Agenda item

Chief Inspector James Herring and Inspector James McGahan of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) were in attendance and presented the crime performance data figures covering the period March 2022 – February 2023 vs March 2021 – February 2022. Key points highlighted included:

1.    Each Borough in West London now had a senior Leader – for Hillingdon this was Superintendent Antony Bennett. The aim was to increase the number of police officers in the Borough in the long term;

2.    One priority area for the BCU Commander was tackling violence – particularly Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG). The Town Centre Team had been very successful, but the Partnership Tasking Team would be lost in 2023. New initiatives included a neighbourhood police week of action and working with female officers to improve trust and confidence;

3.    There had been an uplift in robbery, burglary, vehicle crime, theft and arson in the current year whilst figures for possession of weapons had declined;

4.    In terms of Ward figures, there had been a significant increase in crime in Heathrow Villages in the past year. The Chief Inspector would be meeting with colleagues later in April to discuss this further. It was possible that Heathrow’s increased opening hours could be having an impact on this;

5.    There had been a notable decrease in crime in some wards including Ruislip Manor, Pinkwell, Charville, Hillingdon East and Ickenham & South Harefield which was to be welcomed;

6.    There were significant resourcing challenges being faced by the MPS – Operation Stabilise sought to address this;

7.    Body worn cameras were encouraged when officers carried out stop and search and initiatives were in place to train new recruits.

Members noted that certain communities were very reluctant to engage with the Police as they distrusted them – the latest negative publicity regarding the Met had not helped. It was suggested that police officers should patrol local areas more so as to be more visible, build trust and enable the residents to get to know them better.

In response to this, it was confirmed that a current key priority was to build trust and confidence in local communities. Recruitment and retention of officers were particularly challenging at the moment, but the aim was to keep neighbourhood officers in post for longer.  It was important to maintain the levels of all police officers including PCSOs.

Further to their enquiries regarding communications, Members were informed that OWL was a very useful tool. Other options including “Nextdoor” and social media platforms such as Twitter were also very useful in increasing engagement with communities.

Members requested clarification as to the meaning of ‘I’ and ‘S’ call volumes as set out on pages 34 and 35 of the agenda pack. It was confirmed that these related to response times - ‘I’ calls had to be dealt with within 15 minutes and ‘S’ calls within one hour.

Members expressed concern regarding the push to go online noting that this was impractical for some older residents. It was confirmed that all drop calls were recorded and drop 999 calls received a call back. Councillors asked if this data could be made available to the Committee - Chief Inspector James Herring agreed to follow this up outside of the meeting.

The Committee noted that 4.1% of officers did not use body worn cameras and enquired why this was the case. It was confirmed that the aim was to achieve 100% usage and measures were in place to reach this target. All officers were encouraged to use body worn cameras when going out on a job, both to enable them to record evidence and for their own personal safety.

In terms of stop and search figures – outcomes per 1000 population, Members noted that, in the majority of cases, stop and search resulted in no further action being taken. Members were concerned that this would serve to create a negative impression of the police. Chief Inspector James Herring advised the Committee that stop and search was a useful tool in the prevention of crime but, in reality, the number carried out was decreasing. The Police welcomed scrutiny of their work. The Committee Members expressed an interest in attending a ride-along with the Police and it was agreed that Democratic Services would follow this up with the Chief Inspector after the meeting.

The Community Safety Manager informed the Committee that the strategic priorities for 2023/2024 had now been agreed by the Safer Hillingdon Partnership. Once in post in May 2023, the new Director of Community Safety and Enforcement would confirm how this would be delivered.

RESOLVED That:

1.    Chief Inspector James Herring explore the possibility of providing the Committee with data regarding drop calls;

2.    Democratic Services liaise with Chief Inspector James Herring re. Members’ request to attend a ride-along with the Police; and

3.      The Residents’ Services Select Committee noted the contents of the Police Performance Data report and asked questions in order to clarify matters of concern or interest in the Borough.