[To receive a presentation from Superintendent Simon Inglis, Wolverhampton NPU and Hannah Pawley, Community Safety Manager.]
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed Superintendent Simon Inglis and The Community Safety Manager, Hannah Pawley to the meeting.
Superintendent Inglis provided a presentation and an overview of the work that he and his team had been carrying out including how they had dealt with the following four areas:
· Covid over the last 12 months and policing in Wolverhampton and what this has meant
· Performance over the last 12 months
· Digital opportunities
· Challenges moving forward coming out of the pandemic and future expectations.
Superintendent Inglis stated that policing had been second at the table with the Covid journey after Public Health and the NHS and the reality was that this was a medical and clinical incident in the first instance. During the initial phase the police had to adapt quickly to understand their role and what they could bring to the table. The main role at the start appeared to be compliance, where people were interacting with each other and that the police had a really strong role to place in this instance. It then became clear that the police would be getting involved in many areas that they had not encountered before under the new legislation and as the pandemic evolved. The police had attended events such as funerals and in some cases had to ask those in attendance to leave as the numbers were too large, this was a battle of the conscience in some instances, but care was taken to ensure that these situations were handled delicately and with great care. There was very little in police training to prepare staff for these types of events. As new legislation was introduced there was little extra resource and the police had to police in parallel with normal calls for service and new Covid related incidents. There were up to 200 calls each night with people not adhering to Covid rules and these had to be responded to as well as the normal business as usual.
Superintendent Inglis explained that as the updates were provided by the Prime Minister they were heard by the public at the same time as the police so there was no advance notice in changes of legislation which required very quick adaptation. Priorities would then have to be put in place and resources allocated to ensure the new legislation could be enforced. There was a fine line that had to be taken as policing had to be by consent and public trust and support was very important.
There were four key elements in relation to compliance and enforcement in partnership:
· Covid 19 Joint Enforcement Team
· Enhanced Patrol Strategy
· Triage Car
· Enforcement Days
Superintendent Inglis explained that it was also important to support and protect his own staff and to keep them safe so that they could serve the public. This included the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from the very start and wearing masks in cars and offices all of the time. Data was received each day to understand what was taking place with staff and the most staff that were ever off work with Covid related illnesses was 20 which was considered to be very good; at the moment there were no staff off or isolating for Covid related issues.
Superintendent Inglis explained that he had been involved in the closure of one of the first pubs for Covid related reasons, a barber shop and in one case a party linked to a baptism that people from London had travelled to attend.
The biggest asset in Policing was people who, if treated and supported well, were then able to provide a good service to the public and these people had been the top priority throughout the pandemic.
Board members thanked Superintendent Inglis for the initial slides and the information contained within them, stating that it was very interesting to see the situation from the policing side. It was however stated that there had been criticism due to the fact that there appeared to have been little attention to policing outside of the main geographical areas in the City. The question was raised as to whether, if there was a surge again, would more attention be given to these areas or was it just a lack of numbers. Superintendent Inglis stated that the enforcement days had been across the whole of the City and not just in the City centre. Superintendent Inglis agreed that the City Centre appeared more high profile due to the police presence but that the operations had been City wide. Superintendent Inglis stated that all areas were currently over established and that there were more staff than actually allocated and that these officers were being seen on the streets so if there was a surge there could be a focus on key areas as directed by the data and information being received. A considerable amount had been learnt over the last 12 months and should there be another surge then the police would be in a position to respond better and with greater accuracy. A board member stated that there had been raves with 800 to 900 people in attendance in his area and a number of residents had rung the police to complain but were told that there were no police available, this did not help to raise confidence in the police. The process was a two-way process as in order to have confidence in the police, the public needed them to come out to deal with issues when they were reported. Superintendent Inglis stated that he would liaise with the relevant inspector for the area in questions and request that they engage directly with the board member. Another board member stated that given the huge cuts to the police that they, along with the other emergency services had done a fantastic job and that the local team in his area had been outstanding. A request was made in relation to the number and types of crimes that had taken place during the pandemic and what the future now held for policing. Superintendent Inglis thanked the board member for his feedback. Superintendent Inglis provided a slide highlighting the total recorded crime on Wolverhampton Policing Neighbourhood Unit. The data compared the type and amount of recorded crime over the previous year and this year. Areas such as vehicle crime, violence with injury and residential burglary had decreased whist areas such as domestic abuse and hate crime had increased. In relation to knife crime, Superintendent Inglis stated that he would have liked to have seen this reduce more but the fact that it had now stabilised was an achievement as it had previously been on a much steeper trajectory.
