High Street SNT Ward Panel MINUTES 26th Oct 2022

Meeting held at Market Office

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Attendees:

Philip Herlihy (Chair)
Sgt Asad Choudhry
PCSO Dennis Morgan
James King (ASB Team leader)
Cllr Raja Anwar
Helen Jackson (Cleveland Park Avenue)

Apologies for Absence

Jacquie Sheehy

Introduction

Meeting guidelines were shared
Minutes - Philip Herlihy

Actions & Matters Arising

Essex Close: Asad & Jason had been asked to review ASB at Essex Close, particularly the car park. It was reported that ASB appears to have subsided significantly, and nothing had been observed on multiple recent visits. No reports had been received. WF Housing were now taking the lead on controlling ASB in this location.
Asad & Philip had met to review "governance" of the ward panel: no outstanding issues remain.
Thomas had been asked to inquire whether the Mall Offices could be made available to host panel meetings. The new manager is reported to be happy to host meetings, but only within standard business hours. It has been concluded that we should stick with evening meetings to allow the most people to attend.

Police Report & discussion

Asad distributed crime maps, which showed (for the old, larger "High Street" area) in the most recent complete 4-week period:

Robberies: 4
Theft of Motor Vehicle: 3
Theft From Motor Vehicle: 7
Burglary: 2
Sexual Offences: 4
Snatches: 7

It was recognised that these were historically low figures, and while the target will always be zero, the team was congratulated on the effectiveness of their preventative work. It was speculated that one consequence of a lowered crime rate may be correspondingly low attendance at Ward Panel meetings!

Staffing: the target team is 6 permanent PCs, expected to be reached soon, with 6 further PCs on roataion. They may be working split shifts to be available when most needed.

Any Other Business

Action by the team had swiftly extinguished what had appeared to be a drug-dealing problem centred on the car-park at Tyler's court - residents have confirmed that those responsible have departed.
One resident who had suffered the theft of her car was disappointed to be informed that the case was declared "closed" the same day. Update: Philip has been in touch with the Neighbourhoods Superintendent about this, and it was agreed both that the "optics" of this were unsatisfactory on all sides, and that a more accurate account would be that investigation could move forward as soon as relevant evidence should emerge.
There have been rumours that the Market Office might be threatened by the continuing drive to save resources. Philip has contacted senior officers up the reporting line to argue that the Market Office is an essential part of the necessary response to this ward's historically high crime rate, and that the loss of this office would waste officer time in travelling, would significantly reduce the visibility of police around the market, shopping centre and transport hubs, and would have a significant impact on the morale of what is currently a cohesive, effective and successful team. Philip also pointed out that inappropriate reductions in the strength of the High Street team have in the past led to the growth of significant problems with organised gangs which took considerable time and resources to address.
We noted that Market Office is in many ways a convenient location for these meetings, but is constrained in space, and that it would be better to find a new location. Cllr. Anwar agreed (Action) to look into this, and particularly whether the library could host our meetings.
It was noted that the new commissioner had announced the recruitment of 1,800 new PCSOs, recognising and confirming the value of these officers.

Ward Priorities Agreed

Robbery
Violence Against Women & Girls - including street harassment
Drugs

These are unchanged from the last meeting.

Next meeting

Thursday 26th January, 2023 - venue TBA (see Calendar for latest)

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