The Police and Crime
Commissioner, Kim McGuinness was in attendance and gave an overview
of policing and community safety matters in the Cramlington,
Bedlington and Seaton Valley area.
The four main key issues were:-
·
Anti-Social Behaviour.
In the past different parties had not talked to each other making
it difficult to work get an outcome.
Two meetings had been held with Council Leaders, the Fire Services
and the Police with Housing being invited to the next meeting to
see if a better outcome can be achieved.. This would be underpinned by an Operations Group
to deliver priorities.
·
Safer Transport Northumbria App – funding had
been received from the Safer Street Funding to improve safety
especially for women. Communities were
asked where people felt less safe. The
App worked anywhere in the region on anywhere on public transport
with a particular push for public transport.
·
Police and Crime Plan - communities had been
consulted to determine what the priorities were. Further consultation would be carried out with
residents to include priorities.
·
Operation Payback – proceeds of crime money is
given back to the community to spend for small residents'
association to run projects and initiatives. Members were asked to promote this. There was also a Youth Fund attached to
that.
In
response to questions, the following comments were
made:-
- 101 reporting was
incredibly difficult and under resourced but work was being carried
out in the background regarding crisis call handling for all
emergency services. 58 call handlers
had been recruited, emergency call handling was a specialised job
and took long time to train. The system
was now being monitored weekly.
- The On-line form
reporting was complicated and needed to be simplified.
- Traffic and road
policing needed to be a priority and the Community Speed Watch was
running again. This was an area that
fell between the gaps between police and council. This had been a problem for a long time, and
it was hoped that the Cramlington and Seaton Valley councils would
support the process and more volunteers would increase the
coverage.
- The Police could
enforce drivers ignoring Except for Access signs but would need to
be informed about it. If there was a
particular problem, the police should be informed.
- If speeding issues
were not being enforced, officers need to be informed in order to
action.
- The Safer Northumbria
Transport App was just for transport at present which was a
discreet and safer way for people to report any issues.
- The contact details
for Operation Payback were on the Police website, Facebook and
Twitter.
- Community Speed Watch
– Inspector Phil Patterson would organise training for
Bedlington.
- Lack of communication
to emails/letters.
- The request for a
fixed camera along the dual carriageway of A1171 would be
Council’s responsibility but the request would be followed up
and a response provided.
- The Youth service was
vital, but no funding was forthcoming at present. It was important that every child should have
access to a quality service to be given the best chance in life,
and less likely to get involved in crime. The PCC was happy to come to the area, but a
multi-agency approach was also needed.
The Chair extended an offer for Seaton Valley Community Council to
contact Cramlington Town Council’s Youth Community
Team.
- The campaign with
motor bikes and quad bikes was still ongoing. The police relied heavily on community
intelligence and there was a record of who kept what
vehicle.
- The capture of data
on the Safer Travel App.
- One of the main
agenda items on the ASB Collaboration was seasonality which was a
big part of hotspot mapping. A meeting
was being organised between interested parties to start some
forward planning.
- Some land had been
identified for motorbike tracks but had fallen through and new
appropriate places were being investigated.
As
the meeting was nearing the three hours allowed as in the
Constitution, the Chair requested that Standing Orders be suspended
to allow the meeting to continue, which moved by Councillor Daley
and second by Councillor Flux and supported by members.
Councillor Bowman left the meeting at 6.53 pm.
- Community system
messaging would be rolled out in the north east. Three locations were being trialled, with good
feedback. Some media would be put
out regarding electric scooters.
- Thanks were conveyed
for the way the Police had dealt with a tragic case in Cramlington
last year
- A summit in the
community was requested to bring the NHS, Fire Service, Police and
Ambulance Service together to engage young people. The Police were
already convening regional wide and there was a vacancy on the
Board for a Councillor from Northumberland which had not been
filled. This was brought to the
attention of the Business Chair.
The PCC and colleagues were
thanked for attending the meeting.
A short recess took place to
allow officers to vacate the meeting.