Minutes
1.Welcome and Apologies
Lee welcomed the attendees, including the new faces from Love Streatham, Jason from Streetcare and Chief Inspector Harper, and thanked Moyra from St Leonards Church for the use of the venue.
Apologies were received from:
Nickie Gore
Cllr Brian Palmer
Cllr Roger Geiss
Rosalie Lawlor
Ruth Edwards
2.Minutes of the meeting held on 10.12.08 and matters arising
The minutes to the previous meeting were accepted, signed and adopted. There were no matters arising.
3.Officers Reports
a.Amanda noted the reduction in prostitution activity although there are still some committed offenders that the police are dealing with.
b.Ben noted the increase of litter and dumping in the streets, particularly around the Gleneldon Road/Stanthorpe Road triangle
c.Chairman’s report:
Streatham Forum is looking to re-launch to represent Streatham as an institutional organisation.
There will shortly be a consultation exercise to define the requirements of the proposed Town Centre Manager post. The priority is to be the High Road: to represent businesses; tidy up and relate to other town centres
Zoning plans are progressing. This refers to the ambition to create a cafe bar area in the north of Streatham and a retail area in central Streatham, amongst others.
ACTION – Lee will keep the panel updated and put a link to the plans on the website
Enforcement Exercises have been carried out in the ward. Number plate recognition equipment has been used and an operation to stop load carrying vehicles and check their papers has been conducted.
The Chairman welcomed the improved burglary clear up rate after a meeting with Superintendant Muskar and was pleased to report that the Police now have a tactical plan for dealing with vice in South Lambeth. The South Lambeth Community Policing team also have a new Inspector with John Duffy staying in position as the Lambeth South Command Safer Neighbourhoods Inspector in charge of Streatham and Norwood.
4.Police Update
Introduction to Chief Inspector Harper
Chief Inspector Harper is in charge of Neighbourhood Policing in 14 Wards in Streatham and Brixton.
His focus is on visible policing, particularly around the High Road. Since May 08 there has been a greater focus on co-ordination and integration with other agencies and police teams.
Chief Inspector Harper’s teams are currently working on crime mapping town centre areas. Special Constables will be focussed on town centres. St Leonards Ward is the current priority for the police on vice and burglary.
ACTION – Lee will invite the Chief Inspector to the next town centre forum meeting
Crime Figures (Sgt Miller)
The crime figures from the police are attached in Appendix A
The key message is that burglary is up; robbery is down and vice is down.
Burglary (Sgt Miller and PC Christmas)
Over the Christmas period burglary was a particular problem with multiple occupancy properties again the main target. Hot spots were Conyers, Babington and Riggindale.
The SNT Officers are currently on week one of a three week joint operation with Wandsworth Police. The operation is being conducted by a ‘task force’ which includes plain clothes officers patrolling on foot and in cars.
A burglar has been arrested who lives in the north of the ward. This burglar has given information identifying eight properties in the ward that he has previously burgled. In general, burglaries are on weekdays during working hours (e.g. 07:00 – 18:00).
The police asked if the panel could provide information on hostels and temporary accommodation within the ward that may not be known to the police.
ACTION – ALL to provide any information on hostels and temporary accommodation as appropriate
Vice (Sgt Miller)
On vice, only the really determined offenders are currently out on the streets due to the weather and effective policing. One particular offender, with over 600 previous offences on record is known to police and should be dealt with via a joined-up ASBO issued in partnership with Wandsworth.
The pilot of the section 222s on Josephine Avenue in Brixton has not been particularly successful and would not be appropriate for St Leonards.
Sgt Miller has looked into the Dot Matrix sign, discussed last time, and discovered that it is 10 feet by 10 feet, a size that would be inappropriate for the area. The panel determined to wait until the better weather and then put up sandwich boards instead.
No Cold Calling Zone (Sgt Miller)
The ‘no cold calling zone’ is now ready to roll out signs and information packs. Neighbourhood Watches are encouraged to get involved.
ACTION Amanda, Nickie, Fiona to get in touch with the no cold calling zone administrators
ASB (Sgt Miller)
The Police are still keeping an eye on the ‘unofficial Somali community centre’ near Potters Snooker Hall. Although the frequenters apparently do no t have permission to occupy the property, the Police are have no power to intervene, particularly as the drug they use is legal.
Street Briefing (Sgt Miller)
More dates are planned for street briefings, including one in Wimpy on the High Road.
