Agenda item

This report details two areas for discussion as requested by the Board. They relate to rates of Serious Violence in Medway and Death and Serious Injury on the roads. These are issues that, according to the data provided, sit above national averages. The presentations identifies the current picture in relation to these areas, the governance in place to keep the public of Medway safe and a summary of key activity in relation to both issues.

Serious Violence

 

Discussion:

 

The Board received a presentation on Serious Violence and was informed on the following:

 

·        The Police were committed and determined to keep people safe and tackle serious violent crime.

 

·        Data was reviewed over a rolling year to track progress against previous years. Most serious violence was demonstrating a downward trend, whereas drug offences and possession of drugs and weapons continued to rise. This was reflective of the proactive work being undertaken in this area as figures would otherwise be low otherwise.

 

·        There were three hot spot zones in Medway, these were defined by data from the Government and Home office for offences pertaining to knife crime, violent crime and anti-social behaviour. These areas were Rochester, Chatham Town Centre and Gillingham. There was funding received from the Home Office used to uplift patrolling hours and officers in those areas. From 1 June till end of August there were extra patrolling with over 1000 hours of uniformed officers in Chatham, 600 in Gillingham and all areas had their own specific priorities.

 

·        As part of tackling crime related issues, in place was the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) led by a Medway Councillor. The CSP held the police to account on police led issues and activity. There was strong partnership in place with members working collectively to address issues.

 

·        The Community Safety Unit in Medway consisted of circa 50 members of staff dedicated to working with the community, and there was a neighbourhood task force in place to deal with specific problems. The task force at present worked on issues of serous violence. There was also a proactive Investigation Team leading on work relating county lines and serious and complex investigations.

 

·        A full report was made available daily on all matters and activities were therefore tasked based on the daily report. Using principles linked to the National Intelligence Model, there was a monthly process to address all types of crime, but violent crime was a priority. There was also extensive tracking of individuals, locations and venues, with additional resources put into areas highlighted as presenting with the most significant issues. All work was not guided by data and intelligence as there was also reliance on reporting by the community.

 

·        Work undertaken was not limited to enforcement, there was also a strong focus on prevention and targeting of people that perpetuate crime. There was a holistic approach undertaken through work with partners from Youth Offending, Children’s Services and Pupil Referral Units as preventative measures for vulnerable young people in being perpetuators and victims of crime. The Serious Crime directorate was responsible for serious crime groups and underpinning their work were robust governance processes and analysis.

 

·        There were still areas of improvement needed, and the neighbourhood work and model was central to the journey and tackling issues better.

 

Members raised questions and comments which included:

 

The Chairperson reminded the Board that this was an opportunity to delve into the impact of serious violence on health, including mental, physical, economic health. It was crucial for  services, including the NHS to work together collectively on solutions to problems where possible. The partnership work undertaken by the Chatham Community Forum, Councillors and the Police on its ambassador work over the summer was commended for its impact.

 

Licensing – it was commented that the focus on the high street was appropriate and that more information was needed on the work undertaken in partnership with Licensing, in particular due to the issues experienced with nighttime economy. It was asked what more could be done by the Licensing Team to support addressing issues. The Board was informed that there was joined up work with the Council, the Licensing Team was a central function based outside of Kent Polce. They were strong in terms of enforcement and had clear direct targets and objects which operated within the Law.

 

Tackling issues - it was commented that there was a spotlight on Chatham high street as a hot spot of incidence, some with service users of organisations like the Forward Trust being given dispersal orders. Moving forward it was asked what the long term plan was for those people’s needs in terms of medical, housing and social care support. The Board was informed that paramount to addressing issues was a partnership approach. The focus was on exploration of means to support people into areas of recovery, this was the approach and management plan for Chatham and surrounding areas.

 

The Service Manager from the Forward Trust provided assurance that partnership working and relationships were being built, and they were hopeful that this would continue.

 

Drugs - in response to a question on whether the perception of Chatham as a drug traffic hot spot was accurate and if the work being undertaken in targeting of specific areas at specific times would improve issues, it was acknowledged that there was a challenge in relation to drug use and offences in Chatham. Addressing issues had to be on a partnership basis and the Police would continue to engage and deal with issues presented. There was a strong commitment and confidence in the approach to tackling serious violence through various methods. This issue would be explored further at the upcoming Combating Drugs Partnership Annual Conference on 8th October 2025.

 

Young people - it was asked what was being done to identify people from a young age who may be at risk of offending or being exploited. The Service Manager, Youth Justice said that this was a continuous area of focus across the Violence Reduction Network. There were many risk factors for young people and identification, intervention and support was key. There was ongoing targeted work in communities, underpinned by sharing of information and joined up work with services, such as Children’s Social Care and the Child Centred Policing Team.

