way to support the co-ordination of activities. The Robbery Executive Group would be able to identify existing and emerging issues and prioritise accordingly.

The following was noted in response to the discussion of this item:

• In response to a query as to whether there had been any impact as a result of the increase in joint activity over the last three months, the Interim Head of Community Safety & Enforcement noted that there was  outreach work in key robbery hotspot areas in the Borough, and following police resource uplift in the key hotspot areas, the data showed that there was a reduction of robbery levels in December 2019. It was highlighted that a key concern moving forward would be to maintain and sustain activity to reduce robbery levels. It was noted that the key value of the Robbery Executive Group was that it would co-ordinate activity effectively and commission services where gaps were identified.
• The Cabinet Member for Communities and Equalities commended the work of the Robbery Executive Group. The Cabinet Member stressed that it was crucial to explore how to communicate with young people around the consequences of their actions, for example many young people in the community could provide personal stories that would be more persuasive form of communication. It was further noted that it was important to develop interventions, such as targeting groups in Alternative Provisions. In response, the Interim Head of Community Safety & Enforcement  informed that there was a meeting with the Leader of the Council around communicating consequences to young people, and there had been discussions with the AD for Early Help & Prevention to explore ideas  around communication to young people.
• The Cabinet Member for Children and Families mentioned an event attended by the Tottenham Hale ward Councillors whereby residents had considerable concern on robbery in the area. The Cabinet Member commented that there had to be a way in which all agencies came together to compile an interim plan to mitigate the robbery issue, particularly in Tottenham Hale it would be important for a joint meeting with the developers, police and transport representatives to compile a plan to mitigate the robbery issue in the ward.  The Chair accepted the points made by the Cabinet Member and noted that there had been a joint partnership meeting with developers in Tottenham Hale earlier in the year and there was due to be a follow up meeting in the next few months. The Chair agreed with the Cabinet Member for the local ward councillors be invited to the follow up meeting.

RESOLVED

That the Partnership noted the recommendations in the report.