Representatives from Northumbria Police will be in attendance to provide updates on policing within the Castle Morpeth area and to answer questions from Members.
Minutes:
Sergeant L Robson and Inspector K Benson were in attendance to provide updates on policing within various localities of the Castle Morpeth area. An update had also been circulated in advance of the meeting from Inspector W Daniels who was unable to attend which covered the areas of Lynemouth, Ellington, Stakeford and Choppington.
Sergeant L Robson advised that within the Morpeth area itself there had been an increase of 6.82% which equated to 200 more reported incidents. This had included an increase in the number of public safety/mental health incidents however, a new scheme where the right care/right person from partner agencies would respond to incidents of this type instead of the Police was to be introduced. There had been a 27% increase (31 incidents) of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and reports of youth disorder especially around the bus station was being dealt with and enforcement action being taken. Additional patrols from the Community Safety Officer and extra staff had been deployed in this area. There had been a 0.5% increase in crime however this was due mainly to an increase in motor vehicle incidents and following the arrest of a person there had been no further incidents reported. There had also been an increase in violent crime linked to domestic incidents and work was ongoing to try to reduce this type of crime. There had been a reduction in the number of incidents related to theft and drugs. The target for the next 12 months was to be more proactive, and more enforcement action taken in relation to youth disorder with more community engagement undertaken.
Inspector K Benson advised that comparing the figures for the last 8 weeks with those for the last twelve months there had been within the northern part of her command which was the Belsay area 19 incidents in total with 12 linked to transport including 2 deaths and some serious injuries from accidents on the A696; 2 damage to motor vehicles and 8 road/highway offences following proactive testing and an increased police presence. There had been 5 public safety incidents, 2 reports of crime and no ASB. The previous year there had been 12 incidents in total. Within in the Matfen and Stamfordham area there had been 32 incidents with 17 transport; 2 ASB (1 motor cycle disorder and 1 neighbour dispute) compared to 20 incidents for the previous year. Within the Ponteland/Darras Hall area there had been 56 incidents with 43 crimes which was on par with similar sized population areas such as Hexham and Prudhoe. There had been 38 traffic incidents and 11 incidents of ASB which was quite low with very few incidents of youth ASB. ASB was the lowest it had been over the last 3 years and had been steadily declining since October with the peak being July/August. The team had increased numbers of staff with new officers deployed in Ponteland and a lot of work undertaken to reduce incidents. The priority for the next 12 months was to further reduce ASB working with schools to identify youths and introduce shift changes within the team to cover incidents related to retail theft. There was a community speed watch scheme within the town and a speed van utilised in hot spot locations. Work would be undertaken with residents and Estates Committees in relation to burglary and there had been increased patrols following the recent burglary of a Newcastle United player’s home in the area.
Councillors welcomed the presence of the Police at the meeting and highlighted that the numbers of poaching incidents in the area had reduced due to the wet weather. Meetings had been set up to try to get funding to stop the increasing incidents of thefts from shops which it was thought was being carried out by people from outside of the immediate area and the recent theft from a security van was highlighted along with the need to prosecute those involved. Concern was expressed regarding the number of road traffic accidents occurring on the A696. Inspector Benson advised that the only data she had was in respect of the 2 accidents within the previous 8 weeks, however she assured Members that the Police worked closely with Highways to look at road signage, street furniture and the safety of roads. Plain clothes operations had been undertaken in relation to incidents of thefts from shops which had resulted in some positive prosecutions. Prolific offenders were kept overnight for presentation to Court the next day and in the case of juveniles the Courts looked to provide diversionary activities. Shops did have CCTV and offenders advised that they would be charged.
Sergeant Robson advised that the Police needed to get better at passing accurate data on in relation to prosecutions and highlighted a monthly newsletter that was now being circulated in Amble and the possibility of that being done in the Castle Morpeth area. He also highlighted “Northumbria Connected” to which Members could sign up to online which provided regular updates. The operation previously known as Farm Watch was now part of Your Northumbria however there was still a rural crime team which was headed by Inspector Gary Neill. In response to a statement regarding the perception that the Police was not doing anything in relation to incidents in Morpeth by a known offender, it was highlighted that it was not possible to advise the public what the Police were doing in relation to gathering intelligence prior to an arrest. The Police also worked closely with the Probation Service and knew who was being released from prison and when and if any breaches in conditions occurred then they would be returned to Court.
In relation to a question from Councillor Murphy in relation to the use of the electric bikes and video cameras which had been purchased by Members of Council in the Choppington/Stakeford area for Police use to deal with ASB, this would be passed to Inspector Daniels for him to respond directly.
It was confirmed that there was a dedicated team in Neighbourhood Policing context which specifically dealt with child grooming and sexual exploitation. Any concerns raised by schools, families etc. would be shared with partner agencies depending on the type of concerns raised. A lot of proactive work was undertaken with schools in relation to the use of social media to target young people. It was stated that those who targeted young or vulnerable people usually had a set criteria on what they were looking for so it was possible there was no difference between numbers within urban or rural areas, but this data was not known by the Officers present.
Inspector Benson and Sergeant Robson were thanked for their attendance and updates they had provided.