A short presentation by Essex Police, followed by up to 45 minutes of Member’s questions.

 

The Mayor introduced Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, the Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston, Chief Inspector Leigh Norris and Inspector Matt Cornish to the meeting of Council and asked that they deliver their presentation which would then be followed by questions by Members.

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh thanked Members for the privilege of being invited to the meeting of Council.

 

Chief Inspector Leigh Norris outlined to Members the key local issues the Police faced:

 

•           The District Profile – 62 square miles around 70% rural, population of 165,000, 62,000 households, examples of strategically significant sites in Thurrock is that in December 2015, 2.5 million visitors to Lakeside and a million vehicles a week use the Dartford Crossing.

•           Community Safety Hub – A new concept to Essex Police, Thurrock being one of the four pilot areas which started 1 year ago. Feedback from pilot was healthy with some areas to be concentrated on. Highlighted the volume of partnership operations and activities.

•           Dwelling Burglary – Burglary of residents’ homes was a very important area of business. Thurrock is geographically vulnerable having borders with Kent and Newham and the Dartford Crossing with a large   number of vehicle movement across the borough. Prediction of offences made via Operation In-Sight and being heavily involved in social media.

•           Street Racing and Vehicle Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) – Issue for the western area of the district for the last 20-25 years. Main concern around this is to prevent serious injury or fatalities for spectators. The current PSPO is working, with Thurrock being the second place in the county to have this. There have been no reported incidents this week of any reports of racing. This will be continued to be enforced with on the spot fines.

•           Fly Tipping – Thurrock Council and Essex Police have worked together and come up with Fly Tipping Protocol. Activity targeting vehicles carrying waste.

•           Hate Crime – Identify that the need to step up and help victims. Using the multi-agency approach and educating parents and families.

•           Unauthorised Encampments – Thurrock had its fair share of encampments, which tend to be seasonal. Now is the time to re-group and look what needs to be done to make the process as rigid and robust as possible.

 

Chief Inspector Leigh Norris offered to speak to Members further after the committee if required.

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh provided Members with a broader prospective of activities going on across the County. Essex Police continue to change and adopt at a pace but one thing that was not immediately apparent to those outside of policing was the level of neglect of key infrastructures and buildings with a £30 million backlog in maintenance and £2.5 million increase each year.

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh also acknowledged and apologised to Members for the departure of the last district commander. With the appointment of Chief Inspector Leigh Norris he hoped that the Council feel pleased with this and that it was evident that he cared deeply for the authority and residents.

 

The Chief Constable continued by stating that the savings identified in the Autumn Statement had changed significantly.

 

To better understand what the demand across the borough looked like Officers had shift patterns changed to make sure they were on duty when the public needed them and poor sickness levels in Essex Police were being addressed.

 

Introduction of a new computer system meant that Essex Police were the first force to change the way in which crime was recorded.

 

The Chief Constable finished his presentation by highlighting that missing children were being placed in Thurrock without the proper protection plans. Other London councils were also putting families into Thurrock. Essex Police were trying to understand the issues and pressures of these vulnerable individuals. It was confirmed that at this time the Chief Constable was investing officers into public protection, into domestic abuse and into digital investigations and that the organisation was changing to make sure that they remain relevant as things changed.

 

Members raised the following questions:

 

Councillor Roast: For you to have your ideal premier A Team for Essex, how much would you be realistically asking for per household?

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh stated that in reality Officers needed better technology to provide the best and most efficient service to the community, so there was a need to invest in the right technology and equipment. The challenge would be for Members to engage with communities on how the changes to policing affected them.

 

It was stated that Essex Police had the lowest cost levels in the country and Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh did not want Essex Police to have low investment put into it. 

 

Councillor Stewart: What were the plans for protecting small businesses against theft, fraud and shoplifting?

 

Chief Inspector Norris stated that there was a Crime Unit at Lakeside Shopping Centre and a small unit in Grays town centre. PCSOs undertook foot patrols which take in the local shopping areas. The visibility of the PCSOs could be more but they were faced with different challenges and were stretched across all areas.

 

Councillor Ojetola: Under the new government funding will you keep all the PCSOs?

