MINUTES OF THE LEIGH-ON-SEA CRIME PREVENTION PANEL

 

Meeting held at Leigh Town Council Offices on Monday 17th September 2007 at 7.30pm

 

Present:

Cllr. Mrs. G.M. Horrigan JP, MBE     Chairman

Inspector D. Colwell                             Essex Police Western Sector

PC. S. Dewberry                                   Essex Police - YOS

Town Cllr. P. Dolby                             Leigh Town Council & Secretary

Miss Dawn Hinde                                Restorative Justice Coordinator - YOS

Town Cllr. J. Holden                           West Leigh Residents Association & Treasurer

Mr. P. Horrigan                                Assistant Secretary

Mr. D. Johnson                                Vice Chairman

Cllr. J. Lamb                                        Southend Borough Council

Mr. L. Sawyer                                     West Leigh Residents Association

Mr. J. Taylor                                        Chalkwell Residents Association and NHW

Cllr. C. Walker                                  Southend Borough Council

Mr. J. Wayland                                    Central Leigh NHW

 

Chairman – Opening Remarks:

 

The Chairman welcomed members to the meeting.

 

Apologies for Absence:

 

Mr. M. Holland                                    Southend Borough NHW Administrator

Mrs. R. Lowe                                       Eastwood NHW

 

On enquiry from Mr. Taylor the secretary advised that Mick Holland was on leave.

 

New Members:

 

The chairman introduced Miss Dawn Hinde, Restorative Justice co-ordinator for the Youth Offending Service, to the panel. Members introduced themselves for Miss Hinde’s benefit.

 

Minutes of Last Meeting:

 

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 16th July, 2007 were unanimously accepted as a true record of proceedings and were duly signed by the chairman.

 

Matters Arising:

 

Cllr. Walker advised that although the posters had been sent to the usual contact at the Home Office no reply had been received.

Colour copies of the winning posters should have been displayed in the three local libraries during the school holidays.

 

Insp. Colwell confirmed that the persons responsible for locking two PCSO’s in the public toilets in Priory Park had been arrested and were being processed. The locks have been improved so the episode cannot be repeated.

 

 

The secretary advised that Mr. Jeffrey-Harland had not responded to the request to join the working party to look at SBC’s draft revision of Licensing Policy. Also, Mr. Holland had advised that due to a conflict of interest regarding his role on ‘Pub Watch’ he could not join the working party. Accordingly the working party had not met and no response was submitted to SBC.

 

The secretary confirmed that Leigh Town Council had responded and the treasurer advised WLRA had also.

 

It was noted that Church Watch is a borough wide scheme and is to undergo a renaissance. Mr. Holland has met once with Rev. Stephen Dray, who has been designated to liaise with Mr. Holland on the scheme, concerning the logistics of improving it and making it more effective.

 

The secretary advised that there had been no further response from SBC to the request for an ‘alcohol controls in designated areas’ order for the cinder path. An update will be given at the next meeting.

 

Correspondence:

 

The secretary tabled a letter from Donald Fraser, the panel’s independent examiner, thanking the panel for the gift for auditing last year accounts.

 

The secretary confirmed that he had received a report from Mr. Holland which will be circulated with the minutes of this meeting.

 

Treasurer’s Report:      

         

The Treasurer reported that following payments, for 22 NHW signs for SE homes and £400 for the poster competition, funds in hand are £1,087.10.

SBC had charged £65.80 for refreshments at the awards evening.

The secretary advised that he would report the costs of the poster competition to the High Sheriff’s Fund through the Essex Community Foundation.

 

Crime Patterns:      

 

Insp. Colwell confirmed that reported crime remains low in Leigh, West Leigh and Chalkwell wards. Crime in Blenheim and Eastwood is static but arrests generally are up.

Specifically burglaries are on target, criminal damage is over target, vehicle theft is on target and theft from vehicles is down.

Damage to cars in Westcliff has been a problem. There is no pattern but extra patrols seem to have stopped the problem.

