To receive a presentation from Hertfordshire Constabulary.
Decision:
Sergeant Stephen Oliphant, Hertfordshire Constabulary, thanked the Vice-Chair for the invitation to address the Committee and provided Members with a verbal presentation.
The Vice-Chair thanked Sergeant Oliphant for his presentation.
RESOLVED: That further details be forwarded by email to the Committee from Sergeant Oliphant on the current rates of prosecution.
REASON FOR DECISION: To inform the Committee of local matters relating to crime and disorder.
Minutes:
Audio recording – 1 hour 1 minute and 27 seconds
Sergeant Stephen Oliphant, Hertfordshire Constabulary, thanked the Vice-Chair for the invitation to address the Committee and provided Members with a verbal presentation including:
· Sergeant Oliphant was currently supported in the Letchworth policing team by four Police Constables and five Police Community Support Officers, with one Constable vacancy which was currently advertised;
· Priorities focused on during the last year were anti-social behaviour linked to drug-related activity (which covered people smoking drugs in public areas and dealing drugs) and speeding which was a local and national issue currently;
· To combat the above, a number of stop searches were carried out, arrests had been made for drug-related activity, and recently a closure order had been done targeting people that were committing crime, using a particular address;
· Worked with partners in Housing and NHDC issuing severalCommunity Protection Warning Notices and Full Notices to help moderate people’s behaviour;
· Daily patrols to combat Covid breaches supported by a government grant across the district;
· Overall crime for Letchworth had decreased by 27% compared to the previous year, and the total recorded crime was 1776 offences. A summary of crime figures compared to the previous year was provided as follows:
· Criminal damage had decreased by 25% with 223 offences recorded; burglaries had decreased by 40% with 97 reports; 52 dwelling burglaries had been reported this year as opposed to 103 last year (representing a 50% decrease); drug-related offences had seen an increase of 22% up to 83 which reflected the additional work and patrols put in place to target offenders and which had resulted in positive outcomes; 6 offences of robbery had been reported which was a decrease of 73% on last year; theft-related offences reported (318) were down 42%; Town Centre shop theft was down 46%; vehicle crime had seen a marginal increase with 140 offences compared to 134 last year.
The following Members commented and asked questions:
· Councillor Terry Hone;
· Councillor Daniel Allen;
· Councillor Helen Oliver.
The Police were thanked for their proactive social media posts, for example, informing local residents via Facebook of work to address speeding in Norton village.
Sergeant Oliphant responded to questions as follows:
· The 4 Es: Engagement, Explain, Encourage, Enforce were being followed in Letchworth as part of National Police Council guidance in relation to Covid breaches. This enabled the Police to follow a stepped process when faced with a breach of the Covid regulations. If a negative response was received a Fixed Penalty Ticket could be issued.
· It was acknowledged that reported crime had gone down due to the coronavirus pandemic, for example, certain types of offences had not been committed as frequently, such as dwelling burglaries, due to people working from home;
· A definitive figure for prosecutions could not be given at this moment in time as people would appear in court via different routes. The courts had been closed for a significant period of time during the pandemic and there was a backlog of people awaiting their court appearances.
The Vice-Chair thanked Sergeant Oliphant for his presentation.
RESOLVED: That further details be forwarded by email to the Committee from Sergeant Oliphant on the current rates of prosecution.
REASON FOR DECISION: To inform the Committee of local matters relating to crime and disorder.