The Borough Commander begun his presentation by providing the following updates on actions from the previous meeting:

·       The police had been closely with the Council’s Licensing Team to cascade advice against frauds and scams to off-licenses, and where appropriate issuing advice direct.  An article in an upcoming Runnymede Talks publication would also cover the issue.

·       Capacity issues prevented the police from commenting on all closed local Facebook groups, however it remained possible for the Runnymede Beat’s posts to be shared within those groups.

·       Solved outcome rates for serious sexual assaults within the borough was 4.7%.

·       Councillors agreed that serious sexual assault offences within the Borough would be included within the stats of the next meeting on a trial basis.

The Borough Commander reminded the Committee of the policing priorities for Runnymede, which had been produced upon his arrival in April 2021 following discussions with residents.

·     Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour

·     Violence against women and girls

·     Disrupting County Lines

·     Preventing Burglaries

·     Road Safety

Following a series of public meetings and analysis of crime trends, the Borough Commander was considering replacing Disrupting County Lines with Fraud and Scams as a priority for the coming year.

For total crime across the borough, Runnymede had seen a 6.4% increase against an increase of 4.8% county-wide, whilst solved outcomes was 12.8% compared to 11% across the county.

In response to Member concerns about overall trends on the increase, it was noted that some of the data was being compared to Covid times, and fluctuations meant that the past 28 days had seen an overall decrease.

The increase in serious sexual assaults could also be in part attributed to lockdown, and whilst any reports remained concerning it was at least considered a positive that victims were reporting it.

Committee noted that whilst not yet fully staffed, a new team under Operation Vanguard had been introduced to proactively patrol roads to reduce the ‘Fatal 5’, the leading contributors to road traffic collisions:

·       Inappropriate speed

·       Not wearing a seatbelt

·       Driving under the influence of drink or drugs

·       Distracted driving, such as using a mobile phone behind the wheel

·       Careless driving

The team would be proactive, and have spotters on the road looking for offences and making a colleague aware further down the road to activate a stop.  The Borough Commander felt that careless driving was the most common driving offence.

It was admitted that there was perceived blurred lines around enforcing parking offices, with the Council responsible for enforcing parking on double yellow lines.  The Borough Commander invited Councillors to notify him if in doubt and an assessment would be made balanced up against availability of resources.

Furthermore, abandoned vehicles would be dealt with by the Council unless causing an obstruction or stolen, whilst driveway or pavement obstructions would be dealt with by the police. 

Whilst there had been a reduction in fraud, the figure did not include attempted fraud, which it was felt was under-reported.  The Borough Commander made Councillors aware of True Call Installation, which was applied to residents’ landline and would ensure that only pre-programmed numbers made it through. The Borough Commander encouraged Members to make their vulnerable residents aware of the service, especially as many scams originated from abroad and made it more difficult to track.

The three-year breakdown of anti-social behaviour were presented, with the figures for 2020 skewed by the inclusion of offences such as lockdown parties.

Cases were studies to search for links, with peer groups sometimes identified.  Those peer groups would subsequently be tackled using anti-social behaviour powers.

The Borough Commander confirmed that reports of anti-social behaviour within the presentation was solely what had been reported to police, however meetings with partners would result in data of all anti-social behaviour being shared across the board.

Since the launch of Streetsafe, 118 reports of violence against women and girls had been made across the borough.  Where possible measures had been taken or suggested at locations that Streetsafe had highlighted, such as improving the lighting.

The Police encouraged incidents to be reported online or via social media where possible, as the ability to attach photos assists the call handlers.  A Committee member had used this method several times and was complimentary about the response.

In response to a recent serious assault in New Haw, the Borough Commander did not think it was linked to a wider spread of violence in the area, but trends were regularly being analysed and additional measures taken where appropriate.

The Committee chair had recently submitted a question to the Police & Crime Panel about the number of officer hours spent investigating non recorded crime, and would report back on the answer at the next meeting.

The Committee thanked the Borough Commander for his ongoing work and attendance at the meeting.