Agenda and minutes

Jon Anderson has given his apologies and so a Chairman will have to be elected for this meeting. Chris Parker Area Commander, Head of Community Safety has volunteered for this position.

Chris Parker, Area Commander and Head of Community Safety was unanimously elected as Chairman for this meeting.

It was noted that a Chairman and Vice-Chairman would be elected for 2018 at the next meeting of the Board. It was therefore seen as unnecessary to elect a Vice-Chairman for this meeting.

Apologies were received from Jon Anderson.

None.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

Chief Inspector Steve Kerridge provided a brief summary of future changes to the Constabulary. He explained that in mid-2018 the Chief Constable would list his proposals for the efficient use of resources to provide the best benefit for frontline services.

Looking back

Chief Inspector Steve Kerridge explained that whilst there had been an increase in the number of recorded crimes over the last nine months, the British Crime Survey, which historically estimated a higher level of crime, had actually shown a decrease over the same period.  This national trend had been reflected in the District of South Cambridgeshire. Steve Kerridge explained that an increase in the recording of public order offences, which in the past would have gone unrecorded, had caused an increase in the number of recorded crimes.

Steve Kerridge explained that there would be a focus on:

·         Working in Partnership to meeting new challenges, especially regarding new developments.

·         Innovative methods to tackle dwelling burglaries.

·         Working to protect vulnerable groups.

Partners welcomed the sharing of resources across borders and recognised that the Police needed to prioritise in order to respond to emergencies.

Mike Hill updated the Board on the work of the Tasking and Coordination Group and the progress made on delivering the three main priorities:

·         Protecting the vulnerable

·         Tackling dwelling burglary

·         Improving understanding of our diverse communities

Protecting the vulnerable

It was agreed that partnership working was essential to protect the vulnerable and those who carry out home visits should be trained to identify any areas of concern. It was noted that victims of scams did not consider themselves to be victims.

Following the Grenfell Tower disaster Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue had sent fire prevention information to 5,000 people in the District. It was noted that there were no high rise flats in the District.

Online crime

Mike Hill express concern regarding the increase in online hate crime and provided details of the Government’s Facebook campaign to encourage the reporting of this. Tackling cyber crimes involved focussing on young males.

Dwelling burglary

Mike Hill explained that the £2,000 funding to tackle dwelling burglary had not yet been spent. The Police were undertaking analysis of street-level crime data to identify streets to target.

The Board NOTED the report.

Leigh Roberts presented this overview of the next Strategic Assessment and explained that part of its purpose was to identify any gaps in the current crime reduction strategy. She stated that hate crime had increased, but that it was hard to identify the cause. She recommended:

·         Identifying who was vulnerable.

·         Tackling isolation issues.

·         Preventing young people from entering a life of crime.

Alasdair Baker gave an update from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. There had been 2,500 responses on the Business Case to the Home Office for taking over the governance of the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Councillor Ray Bisby, Vice-Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel had been recommended as the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Youth and Community Fund was inviting applications for up to £1,000 worth of funding. More details were available on the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner website.

Mike Hill suggested that the number of meetings regarding Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Community Safety Partnership meetings could be reduced to avoid duplication of effort. This suggestion was generally supported by the Board, however Mark Freeman expressed concern that this could mean that local representatives from the smaller organisations were prevented from attending meetings with the key representatives from larger organisations.

Members would be consulted shortly on the date and time of the next meeting.