Agenda item

Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance, Performance and Community Safety was present for discussion of this item.

Nick Davies, Superintendent Islington Police and Lela Kogbara, Assistant Chief Executive, Strategy and Partnerships were also present.

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         There had been a reduction of 1% over the past year in the MOPAC 7 crime statistics, however there were still challenges to reduce robbery/theft and theft by moped

·         Whilst ASB has reduced over a 3 year period, this is often linked to more serious criminality and violent crime

·         Reference was made to the impact of Brexit on hate crime and ít was stated that there had been an increase following Brexit and this was being analysed on a daily basis. However there had been increased reporting in faith crime

·         It was noted that the Police were in regular communication with the Muslim Welfare House and the Finsbury Park mosque. Members expressed regret that nobody had been charged as a result of the arson attack at the Mosque

·         Reference was made to the fact that a new SIP strategy had been agreed for dealing with hate crime  and discussions were continuing about how best to implement this

·         In response to a question it was stated that gangs were involved in the majority of knife crime incidents and the Borough is being supported by Operation Trident and there is a need to target habitual knife offenders

·         It was stated that with regard to child sexual exploitation the gangs team were looking at this in relation to girls in gangs and some cases were handled by specialist investigators. There is a strategy being drawn up for CSE

·         Reference was made to the increase in rape and sexual offences and it was stated that some of these were related to Domestic Violence, however these were being regularly monitored and that the way that the Police treat victims has improve greatly

·         In response to a question it was stated that whilst PREVENT is not a popular strategy, there is a specialist officer on terrorism and it was felt that the numbers in Islington were minimal and education is an important element in PREVENT. Main concerns arose due to safeguarding issues at school and the Mosque and there were other organisations in the borough such as charities doing PREVENT work

·         Concern was expressed at the recent re-organisation of senior management and the splitting of responsibilities in relation to crime both between Executive Members and Directorates. The Chief Executive stated that following staff consultation there had been changes to the consultation report in respect of crime and community safety and Members felt that these should be notified to Members

·         A Member stated that whilst the reduction in transgender hate crime was welcomed there had been an increase in lesbian/gay hate crime compared to other boroughs. In response the Police stated they recognised the need to engage more widely with the gay community and that ideas would be welcomed on this

·         It was stated that future reports should include statistics on the type of hate crime and sexual violence offences reported

·         Reference was made to the governance arrangements and that this may need to be looked at at a future date

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and the statistics requested above be included in future reports to the Committee

The Chair thanked Nick Davies and Councillor Hull for attending