A board member stated that he often referred to the police UK crime site and asked whether this was the correct place to be looking for accurate information in relation to crime statistics. Superintendent Inglis confirmed that this was the right place. The board member stated that on this site, when comparing crime rates with our neighbours, that Wolverhampton was showing as just below Birmingham as of the end of September 2020 which was worrying given the fact that Wolverhampton was lower in population than many of our neighbours but had a higher general crime rate. Superintendent Inglis stated that yes he would be striving to get Wolverhampton’s figures to the bottom of the statistics but was aware that the data on the gov.uk site cut across the last 12 months and suggested that he attend a future meeting of Scrutiny Board to present and compare the relevant data in more detail. The Board agreed that this would be the best way forward.
In relation to digital, Superintendent Inglis explained how the force had used twitter widely to help enforcement and compliance, WM Now which provided up to date information about where you lived and the police partnerships team who had used Teams and Skype to engage with schools and colleges.
Superintendent Inglis presented a video to the Board in relation to the use of drones and crime prevention and detection to help highlight the use of new technology in policing. It was also confirmed that more and more front-line staff had been issued with technology to allow them to work from home when appropriate.
In relation to the year ahead, Superintendent Inglis stated that there would be challenges as the restrictions began to be lifted and that it would remain vital to enforce the regulations whilst also working with the public to maintain trust. In relation to the nigh time economy opening up there would be an increased demand for normal policing and continuing Covid relating policing but there was also an awareness that officers would want to take some well-earned leave that had previously been put on hold. There would also be challenges in relation to the European Championships, Coventry City of Culture and the Commonwealth Games. On top of this it was important to continue to improve and adapt and reflect and to continue to develop the people in the force so that they could be the best they could.
The Chair welcomed the Community Safety Manager to the meeting to provide an overview of the work of the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership, a statutory board which brought together key partners to tackle crime and disorder, working together to meet the following objectives:
· Reducing Offending
· Preventing Violence
· Harm Reduction
· Building Community Capacity
Throughout the pandemic, the team had been very keen to support the work of commissioned service to ensure that they could continue to work safely and securely. There had been commissioning of targeted youth diversion services and support provided to faith and community groups as well as ongoing engagement with residents. Support had been provided for domestic abuse victims which included a member of the team visiting them at home to carry out an assessment of their property to ensure that it was safe and to enable them to remain at home rather than having to move elsewhere. A place-based approach had been adopted based on data and intelligence and a food bank forum had been set up to help coordinate foodbanks to build capacity and coordinate offers.
The Community Safety Manager referred to hidden crime and that what was reported to the police was not everything that was happening behind closed doors. The following steps were being and had been taken:
· Supporting and running virtual campaigns to raise awareness of hidden crime and ensuring that vulnerable people know how to access the support they need (locally and regionally)
· Ensuring a robust response to domestic abuse working with key partners
· Continued training for professionals
· Supporting contact with the most vulnerable throughout restrictions
· Development of Wolverhampton Exploitation Hub (now live)
· Preparation for the Domestic Abuse Bill (expected implementation April 2021)
The Community Safety Manager stated that moving forward, the team would continue to support communities by:
· Continuing to use a place-based approach to support recovery from Covid-19
· Working with commissioned services to increase face-to-face (when appropriate and safe to do so) contact with the vulnerable whilst maintaining the flexibility that digital communication has enabled
· Enhancing the community spirit built throughout lockdown to continue to build community capacity, resilience and co-produce solutions
· Understanding and responding to emerging trends as restriction's ease
· Working with partners to ensure city response to the Domestic Abuse Bill
The Chair thanked the Community Safety Manager for the presentation.
A board member stated that he had been looking at the Wolverhampton Safer Partnerships website and that it did not appear to be very up to date. The Community Safety Manager stated that she would look into this and ensure that any updates were reflected on the website.
Resolved:
a) That the report be noted.
b) The Superintendent Inglis be invited to a future meeting of Scrutiny Board to discuss crime rates and statistics.