 

Benchmarking – in response to a question on benchmarking against other authorities, the Board was informed that there were different priorities across authorities with each having their own individual targeted way of working as peoples experience of crime was different. An action would be taken away to explore this in detail.

 

Decision:

 

The Board noted the report.

 

Killed and Seriously Injured Casualties on Roads

 

Discussion:

 

The Board received a presentation on killed and serious road traffic collisions in Medway and was informed of the following:

 

·        This was a Kent and Medway Road Safety Partnership and Kent Police lead on enforcement.

 

·        Any fatality on roads had severe impacts on families and communities. The collective approach of partnership would continue to prevent fatalities and seriously injured from road accidents.

 

·        Medway was densely populated, with many old roads. The composition of Medway roads when analysing the data and when comparing, to other boroughs like Lancashire must be considered in context. For example, Medway had approximately 5 miles of motorway within its district compared to its peer borough Lancashire which had 167miles  of motorway running through it.

 

·        Medway was above national average with road incidents involving those aged 16-24 and 60 plus and these were areas of priority for the Police. Operation spotlight which ran from 22 September - 5 October, was a national operation targeting young drivers. 80% of drivers of fatal road accidents were males and there would be targeted enforcement for that cohort. As part of the operation there would be education through schools as well as visits to known locations that young drivers frequent. In the 60 plus cohort, there was a need for improvement on the ‘751s’ which is the ability to request an eye test. There were powers in place to instruct anyone over 60 that had been involved in a road accident to undertake a roadside eye test, but improvements were still required in this area to identify those that should not be on the road.

 

·        Many incidences involved cars but increasingly motorcycles were involved.

 

·        The local policing team targeted specific areas daily, including individuals known to be using the roads without insurance or an MOT.

 

·        Heavy investment had been made into neighbourhood policing, with an aspiration to increase the speed watch programme.

 

Members made the following comments and raised questions:

 

E-Bikes - it was commented that there had been a rise in the use of e- bikes, trikes, and unlicensed vehicles on the roads behaving dangerously, including playing dangerous games in traffic, obscuring faces with masks,  and concealing number plates. The Board was informed that this was an area of priority for the policing team who were aware of these incidences. Neighbourhood officers continued to target this behaviour, with operations taking place monthly. Any vehicles involved were seized and individuals prosecuted.

 

Additionally, it was asked to what extent technology was used to empower the public to report incidences, and how it could aid people to provide information that would enable the police to build on hot spots and areas where incidences took place . The Board was informed that there was increased access to a website that enabled the community to upload pictures. There was however more to be done to enable the ability to provide a pin of an incident location. There was also the need to educate people on the legalities of the use of e-bikes, safety of quad bikes and other unlicenced vehicles.

 

CCTV - it was asked if the Council CCTV unit which was run in partnership with Kyndi was utilised as it was vital that this provision was accessed when necessary. The Board was informed that there was a good relationship  between the Police and the CSP team, and they met regularly to be briefed on the working statuses of CCTV across Medway. It was however acknowledged that the technology in place could be better utilised as it was important to also take on board learning from other parts of the country. There was also a possibility of exploration, increased and better use of portable cameras.

 

Policing had changed over the years and there had been a reduction in the amount of time available to proactively stop and manage issues with nuisance or dangerous drivers. The challenge going forward was how to work smarter despite challenges and use technology to support the work and enforcement on serious matters through the ability to track offenders.

 

The Community Safety Team was commended for their innovative and fresh ideas to tackling issues and the way technology could be deployed to support the work being undertaken.

 

Car seats - it was commented that there had historically been issues with the low usage of child car seats and through extensive education undertaken through schools and voluntary sector organisations there had been improvements. There was however still a concern, and it was asked what was being done to continue to raise awareness. The Board was informed that this was an area for the Neighbourhood Policing and Child Centred Policing Team to explore through engagement with schools to continue to raise awareness and report concerns. It was suggested that this was an area that the Board could support with.

 

Policing in schools - the neighbourhood policing model was commended for its visibility; it was however felt that there had been a withdrawal of policing teams from schools. The Board was informed that this was a priority for the Child Centred Policing Team; to stay involved in schools but the offer had changed slightly in terms of officers being based permanently in schools but there would be continued visibility in schools where possible.

 

Highways – in response to a questions on the robustness and collaboration with the Highways Team, including the work being undertaken on active travel to reduce the number of cars on the road, the Board was informed that the Highways Team was part of the strategic partnership.

 

Drug and Alcohol - people being arrested on drug and alcohol driving offences appeared to be on the increase and it was asked what mechanisms were in place for educating people arrested and connecting them with the appropriate support. The Board was informed that there was an increased focus on education and support for this cohort.

 

It was further commented that as part of joint work through the combating drugs partnership, there was a need for increased focus and work with young people, working together on addressing issues of use of illegal and casual  drug use which was on the rise.

 

Decision:

 

The Board noted the report.