Agenda item

Nick Davies, Chief Superintendent Islington Police, and Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance, Performance and Community Safety were present during discussion of this item.

During discussion the following main points were made –

·         It was stated that the areas of most concern were still moped theft, theft from the person and theft snatch, all of which had increased over the previous year

·         It was noted that more dedicated resources were being employed in the borough to catching organised criminals behind these types of crimes, and that this is welcomed

·         Work was also taking place with the Courts with regard to appropriate sentencing and there are a number of initiatives taking place with young people such as the youth violence protection kit, and with families

·         The youth custody rate had reduced to its lowest level since 2010

·         The integrated gangs team approach was being expanded

·         Moped theft was a problem not just in Islington but had spread across London, and the Police were working hard to tackle it, together with knife crime

·         The Police now had a motorcycle team in the borough who could pursue criminals on mopeds and some noticeable arrests had recently been made

·         It was reported that snatch theft had significantly reduced recently and was now at the lowest level for the past 18/24 months

·         Discussion took place as to ASB and that for repeat callers a multi-agency approach is being looked at

·         A Member enquired how many motorcycle pursuits had been carried out this year compared to last year and the Chief Superintendent stated that he would provide these figures to the Committee

·         The view was expressed that more could be done to reassure the Public of the measures that the Police were taking and that improvements were taking place. The Chief Superintendent stated that the Police did use Twitter and next door to communicate and that when perpetrators are sent to Court for crimes this will be publicised. Councillor Hull added that together with the Police he had held discussions with local residents in Junction Road about local crime in the area and a walkabout in Canonbury ward to engage local residents

·         In response to a question it was stated that with regard to non-attendance at schools, it was stated that in cases of non-attendance by pupils, work took place with families and support given, as the Council had a legal responsibility to provide education for children

·         With regard to young adults, 18 years and over, this was a more complex situation as the probation work had been allocated to a private company by the Government

·         Members were informed that the Council had an integrated offender management approach and details of this could be sent to Members of the Committee

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Chief Superintendent be requested to supply details of the numbers of moped pursuits undertaken to date this year, in comparison to last year

(b)  That details of the integrated offender management programme be circulated to Members of the Committee

The Chair thanked Councillor Hull,  and Nick Davies for attending