Agenda item - Runnymede Policing Update

Runnymede Policing Update

Minutes:

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

 

The Committee noted the five priority areas set out in the Surrey Police and Crime Plan 2021-2025 and the five borough priorities.  One of the priorities in the Surrey Police and Crime Plan 2025 was working with communities so that they felt safe.  Inspector Wyatt advised that this was done in a number of ways which included through Meet the Beat, liaison with faith groups and working with local Councillors.  He put the community first and recognised the importance of listening to members of the public and to Councillors. 

 

Catalytic converter theft was a regional crime and its frequency depended on the price of metals which fluctuated.  There had been 31 catalytic converter theft notified offences in Runnymede so far this year compared to over 50 in Spelthorne in the same timeframe.  This offence was on the increase and Runnymede was particularly susceptible to it as there was easy access to main arterial roads in the borough and most of the offenders did not live locally.

 

The five borough priorities had been drawn up by Inspector Wyatt when he arrived in post and next month he would be reviewing those priorities after he had been Borough Commander for a year.  Regarding the staffing of police in Runnymede two neighbourhood officers had been recruited in the last year.  A number of response officers had also been recruited who worked across the whole of north Surrey and were not restricted to the Runnymede area although it formed part of their work area.

 

The Committee referred to increased traffic within the borough caused by M25 diversions, weekend M4 closures and M3 roundabout redesign.  This led to heavy goods vehicles using residential roads in the borough rather than these main routes.  It was noted that these closures were dealt with by Highways England and a specialist road police unit within Surrey Police. Members were advised to contact Surrey Highways for information on when these closures and diversions would be taking place.  It was agreed that Inspector Wyatt would provide information for the Committee’s next meeting on particular road traffic accident hotspots within the borough. It was noted that accident locations were discussed by the police road safety team and Surrey Highways.

 

The Committee noted that the term ”County Lines” referred to urban gangs supplying drugs to suburban areas, as well as market and coastal towns, by using dedicated mobile phone lines or “deal lines”.  These gangs used children and vulnerable people to move drugs and money to these areas.  Once caught up in County Lines, exploited individuals were at risk of extreme physical and/or sexual violence, gang recriminations and trafficking.  Runnymede currently had three known County Lines operating.  The Committee noted a national percentage breakdown of the eight areas of harm resulting from County Lines produced by the National County Lines Coordination Centre.  Runnymede’s level of County Lines activity was typical for an area close to London.  Once the police had identified a County Line it would be disrupted within about a month.  The gangs obtained recruits for County Lines from sources such as known drug users and social media.  It was noted that the type of drugs supplied by County Lines were almost always Class A. 

 

The Committee noted a detailed statistical breakdown of the types of fraud crimes.  51.48% of the victims were aged 75 years or more.  58.89% of the victims were female.  55.26% of the victims lived alone.  The most prevalent type of fraud crime was courier fraud which accounted for 22.6% of the total.  The police combatted fraud through Operation Signature under which a vulnerable person was visited by police officers to alert them to scams.  A free device could be attached to an individual’s phone which would ensure that only trusted numbers would go through and this would give that individual relief from scam callers.

 

It was agreed that Inspector Wyatt would provide information for the Committee on the ways in which Runnymede police worked with the Council’s Communications to provide information for the public on how to avoid fraud.  It was also agreed that Inspector Wyatt would provide information on how to avoid fraud to the Council’s Licensing section for them to distribute to off licences in the borough.

 

It was noted that doorstep crime accounted for 17.8% of the total amount of fraud crime and for 25.27% of the fraud method.  50.82% of the fraud method was by telephone.  Residents were encouraged by the police not to answer the door and the police supplied packs of stickers that residents could put on their door or window. A Member reported that in an area of the borough where a number of retired people lived all the properties displayed these stickers in their windows.  It was suggested that Members should alert the public to the action being taken by the police against telephone and doorstep fraud while campaigning for the forthcoming local election, at other face to face meetings with the public and on line.

 

A Member suggested that in getting the messages across to local residents about how to avoid fraud the police should contribute to Facebook Local Residents Group Chats.  Inspector Wyatt stated that the police did not participate in these Chats as they did not have sufficient resource to monitor replies.  The Member asked if Inspector Wyatt could see if there was any way in which the police could contribute and switch off replies/comments to their entries to avoid the reason why the police currently did not participate.  Inspector Wyatt agreed to investigate whether this could be done.

