The Minutes of the meeting of the Crime and Disorder Committee on 7 October 2021 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor S Walsh.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or other registrable and non-registrable interests in items on the agenda.

None declared. 

The Committee received an update on policing in the borough provided by Inspector Wyatt, the Borough Commander.  

Inspector Wyatt advised that there were five priority areas with the Surrey Police And Crime Plan 2021-2025.  These were preventing violence against women and girls in Surrey, protecting people from harm in Surrey, working with Surrey communities so that they felt safe, strengthening relationships between Surrey Police and Surrey residents and ensuring safer Surrey roads.  The five borough priorities were tackling anti-social behaviour, preventing violence against women and girls, disrupting County Lines, preventing burglaries and road safety.

The Committee queried why disrupting County Lines drugs networks was given a high priority.  Inspector Wyatt advised that County Lines activity gave rise to hidden crime which could not be quantified and criminals running County Lines would sometimes resort to violent crime to maintain their status within the organisation.  It was agreed that future policing updates would provide information on the various harms to the community caused by County Lines activity.

There had previously been three County Lines operating in the Runnymede area.  All of those had been disrupted by the police.  Two more Lines were now in operation and the police were working on disrupting them now.   Children as young as 11 or 12 years old were becoming involved in County Lines.  Various methods were used by the police to warn young people not to take part in County Lines and to alert them to the dangers.  These methods included youth engagement officers, the junior citizens scheme and the multi-agency approach which was adopted in the Community Safety Partnership to tackle problem children who were known offenders and who might be encouraging other children to take part in County Lines.

It was noted that preventing violence against women and girls was a national policing priority as well as a priority in Surrey.  The police sought to reduce harm to everybody in the community.  Women and girls formed a group which warranted special attention.  One of the reasons for this special attention was that most sexual offending was committed against women.

It was noted that there had been 5,125 recorded crimes in Runnymede for the year to date which represented an 8% increase.  The Committee noted a breakdown of the different crime types and changes in the number of offences in Runnymede classified by crime type.

It was noted that some offenders had been identified by smart doorbell technology although the use of face masks by offenders was increasing.

13.3% of recorded crimes in Runnymede resulted in solved outcomes which was a good result when compared to the Surrey Police overall figure of 11.3% and a 9.7% figure for Elmbridge and 9.4% figure for Spelthorne.  There were a number of reasons for the low level of solved outcomes for recorded crimes which was the case across the country.  Two of the main reasons in Runnymede were that no offender could be identified (41.7%) and that the victim did not support the prosecution (22%).  Victimless prosecutions were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 437.