05/03/2009 - 16:00 - 17:00 - Street Briefing - Junction of Abbotswood road and Hoadly road
06/04/2009 - 19:00 - 20:00 - Street Briefing - Junction of Woodbourne avenue and Steep hill
20/05/2009 - 10:00 - 12:00 - Drop-in Surgery - Wimpy Streatham High Road
20/05/2009 - 14:00 - 16:00 - Drop-in Surgery - Wimpy Streatham High Road
ACTION – Lee to link to dates on the website
Thanks
The panel passed thanks to the SNT Officers for the work other than crime that they do, particularly nursery visits; links to community organisation and care for the elderly.
5.Council Update
Nabil gave an update on his work as Community Safety Officer.
Crime Fighters
A new eye catching Home Office scheme is to be unveiled to the media on 12 February. The theme will be good citizenship and training will be provided.
ACTION – Panel to attempt to contain its excitement until we can learn more about this revolutionary scheme!
Target Hardening
Promised funding from Lambeth Council for target hardening (£50k) has disappeared due to the situation with the Housing Revenue Account. It is hoped that some will be available in the next financial year, although it appears that no commitments have been made.
The police still have to power to report private landlords that do not provide adequate security to the council.
The police have identified 250 properties in the ward that could be at risk and are targeting the 40 most vulnerable.
The Metropolitan Police have decided not to replace the old Crime Prevention Officers, who were trained in giving specific advice on locks and home security. Other officers are not qualified to give this advice. Chief Inspector Harper is now looking to recruit more officers to support the current Crime Prevention Design Adviser, who is swamped by obligations to review new planning applications.
6.Streetcare
Jason Prentis, the Streetcare Neighbourhood Supervisor is responsible for street cleaning for the whole of the borough.
Issues currently under consideration include:
The bins off Fisher Close
which have no door and are being used for drug dealing. The Streetcare team are liaising with the landlord.
The back doors of the Iceland store
Which people are accessing the bins from and causing a nuisance by going through the rubbish
Street drinking debris on Streatham Green
Where the street drinkers throw their cans and bottles into a basement area. The team have installed a bin next to the bench, so that the drinkers do not have to stagger the three metres to the existing bin. It was also suggested that a box could be put in the basement, to collect the debris and make it easier to remove.
Dogs
Dog poo is a problem across the borough. Streetcare has a new officer that has specific responsibility for dog poo. Feedback is vital for this issue and the team have a dog poo map at their base.
Sweepers are supposed to pick up dog mess. Cllr Bennett suggested that perhaps Jason could be interviewed in the local press on the subject.
Bins
The panel noted that sometimes the binmen leave bins in front of resident’s doors or in the middle of their paths which can be a good indicator of who is on holiday to burglars.
Community Freshview
This scheme is being expanded from the deprived wards in the borough. It involves community action on litter picking and graffiti. The Streetcare team provide all the equipment needed such as skips and hi-vis vests.
ACTION – All to provide any suggestions for Community Freshview activities to the Streetcare team
ACTION – Lee to link to Streetcare website and e-mail address on the website.
streetcare@lambeth.gov.uk
0207 926 9000
7.Love Streatham
Chris, Claire and Del gave an introduction to the new Christian faith-based project to build a stronger community within Streatham. The project has three specific outputs:
Street Pastors
This initiative has been active elsewhere for four years and has proved successful in reducing crime figures. It is a partnership between the council and the church and provides a presence on the streets in the evening up to about 03:00.
Social Action
This include initiates such as debt counselling and computer literacy workshops.
Street Cleaning
This includes anti-graffiti and litter picks conducted by young people from the local churches.
The panel thanked the Love Streatham team for their energy and commitment to the community and invited them back to give updates at each meeting. Cllr Bennett suggested that they should contact Leah Levane at the council who previously ran a similar initiative.
8.Any other Business
Lee has revamped the website, which now includes a section on ‘getting things done’ which contains advice on setting up a neighbourhood watch. There will also be a monthly newsletter and update alerts.
9.Priorities discussion
In the light of the above notes, the priorities were discussed and it was agreed that they should be:
i.Vice
ii.Burglary
10.Date of next meeting
The next meeting is to be held on Wednesday 1 April, at 19:00, St Leonards Church.
In addition, the panel also selected the next two dates, so the police could advertise them in their local newsletter, they are:
Wednesday 10 June (which will also be and AGM) at 19:00, St Leonards Church.
Wednesday 5 August, again, at 19:00, St Leonards Church.
