Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness will be in attendance to give an overview and answer questions about policing and community safety matters in the Tynedale area.
Minutes:
The Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness was in attendance to give an overview of policing and community safety matters in the Tynedale area. She raised the following points:
· The role of the Police and Crime Commissioner was to determine strategic policies and was not involved in operational decisions.
· The 'Fighting Poverty, Fighting Crime' campaign focused on the root causes of offending by tackling deprivation and unemployment.
· A reduction in the number of police officers meant that they needed to focus on prevention.
· Unfortunately, there was a positive link between poverty and crime.
· Operation Payback was a funding initiative sourced from the proceeds of crime. Applications for grants could be made twice per year from community groups that that supported vulnerable people or projects that provided diversionary activities to help tackle anti-social behaviour. Allendale Youth Ambition had been successful in a recent bid. Applications would be open in June 2022 from organisations in Northumberland for grants up to £5,000 to provide activities during the summer holidays.
· Rural crime, including theft of vehicles and machinery, was being addressed by tackling organised criminal groups, FarmWatch schemes and Operation Checkpoint.
· Northumberland and the police force region were very safe areas.
She provided the following information in response to questions:
· They were working on plans for the former police houses in Fairfield, Hexham which had previously been identified for sale. She agreed to liaise with Councillor Kennedy.
· There had been drug related deaths and crime in Haltwhistle which was uncharacteristic of the area and needed a two-pronged approach with preventative work. There had been drug related arrests and a recent substantial sentence for the supply of drugs by one individual. They needed to raise awareness with the community of the consequences.
· Other methods of consultation and engagement were being used instead of the local multi agency panels. They welcomed discussions to find alternative ways of working with partners, but they could not be funded from the proceeds of crime fund. Members expressed concern that their involvement and local knowledge was lost when LMAPs had ceased.
· The recruitment of new police officers was going well with 423 new officers in post out of the allocation of 615. However, they did not entirely replace the 1,100 officers that had previously been lost when austerity measures had been implemented.
· Whilst unemployment was an issue, more people were living in poverty which had a huge impact on crime and the victims of crime.
· The role of the Police and Crime Commissioner did not involve operational matters. They hoped to influence the environment and ask questions, which could be seen as political.
· She was attending each of the Northumberland Local Area Council’s to address issues relevant to the different areas of the county. She agreed that it was important to acknowledge the causes of problems and commented that there had been a significant reduction in money spent on youth services in the last 12 years which had led to an increase in youth disorder.
· Implementation of drug testing within schools was not within her authority. However, a pilot drug test on arrest scheme in Newcastle was to be rolled out across the force area.
· She was very proud of the Violence Reduction Unit and their work to prevent young people becoming vulnerable to drugs and targeting those that made their living out of selling drugs.
· The decision to close police stations had been an operational one following an in-depth analysis regarding their use. The Police and Crime Commissioner would not have been involved in that decision. Unfortunately, they did not have the funds to reopen police stations and her preference was to employ more officers than provide desks. Comments regarding the consultation process in Prudhoe would be passed to the relevant section.
· The allocation of seats on the Northumbria Police and Crime Panel was determined by the Council and its administration.
Several of the Members thanked the Police Crime Commissioner and police officers for their work keeping residents safe in Northumberland.
RESOLVED that the information be noted.