Agenda item

To receive an update from Hertfordshire Constabulary on crime against the LGBTQ+ Community and cybercrime against elderly residents in North Herts.

CI Sarah Gilbertson, PS Taranvir Gill and PC Lewis Thompson from Hertfordshire Constabulary gave a presentation on crime against the LGBTQ+ Community and cybercrime against the elderly in North Herts, following which Members asked questions.

Audio recording – 4 minutes 2 seconds

 

CI Sarah Gilbertson, PS Taranvir Gill and PC Lewis Thompson from Hertfordshire Constabulary gave a presentation on crime against the LGBTQ+ Community in North Herts and advised that:

 

·                North Herts Police comprised the Response Team which dealt primarily with 999 calls and the Neighbourhood Team which worked with the public and external partners like the Council to set long-term neighbourhood priorities and needs.

·                There were four Police Sergeants in the Neighbourhood Team assigned to Royston, Letchworth, Hitchin and the Community Safety Unit, which hate crime came under.

·                A High Court ruling in 2025 deemed participation of Northumbria Police at the Newcastle Pride Parade to be unlawful as it breached the Police duty of impartiality. Because of this, Hertfordshire Constabulary had undertaken an assessment of how they supported the community at events. 

·                Tackling inequality and discrimination remained priorities for them, however, they would not be able to actively participate in events going forward.

·                They had attended North Herts Pride Day to give advice on safeguarding, reporting hate crime and to have general engagement with the public.

·                They met regularly with the LGBTQ+ Society at North Herts College to gain an understanding of issues among the younger generation. The meetings were also used to provide students and teachers with more information on reporting hate crimes and how their investigations were carried out.

·                Presentations had also been given to schools to address specific issues when reported.

·                There had been a 12.9% increase in hate crime reported across North Herts in 2025 compared to the previous year. It was speculated that this was partly due to their increased engagement with the community on reporting hate crimes.

·                A spike in hate crime reports during the summer months was thought to be due to more outdoor social activities and events taking place at that time of year.

·                There had also been an increase in non-crime hate incident reports in 2025 on the previous year. However, 11.5% less hate crime incidents had been solved compared to the previous year.

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·                Councillor Ralph Muncer

·                Councillor David Chalmers

·                Councillor Sadie Billing

·                Councillor Jon Clayden

·                Councillor Elizabeth Dennis

 

In response to questions, Hertfordshire Constabulary representatives advised that:

 

·                Non-crime hate incidents would continue to be recorded until they received further guidance that stated otherwise.

·                Public trust and confidence were key to support the LGBTQ+ Community, hence why they had an officer that was focused on hate crime within their team.

·                Increases in hate crime reporting and reporting of violence against women and girls were seen as positive as there had been a lack of public trust to report these in the past.

·                They were following the guidance set after the High Court ruling, however, officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary would still be visible at pride events wearing pride lanyards.

·                The LGBTQ+ Community were one of the most engaged communities in North Herts according to Herts Connected, and the High Court ruling had not impacted this.

·                They had processes to decrease tensions before events took place such as undertaking a Community Tension Impact Assessment.

·                Police Officers remained interested in local matters as members of their communities, including the LGBTQ+ Community.

·                Hertfordshire Constabulary had a good relationship with schools and colleges in North Herts and openly discussed local issues with them to increase awareness.

·                Trends had been seen with online abuse through social media, as well as hateful speech in schools, which they had worked to address.

·                Work had been conducted with Muslim and Jewish communities to ensure that they were safeguarded against abuse arising from international events.

·                Legality and conduct of stop searches were scrutinised by independent panels with public involvement.

·                Victims of crime regardless of prosecution were eligible to access victim services provided by Hertfordshire Constabulary through Beacon Victim Care, and more vulnerable victims were eligible for enhanced support.

·                Children that required additional support received it through safeguarding referrals to the Child and Young Persons Team.

·                Teachers could act as appropriate adults to report crimes on behalf of children when confidentiality from family members was desired.

·                Virtual meetings instead of face to face could take place if preferential to the victim.

·                Victim feedback on Hertfordshire Constabulary was gathered through text messages that were sent to victims following the closure of an investigation.

·                Mechanisms were in place to ensure that negative victim feedback was taken seriously and that failings could be learned from to inform future actions.

·                Public trust could be gained through positive results for victims, which could lead to more hate crime reporting.

·                Herts Connected used data from the National Census and other sources to inform them of the engagement levels with each demographic.

·                Strategic reviews with officers of all levels were held to discuss engagement levels and hold them to account by setting targets.

·                Engagement with the public was often face to face, however, they also utilised social media and their Corporate Communications Team to reach out and share success.

·                The Sikh Community had been identified as an under-engaged demographic, however, one of their officers was from the Sikh Community which they would use as an opportunity to engage with them and promote representation in their workplace.

·                Support from charities both online and based in North Herts was utilised where possible to support hate crime victims. 