Motor cycle theft has increased notably of machines locked and kept in front gardens. Incidents have peaked at 3 or 4 nightly. Again there is no pattern but there have been no further reports now for 3 weeks.

Many incidents of theft of copper piping have been reported. Empty properties and houses undergoing refurbishment are targeted.

NHW groups are requested to take this issue back to their members.

Extra resources have been committed to Priory Park to tackle problems there. Significant arrests have been made as a consequence particularly around the museum area.

 

 

 

Insp. Colwell reported that neighbourhood action panels (NAP’s), which had been set up some time ago, were working well. He wondered whether the panel should give thought to ‘linking in’ as it worked similarly in that priorities are fed back to the police.

The chairman requested members to consider this idea as time will be allocated to it at the next meeting.

Cllr. Lamb advised that although he had been invited to join a NAP he had heard nothing further. It is probably a good idea for the panel to link in with the scheme.

 

On enquiry from Mr. Sawyer Insp. Colwell advised that crime figures reported are not seasonally weighted and winter often sees a rise in burglaries due to ‘no lights’ on. PC Dewberry commented that burglaries can also increase in summer when doors and windows are left open.

Cllr. Walker reported recent damage to cars in Eastwood. One street had all four tyres slashed on three parked 4x4s.

 

The treasurer thought that notwithstanding the low reported crime figures public perception is of increasing crime. It was better when local groups received monthly crime statistics so that actual recorded crime could be shown to people.

 

Cllr. Lamb alerted attention to copper in the public realm as well. The roof on the public toilets in Sutherland Boulevard is copper and could be a target of opportunist thieves. All too often blatant theft is committed during the day and the public are totally unaware, often assuming that the thieves are bona fide workmen.

 

Cllr. Lamb requested local residents and NHW groups to gather any evidence they may have regarding antisocial behaviour involving licensed premises. This evidence is an essential part of licensing renewal hearings.

Mr. Sawyer believes there is serious concern among the public that reporting may lead to reprisals. Insp. Colwell confirmed that names are not given out and residents should not be fearful.

Mr. Johnson thought that associated litter problems were also important. This included chewing gum and tea/coffee stains on pavements. Street furniture encroachment on the pavements was also an issue

Cllr. Lamb commented that this was not a police issue and council High Street inspectors should be informed of such problems. The council was waiting on the government to allocate powers to be used to combat these cleansing issues.

 

The secretary reported that large gatherings of youths were again becoming an issue in Leigh. Particular areas are the disused toilet block on Marine Parade opposite Canvey Road and Leigh cliffs.

Last Saturday morning there were 100’s of empty cans and bottles on the cliffs adjacent to the mini roundabout at Leigh Hill and evidence of drug abuse.

Insp. Colwell expressed surprise as this had not been reported back to him but he will take the report up with PC Paul Tucker.

PC.Dewberry commented that there was only one outreach worker for the whole of Southend.

The outreach worker had worked recently in Leigh Broadway and problems had reduced as a direct result. Additional council funding for another outreach worker would assist appreciably.

Dawn Hinde advised that Paul, the outreach worker, engages with young people in an attempt to help combat antisocial behavioural issues in the town.

 

 

 

Cllr. Walker confirmed that there had been no youth problems in Eastwood this summer. Insp. Colwell commented that this was, in part, due to the hard work of the neighbourhood police team (NPT).

Further, following the problems in Eastwood last year around Halloween and Bonfire Night, the NPT will be proactive to avoid a recurrence this year.

 

On enquiry from Mr. Horrigan Insp. Colwell advised that he did not know what happened to the proceeds of from seized cars, subsequently sold for scrap.

 

On enquiry from the treasurer Cllr. Walker advised that incidents of late night noise from parties etc. should be reported to the council’s environmental health department who operate an ‘out of hours’ service.

 

Mr. Taylor reported that he had not received his copy of communicate since June. The secretary confirmed that he would send him copies.

 

On enquiry from the secretary Insp. Colwell advised that fly posting was an issue for the council and not the police.

