St Leonards Safer Neighbourhood Team
Minutes of meeting 13 August 2008

1.EGM – Officer Elections: New officers adopted to the panel
a.Vice Chair – Amanda Austin
b.Secretary – Ben Everitt
2.Minutes of last meeting
a.The minutes were accepted and adopted to the record

3.Thanks
a.Streatham Mums and Streatham Septagon Neighbourhood Watch (NW) thanked the SNT and police for their help on the vice and public order issues

4.Police Update
a.Figures
Burglary was high, but now a significant decrease having caught one of the well known suspects
Robbery down and theft of/from vehicles down

b.Brothels
Norfolk House Road and Gleneldon Road brothels now closed – people responsible for running them are now in prison
This was a joint operation with “clubs and vice” squad

c.Target Hardening
Summer is usually the period when there are the most burglaries occur, however, as per above, burglaries have gone down recently
250 Private Landlord and multi occupier properties identified
Money for target hardening (locks etc) is available

d.Vice – Briefing from C. Ins Neil Edmonds (Strategic Lead for Intel. for Lambeth)
The Vice unit has been disbanded. Some SNT officers around the borough are ex-vice unit
Only three or four wards in Lambeth have a vice problem
The SNT raised concerns that the shift patterns of the SNT did not adequately cover for the absence of the Vice Unit
SNT has requested full resourcing for night time and stressed the importance of CCTV in the area
The SNT has a Section 302 order. This means that resource requirements can be reassessed in three months
Policing vice in the Garrads Road area is a multi-stakeholder operation. The Wandsworth side of the road is in Bedford Ward and the Bec is policed by Parks Police. Mounted Branch have also been involved
The approach is for both Lambeth and Wandsworth to both take out Section 222s. These are like ASBOs in that they prohibit suspects from certain areas. These will be run in conjunction with a diversion programme.
Police need impact statements from residents to support the S222s.
The panel asked the police for an impact statement form to make available
The panel also noted that there are several local environment issues that support vice in the area:
new bus stops in the Garrads Road area provide shelter for working girls
the overgrown woodland and foliage on the Common provides cover for prostitution activity
The police have asked Wandsworth Council to trim the woodland, however this will not be done until autumn
A panel member from Becmead Avenue noted that there has not been a problem with vice at all for the past three years, until the recent increase

e.Update from Inspector Duffy
Licensing issue (and associated ASB) being taken on personally by Inspector Duffy. This is being done in conjunction with both the Licensing Team in the MET and with Lambeth’s Licensing Team
There has been an excellent response to Inspector Duffy’s appeal for statements via e-mail at the last panel meeting
Relevant licensee has been called in to the police station
Whilst no results are yet evident, the panel are pleased with the level of communication the police have established and information they are providing. The panel sought confirmation that the process is being followed by the Police and that a successful result is on track.
Police are also talking to other licensees as part of the Pubwatch scheme
Police have closed the Blue Ice bar down after a recent shooting on the premises
EDOs is currently trading outside its licence

5.Community Outreach Update from Nabil
a.There was a temporary hostel for ‘stage 2’ rehabilitation of sex workers in Killester Avenue. This has now been closed.
b.The panel noted that during the operation of the hostel, there was an increase in prostitution activity in the surrounding area. This has now decreased again since the closure.
c.Further to this, the panel asked the police if they could be more pro-active and pre-empt policing requirements if they had access to this information
d.The Prentis Road alley way issues (loitering, street drinking) have been addressed by regular visits to the area by enforcement officers and will be monitored by the panel for effectiveness
e.The Post Office (upstairs at WH Smith) has been visited by fire officers who are satisfied that the premises is safe and conforms to Safety Regulations with regards to emergency exits, etc., in the event of a fire.

6.Input from the Councillors
a.Cllr Palmer thanked the police for their updates and suggested that there was a problem with the Safer Neighbourhoods Model
b.Cllr Bennett wants to be able to respond to the public that the vice situation is under control and would like to see the police doing more

7.Other Business
a.There have been children playing football in the street and hitting cars on Stanthorpe Road
b.An unofficial Community Centre is active in the area near Potters Pool Hall. Nabil will investigate
c.There was also a report from a panel member of suspicions of a cannabis factory in the area. Police will look into it.
d.The remaining other business will be discussed next time due to time constraints

8.Priorities
a.Police advised that the street drinking priority is almost delivered and may be able to be downgraded at the next meeting
b.This time, there was a vote on the priorities. The results were:
i.ASB/Street Drinking around Streatham Green, St Leonards Church and environs
ii.Burglary
iii.Vice

9.Next Meeting
a.The next meeting will be 15 October and 19:00 in Prentis Road Synagogue