Agenda item

[Karen Samuels,Head of Community Safety, to present report]

The Graduate Management Trainee presented a progress update report on the Community Safety and Harm Reduction Strategy 2017-2020.  The report detailed the progress of the strategic priorities within the strategy.  These priorities were reducing re-offending, reducing victimisation and violence prevention.  A Black Country Reducing Reoffending Strategy had been developed which would complement the work of the Black Country Strategic Group.  With reference to reducing victimisation, the key work was the 2016-2019 Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.  The Wolverhampton Domestic Violence Forum training plan had been refreshed and training was taking place with partners across the City.  There had also been a successful ‘Orange the World’ campaign which aimed to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.  The Council had been awarded £500,000 from the Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation Fund to cover a three year period 2017-2020.  The funding had allowed the Council to undertake additional strands of work as identified within the report. 

The Graduate Management Trainee stated that more targeted work had taken place with businesses who could often fall victim to repeat crimes.  The Youth Offending Team continued to deliver against the current Violence Prevention Strategy.  There had been an increase in youth violence in Wolverhampton, which was in line with national trends, but was still a concern.  There had been a robust approach to the Council’s Prevent Duty, which included case management support and the work of the Channel Panel.  The Safer Wolverhampton Partnership also actively monitored community cohesion across the City, which included any tensions arising.

The Graduate Management Trainee said the Annual Report of the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership was scheduled to be received by Cabinet in September.  The performance data contained with the report presented to scrutiny was only a brief summary. 

A Member of the Panel asked about the significant increase in violent crimes committed with the use of a firearm or a knife.  The Chief Inspector agreed that there had been a significant percentage increase in the crimes, but the overall number of incidents remained relatively low.  The West Midlands Chief Constable was the national lead for firearms.  He was very keen to ensure all intelligence was actioned swiftly surrounding firearms no matter how minor.  The amount of armed response vehicles had been increased across the West Midlands.  Proactive operations were undertaken on gangs operating within the City which included mobile operations.  In reference to knife crime, the Police did respond to reports from the public of people carrying knives.  They also used their stop and search powers in a targeted approach in certain areas of the City.  Preventative work was also ongoing within schools.  Reporting from schools was encouraged where they had concerns about pupils.  The Police undertook knife sweeps in areas of the City, where they believed knives had been stashed by gangs. 

There was a discussion about Police response times to firearm incidents.  The Chief Inspector said these varied depending on where the vehicles were based but the Police did relocate vehicles based on risk intelligence to ensure faster response times. 

A Member asked whether there was enough neighbourhood Police Officers within the Wolverhampton area as they thought the shift pattern operated meant there was often times where there was no Police presence in a particular area.  The Chief Inspector stated that different neighbourhood teams within the Wolverhampton area covered for the teams not on duty. Officers were moved around according to priorities and risk.

There was a discussion about knife amnesty.  The Chief Inspector said that knives were deposited in the knife bins.  She did not have the figures as it was the Police and Crime Commissioners Office which emptied them.  It was however true to say people were carrying knives within Wolverhampton and the Police were having to use stop and search powers and were finding hidden stashes of knives. The Head of Community Safety said a briefing note had been prepared for the Leader of the Council summarising the initiatives towards reducing knife crime after the recent murder within the Wolverhampton area.  She offered to arrange for this to be circulated to the Panel. 

The Head of Community Safety confirmed that there were key locations within Wolverhampton which were more likely to suffer from gang activity and knife crime.  Engagement with schools in the lead up to the Summer holidays had been identified as a priority by the Police and Crime Commissioners Office.  Screening tools had been updated within Wolverhampton in order to be able to better identify individuals at risk of criminal activity.  To date there had not been any problems with engaging academy schools.  The Chief Inspector stated training for medical students had taken place, called the Street Doctors Scheme.  Young people deemed at risk of knife crime had been brought together with the trainee doctors to help educate them about stabbing injuries, debunk certain myths and provide some first aid skills. 

Meeting closed at 7:30pm.