 

Southend Borough Neighbourhood Watch Administrator report:

Overview

As at 12th September there are 683 groups across the Borough of these 47% falls within the Leigh CPP area. The breakdown by beat code is shown below.

 

Park Watch

Park Watch schemes currently exist in various parts of the Borough. At each meeting similar issues are raised regardless of the geographical location of the park. It has therefore been decided that quarterly meetings will be held at the Civic Centre to which all Park Watch members will be invited. The philosophy behind this is to provide a forum where Park Watch members from various parks can interact.

 

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 16th October commencing at 1930 hours. There are two exceptions to this rule – the steering groups for Bournes Green and Southchurch Parks will continue to meet for the simple reason that both are engaged in crime reduction projects.

Communicate

I have had more of my fair share of problems with the printing of Communicate. As has been mentioned before, the current print run of 5,000 double sided copies published monthly would create a nightmare photocopying situation for the police, hence the sponsored printing.

 

 

Initially, the arrangement with Saxon Print at Halstead worked well, but the July issue arrived at the end of August, too late to distribute. I skipped August to try to get things back on track, and am now chasing the September issue! On my return from leave, I will urgently seek a new, local sponsor.

 

It was suggested in some quarters that Communicate was past its sell by date as the NSOs publish information onto the Essex Police website. An e-mail was sent to the area inspectors asking what they wanted done with Communicate. One considered that it was obsolete and should be scrapped; the other two want it to continue. Accordingly, the October issue will show a decided East/West bias!

Business Watch

Working with the two St Luke’s Ward PCSOs, I have launched a Business Watch scheme with a difference for the Fossett Retail Park. The businesses will be funding a radio scheme designed to keep the businesses in touch with each other. In addition, we will be piloting a version of BOBB (Behave of Be Banned). Each retailer has signed up to an information sharing protocol and banning order strategy. In short, we wish to convey the message to would be shoplifters that Fossett Park is not the place to go to practice their nefarious activities. If the scheme works here, there would be potential for rolling it out to other Business Watch schemes such as Rayleigh Road, London Road, and Leigh Broadway.

Cycle Watch

Despite my uncertain future I am pressing ahead with a further cycle tagging session to catch the post Christmas period. In association with the library service I have provisionally booked Westcliff Library for a session on Saturday 5th January 2008 between 10 am and 4 pm. The event will be publicised during December.

Westcliff and Leigh NWA

Across the Borough we currently have 3 active NW associations. These are Eastwood, Bournes Green and Westcliff & Leigh. These associations are extremely important in keeping NW active within their respective areas. Westcliff & Leigh have suffered a hiccough in recent months and so I made the decision to take action to ensure its continuance. All co-ordinators for groups covered by the association have been invited to a meeting in Committee Room 3 of the Civic Centre on Tuesday 25th September commencing at 7.30 pm.

 

Some comments have been made about what some perceived as interference, whilst others wholeheartedly support my actions. Hopefully, the meeting will prove successful and will result in the longevity of the association.

 

 

Youth Report:

Dawn Hinde introduced herself and explained her role in the YOS, having replaced Glen Winterbourne as Restorative Justice co-ordinator.

PC Dewberry advised that the YOS is currently working to improve its profile. It is working closely with NPT’s to identify where youths are causing problems. Instances are fed back via Dawn.

The aim is to engage with problematic youths in an attempt to address the problems before they become criminalised.

The treasurer reported that he had participated in a scheme during the summer holidays that addressed ‘at risk children of crime’. The age group was 7 -14 years and there were positive activities that they could engage in. He considered the experience to be rewarding for both the mentors and the youngsters involved.

 

The chairman commented on the government funded initiative for youths that has recently been trialled in Kent. PC. Dewberry confirmed that the YOS were aware of the initiative and were liaising with their colleagues in Kent.

 

Any Other Business:

 

The next public south eastern community engagement event (formerly PCCG) is on Monday 12th November in the Civic Centre commencing at 7.30 pm..

 

Date of Next Meeting:

 

Subsequently changed to Tuesday 20th November at 7.30pm

 

The meeting closed at 8.55 pm.