·                A person could be a victim of multiple hate crimes and charges for separate offences would be sought in this situation.

·                The best outcome was always sought for victims, and they had out of court powers at their disposal where victims did not desire to give evidence in court such as through conditional cautions or community resolutions.

·                Community resolutions allowed victims to have conversations with offenders and in some cases, they would receive financial reparation or a written apology.

·                Even when a victim did not want to progress a hate crime case, Police officers would always try to provide closure, and the details of the suspect were kept on record.

·                There were several different ways to report hate crime such as through Herts Against Hate, online anonymously or to a trusted adult.

·                Education and supporting partner organisations like Crucial Crew to visit schools were some of the strongest methods they could use to change the perceptions and realities about committing hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ Community.

 

In response to questions, Councillor Val Bryant advised that Members should direct questions regarding the interpretation of the High Court ruling towards her as the Council representative on the Hertfordshire Police and Crime Panel.

 

Hertfordshire Constabulary representatives continued their presentation on cybercrime against the elderly and advised that:

 

·                £1.3 billion had been lost to fraud in 2023, with a significant proportion of that linked to cyber-enabled crime.

·                The older adult demographic had been identified as the highest risk group of cyber-enabled crime

·                Phishing and investment scams were the most common cybercrimes reported by the elderly, with an average of £21,000 lost per victim.

·                Romance scams targeting older adults had increased by 30% in 2023.

·                Tech support scams where criminals pretended to be from a secure or trusted source were getting more common, and identity theft remained prevalent.

·                They had a dedicated Fraud and Cyber Policy that was refreshed annually and contained four procedural aims to respond effectively to fraud and cybercrime.

·                Action Fraud were the national lead police unit for fraud and cybercrime in the UK. They investigated cybercrime trends, and referred cybercrime cases to local forces such as Hertfordshire Constabulary, who had a Fraud Triage Manager responsible for reviewing these.

·                An eastern region special operation unit dealt with higher value cybercrime.

·                Calls from cybercrime victims were recorded and sent to the Fraud Triage Manager for review and were allocated depending on whether the crime was about to take place or had already happened and more lines of enquiry were needed.

·                Banking Protocol was an agreement with several banks and building societies nationally where police officers would attend scenes of suspected fraud to have conversations with suspected victims before any funds were withdrawn.

·                Reports from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau sat within the London City Police and were issued to local forces if trends were spotted.

·                Vulnerability to Fraud Notifications were sent to banks and buildings societies to identify residents that would be vulnerable to fraud to help the prevention of cybercrime.

·                742 engagements had taken place with members of the older adult demographic in Hertfordshire with the majority of those being on cyber awareness. 

·                Cybercrime education had been provided to the elderly by officers in libraries and care homes as they recognised that it was the key to prevention.

·                Older adults were the second most engaged demographic according to Herts Connected. However, further engagement was still needed and more advice surgeries were planned for 2026.

·                Beacon Victim Care, Trading Standards and Hertfordshire County Council Shared Anti-Fraud Service would also attend these surgeries.

 

The following Members asked questions:

 

·                Councillor Claire Winchester

·                Councillor Ralph Muncer

·                Councillor Sadie Billing

·                Councillor David Chalmers

·                Councillor Vijaiya Poopalasingham

·                Councillor Paul Ward

 

In response to questions, Hertfordshire Constabulary representatives advised that:

 

·                Members were encouraged to advise residents to call 101 if they were unsure of a situation and suspected the involvement of cybercrime.

·                They would do everything in their power to prevent repeat cybercrime.

·                The young person demographic was more engaged than the older adult demographic as detailed by Herts Connected.

·                There was no indication that youths were more susceptible to cyber dependant crime in general, however, it was noted that they may be more susceptible to false purchasing.

·                Significant law changes would be coming to the policing of social media platforms.

·                Repeat cybercrime victims showed that something had gone wrong in the prevention process. The Vulnerability to Fraud Notification was designed to avoid this to put prevention measures in place like two-step authentication.

·                Repeat victims of rogue traders were often seen where details of victims had been shared into a wider criminal network and other criminals had used these later on.

·                Significant markers were placed onto addresses where cybercrime susceptible residents had been identified. This helped them to respond to 101 calls from neighbours urgently. 

·                Some funding had been given to them to install smart doorbells at addresses where cybercrime susceptible residents were identified. 

·                The biggest increase in romance cybercrime nationally took place during the COVID-19 pandemic with the most affected demographic being older adults. 

·                Members were encouraged to attend the scheduled library sessions in 2026.

·                If Members knew of any cybercrime hotspots, they should contact them.

·                All Police Officers were aware of Herts Connected and they ran social media campaigns to highlight its importance to the public. Registering for it was easy and they could track who had joined to allow them to promote it to those who had not.

·                Communications sent through Herts Connected could be targeted towards relevant households.

 

Following the conclusion of this item, there was a break in proceedings and the meeting reconvened at 21.22. During the break, Councillor Martin Prescott left the Council Chamber and did not return.