 

The Committee noted information provided by Inspector Wyatt about obstructions caused by vehicles.  There had been 399 of these obstructions so far this year.  17 high risk road safety areas had been identified in the borough under the Speed Management Plan.  However, members of the local community who were concerned about speed levels in an area could join a Community Speed Watch and they would then provide the information they had collected to a casualty reduction officer.  In order to be included in the high risk category an area of road had to meet a particular Surrey speed survey threshold.  Speed survey data was one part of the criteria but it also took into account collision data. If it met that threshold, it would then receive extra resourcing including a speed van and casualty reduction officers.  The rest of the roads in the borough were categorised as medium or low risk.  It was noted that dangerous parking or obstructions caused by vehicles were a police matter.  Issues related to yellow lines on the road were a Council matter.

 

The Committee noted the Total Notifiable Offences (TNO)s in Runnymede for the year to date.  There had been 448 TNOs so far in Runnymede this year which represented an 8% increase.  TNOs in Surrey as a whole had increased by 7% in the same period.  13.5% of TNOs in Runnymede had resulted in a solved outcome compared to 11.4% in Surrey as a whole.

 

The Committee was concerned by the 50% rise in serious sexual assault TNOs and the 43.8% rise in rape TNOs in Runnymede.  It was noted that the current rape TNO total was similar to the total in 2019 which was the year before Covid lockdown.  All of the rape TNOs involved people who were known to each other and none of them were stranger rape TNOs.  The Committee was also concerned about the low level of conviction for rape cases nationally.  Inspector Wyatt agreed to provide for the Committee a further breakdown of the rape TNOs in Runnymede.  He recognised that the police nationally needed to increase convictions for this crime.  The police sexual offences team in Runnymede was fully staffed and these officers worked alongside officers who had received specialist training to support victims.  Inspector Wyatt informed the Committee that on some occasions the safeguarding of a victim could be a greater priority in a case than a solved outcome.  Inspector Wyatt agreed to inform the Committee of the response of the Surrey Police Commissioner to a Daily Mail article alleging that only 1.3% of reported rape attacks led to a suspect being charged in Surrey which compared less favourably to other parts of the UK.

 

Inspector Wyatt agreed to liaise with a Member outside the meeting regarding a case concerning crime prevention measures at a property where an officer had attended an incident.

 

The Committee noted that there were an estimated 13,000 people working under modern slavery conditions in the UK, including Runnymede.  Modern slavery took various forms, including forced labour in nail bars and brothels, cannabis growing and domestic slavery.  The police had held a Modern Slavery Intensification Day, had visited 12 sites in two months, had raised awareness of the crime on Surrey Police Live and worked jointly with immigration enforcement.  This crime was hidden and in the last few months the police had dealt with 4 modern slavery cases in Addlestone and some arrests had been made for this crime in the last month.  As another way of seeking to prevent people relocating to the UK (e.g. Syrians, Afghans) from being exploited, the police had provided them with information on British law.

 

The Committee noted information on anti-social behaviour (ASB) reports and on particular hotspots in the borough.  Numbers of 2020 ASB reports were particularly high as any breach of Covid lockdown requirements had been classed as ASB. It was noted that the hotspots would change from month to month.  It was noted that Gogmore Park appeared as a hotspot as there had been a small rise in ASB in that location and the Committee noted the work of local Councillors and the local community to improve the ASB position in Gogmore Park. 

 

Inspector Wyatt reported that Royal Holloway University of London was taking similar measures to seek to prevent student ASB as had been taken by the University of Surrey at his previous police post.  Inspector Wyatt agreed to provide a key to the meaning of the different colours in the ASB hotspots map for future policing updates.  It was noted that certain student residences had a reputation for unruly behaviour.  Some households were included on police records as being locations that were the subject of ASB reports.  As there was a constant turnover of students, police records would change when new students moved in.

 

Inspector Wyatt was also asked by the Committee about the policing of large groups who were displaying drunken behaviour and rowdiness.  Inspector Wyatt advised that the police needed sufficient officers to robustly deal with such behaviour and sometimes it could take time to obtain the assistance of other officers in order to effectively take action if it appeared that the unruliness of the behaviour was escalating. 

 

It was noted that the police employed a designing out crime officer who would look at locations on a case by case basis to see whether a change to the environment might reduce the likelihood of crime. The Chairman reported that designing out crime had proved beneficial at Kingthorpe Gardens in Addlestone where the cutting down of a hedge and the arrangement of seating had been effective crime prevention measures.

 

A Member reported that the ASB position in the Egham Hythe area had worsened recently.  Inspector Wyatt reported that a particular problem in that area was anti-social driving.  Sainsbury’s had now installed a barrier in their car park to prevent this happening.  Inspector Wyatt emphasised the importance of frequent reporting of ASB by the public as the greater the information the police had, the more they could target ASB at the right time.  The ASB car would also respond to incidents and would plan patrols.

 

Inspector Wyatt agreed to report in the next policing update to the Committee on whether Egham Hill had featured as an area in which the public did not feel safe in the Streetsafe reports received by Runnymede police.

 

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