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh confirmed that not all PCSOs would be kept as £13.5 million still needed to be found as part of the budget cuts.

 

Chief Inspector Leigh Norris confirmed that the number of incidents of boy racers in West Thurrock had reduced and that on-line activity had virtually ceased.

 

Councillor Redsell: How often do the traffic department visit crime hotspots?

 

Chief Inspector Norris stated that he had no figures to hand but re-assured Members that every effort to support these hotspot areas is given.

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh confirmed that recognition vehicles were now being deployed in these areas and on training courses, officers were briefed on the presence of patrol cars using blue lights in these high crime hotspots areas could prevent burglaries from happening.

 

Councillor Hipsey: Asked the Crime Commissioner to tell the chambers, the public and residents that he would change his mind and keep our police stations open.

 

Nick Alston reconfirmed that for every police station kept open it meant fewer police able to respond to community concerns out on patrol. A simple equation was either to spend money to keep police stations open or spend money on officers with the right technology and on patrol. As Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh had already told the chamber he did not need all current police stations open as officers were on the road dealing with issues. Communication between local communities would need to be improved. Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh stated that money had to be freed up to pay for modern officers with modern technology.

 

Councillor Halden: What ambitions do you have with the Fire Authority and Essex Police services working together?

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh stated they had a good relationship with the chief Fire Team who met once a month. The ambition was to work more effectively together whilst protecting the autonomy and specialities of each service. The Chief Constable observed that public safety in terms of police could be managed more effectively whilst working with the fire service.

 

Nick Alston stated that it was his role to keep the Chief Constable to account and that the best police service was provided.

 

Councillor Jones made a statement to the effect that Essex Police should look at Thurrock as a special case as it is the industrial hub of Essex.

 

Councillor Worrall: Thanked Chief Inspector Leigh Norris for his continued work in the borough. You propose to close buildings and talk to the communities. How do you intend to engage with communities, how were you going to make those residents feel safe and how many officers were we going to lose in Thurrock?

 

The Chief Constable confirmed that the intention was to maintain the Officer number at 2800 with a reduction in sickness levels. The Community Hubs needed to be in the right location where services could be accessed and that were staffed at the right times.

 

Councillor S. Little: How were responses to 101 calls managed in rural communities?

 

Councillor S. Little thanked Essex Police for the Community Speed Training and for their support.

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh confirmed that 101 calls were monitored but had concerns on the consistency of the number of calls answered. The map training element of the question would be taken away and explored.

 

Councillor Hamilton: With the introduction of ATHENA do you think there will be any radical reappraisal of bureaucracy involved in policing? Could evidence be used in court?

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh commented that ATHENA would be used to populate all details and had reduced bureaucracy to a degree.  When the mobile technology was available for statements to be immediately loaded onto the system at the scene of crime the Chief Constable was confident that ATHENA would improve the efficiency of processes over the next 12 months.

 

Councillor J. Kent: On rationalisation of the estate, in negotiations with owners of building and land that you do not currently own how confident were you to exit these leases in sufficient time to make the savings that were predicted? How many extra PCSOs do you intend to keep in Thurrock?

 

Nick Alston confirmed that very few properties were leased. The majority of the buildings around the county were freehold. It is planned that 8 of the freehold properties will be sold in the next few months, with the savings plan running over 5 years.

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh did not have this figure of how many extra PCSOs intended to keep in Thurrock to hand and would report back to Members.

 

Councillor Kerin: You say the service is stretched finely. How stretched is it? And how far away were you from the elastic snapping?

 

Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh stated that modern Police Officers were under much more strain  compared to previous generations and that productivity was monitored and constantly under scrutiny. The change in shift patterns had helped but ATHENA had not helped as much as would have liked. There were over 1200 calls received a day but only 600 can be dealt with.

 

Councillor Victoria Holloway: If the reduction in budgets had not been made by the current Government would we not be in this position of making cuts and closing police stations?

 

Nick Alston replied that it was the government that maintained the budget and an extra £500,000 had been given to spend.

 

The Mayor thanked the Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, the Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston, Chief Inspector Leigh Norris and Inspector Matt Cornish for their time this evening.

 

At 8.12 pm, Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh, the Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston and Inspector Matt Cornish left the council chambers.