Agenda item

The Panel received a presentation which provided a crime performance overview for the period of March and April 2020, as compared to the same period in 2019, in order to gain an understanding of the changes during lockdown. The presentation was introduced by Sandeep Broca, Intelligence Analysis Manager as set out at pages 27-34 of the agenda pack. The following arose during the discussion of the presentation:

a.    The Partnership enquired about what the impact of coming out of lockdown on crime levels in the borough was anticipated to be. In response, the partnership was advised that that officers had undertaken some modelling on the Partnership’s priority crime types and it was expected that there would be a small increase in some of those crimes. It was anticipated that levels could spike to slightly above what would be normally expected, as people began using transport hubs etcetera, but that any spike would level off.

b.    The Borough Commander advised that she was keen to prevent spikes in crime when the lockdown was lifted from increased footfall and that Police colleagues had reinforced patrols at a micro-beat level at known hotspot locations to prevent this. Analysis of the data from these patrols was being undertaken and would be used to further inform development of this strategy. The Borough Commander advised that it was encouraging that crime numbers were still down following the recent ease of lockdown restrictions. The police had also sent letters out to the youth offending cohort, signposting them to services within the borough and support them to move away from criminality.  

c.    The Borough Commander commented that the Met Commissioner had established a violence suppression unit in each borough and the Haringey and Enfield unit was called the north area tasking team, which comprised of 40 officers who all had very good local knowledge and would be used a localised problem solving team.  

d.    The Partnership sought assurances around increases in domestic violence during lockdown and the fact that this was not reflected in the data. In response, the Borough Commander acknowledged that the numbers had not risen as much as would have perhaps been anticipated and that this may be because victims of domestic violence were still at home with their abuser and were waiting for lockdown to be lifted. The Police have sent out clear messaging to the public around domestic violence and the support/reporting mechanisms in place even during lockdown. There was anecdotal evidence of some increases in reports to third-party support agencies but that these had not translated into crime reports. In order to anticipate that expected increased demand post-lockdown, the Borough Commander advised that she had put some additional resources into to the safeguarding team.

e.    In relation to reports around gangs involved in county lines activity using the lockdown to recruit young people, the Police advised that they didn’t have any specific intelligence on this but were aware of these reports. It was suggested that many young people were grateful of the lockdown as it reduced the pressure on them and fears of exploitation. The importance of outreach youth workers as part of Haringey Community Gold was emphasised as a vital resource in dealing with this.

f.     In response to a request for data around social distancing and the extent to which fines were issued by the Police, the Partnership was advised that Police colleagues had tried to take a balanced approach to social distancing and that enforcement and issuing of fines was very much a last resort. The number of FPNs and arrests was very low in Haringey as it was felt that it was crucial to work with the community and bring the public along with the Police. The Chair set out that the joint working undertaken in parks had been really positive during the lockdown and thanked colleagues for their support in this.

g.    The IOM Strategic Lead advised the Partnership that he estimated that 98% of the circa 6000 engagements with the public in parks and open spaces had been positive and was well received by the public.

RESOLVED

That the Board noted the content of the Crime Performance Overview presentation.