To receive the annual update from the Hertfordshire Constabulary on their work in the Southern Rural area.
Decision:
Sergeant Guy Westwood delivered a presentation on behalf of Hertfordshire Constabulary covering crime reporting statistics, the priority setting process of the Constabulary and the challenges facing the service in the Southern Rural area.
The Chair thanked Sergeant Guy Westwood for his presentation.
Minutes:
Audio Recording – 6 minutes 21 seconds.
Sergeant Guy Westwood delivered a presentation on behalf of Hertfordshire Constabulary including:
· The Chief Inspector was now Jon Roche;
· The Safer Neighbourhood Inspector was James Lant, and the Detective Inspector was Angie Griffiths;
· The Hitchin Urban sergeant was Alan Clarke;
· Sergeant Guy Westwood was the Hitchin Rural sergeant;
· The rural area Police Constables were Johnie Streeter, Clare Wallace and Gary Pugsley;
· The rural area Police Community Support Officers were Heather Burrows and Stuart Stone;
· The team was going to be recruiting rural special constables in the future;
· Crimes in the rural area were typically underreported;
· 26% of all households in North Herts were signed up to the neighbourhood watch scheme;
· The Priority Setting Forum would open in a week to determine the policing priorities of the team;
· The priorities were currently antisocial behaviour (including related drugs offences) in local parks, speeding in the St Paul’s Walden and Kimpton areas, as well as crop damage, poaching and other damage to rural infrastructure;
· The crime statistics for the year 2020/21 compared to the same period 2019/20 were as follows:
Crime Overall
5693 crimes were reported in North Herts, down from 6987 crimes last year.
There had been a 3% increase in crimes reported in the Southern Rural area, with 896 reported up from 867.
Residential burglary
21 reported compared to 50 last year.
COVID regulations meant more people were staying at home reducing opportunity for this kind of crime to take place.
Residential burglary was a focus for the team.
Burglary (business and community)
25 reported compared to 32 last year.
Theft from vehicle
67 reported compared to 54 last year.
This was a 24% increase.
Personal robbery
3 up from 2 last year.
Offences against the person
A wide ambit of offences included making it hard to determine reasons for incidents
341 up from 336 last year
Criminal damage
Reporting had decreased contrary to expectations in view of lockdown boredom
96 compared to 111 last year.
Theft from Shop
Figures were up significantly county-wide this year.
Most of this increase was down to one location at the border of the team’s area targeted by groups moving in from outside the region.
In the rural area there had been 79 reported incidents compared to 38 last year.
Drugs Offences
18 reported in the Rural area compared to 15 last year.
Aggravated crimes
4 reported up from 3 last year.
Domestic Abuse
Figures on these offences could not be broken down into urban/rural groups
There had been 1081 reports compared to 1201 last year
The team was still encouraging reports and had daily reviews from a dedicated Detective Sergeant to consider opportunities to encourage reports.
Anti-social Behaviour
Reports of anti-social behaviour including COVID-related conduct were up at 308 from 223 last year.
The following Members asked questions:
· Councillor Claire Strong
· Councillor Ian Moody
· Councillor David Barnard
· Councillor George Davies
· Councillor John Bishop
In response to questions Sergeant Guy Westwood advised:
· The priority setting ECHO survey would be distributed online via the OWL system;
· Fly-tipping was a matter for Council officers to enforce but the police would assist where evidence relating to criminal offences, in particular drugs offences, could be gathered;
· Shift patterns meant it was difficult for PCs/PCSOs to cover every parish council meeting;
· The rural area was geographically disparate and with only 3 PCs and 2 PCSOs the team was limited in what it could do;
· Actionable intelligence leading to evidence of crimes was essential;
· Antisocial behaviour in Great Ashby District Park had been a big issue over the summer but had largely been resolved after the gates and car park were shut earlier in the day; reports to the police had dropped off;
· As lockdown restrictions ease the number of antisocial behaviour reports should decrease;
· Non-urgent reports should be directed to the 111 service, unless an offence was actively underway in which case 999 should be called.
The Chair thanked Sergeant Guy Westwood for his presentation.