The Leader began his statement by describing the recent successes that the Council and Essex Police had seen in tackling anti-social behaviour issues, and felt good results were being seen across the borough, which were having a good impact on people’s lives. He elaborated that Essex Police had recently imprisoned the leader of the C17 gang for nineteen weeks for making a drill video, which would be made available to the public shortly, with an explanation on drill videos and the videos meaning. He felt this was a good step as it helped to protect the borough’s young people and would help to ensure they would not get involved in violence and drug dealing.

The Leader also mentioned the work the Environmental Enforcement Officers were doing in collaboration with Essex Police in regards to people discarding nitrous oxide canisters in car parks, and stated that 11 Fixed Penalty Notices had been issued for the offence, each receiving a £400 fine. He added that 10 Fixed Penalty Notices had been issued for littering, and 10 had been issued for public urination. He added that 30 community protection notices had also been issued, with 10 being for the possession of marijuana. The Leader elaborated that one arrest had also been made for operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs, and possession of cocaine and marijuana. He added that 4 community protection notices had been issued for disposing of nitrous oxide canisters in car parks, and 3 had been issued for parking HGVs on the Manorway.

The Leader stated that yesterday officers had joined Essex Police and the Environmental Agency at an illegal waste site in South Ockendon, where a criminal level of waste had been disposed over a long time period. He stated that the Council would not tolerate the illegal disposal of waste in the borough and would take action against the perpetrators. He added that Thurrock Council had pledged £1million for extra police officers in the borough, as well as the extra police officers promised from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner. He stated there were currently 3068 police officers in the borough, which would rise to 3218 by 2020. He added that central government had also promised an extra 20,000 police officers nationally, which would hopefully bring the total number of police officers to over 3,500. The Leader mentioned the new Town Centre Police Teams that had increased the number of police in town centres, such as Grays and Stanford-le-Hope and were making a difference. The Leader then announced that new Town Centre Police Teams would also be launched in Purfleet and Tilbury. He commented that the money left over from the £1million for extra police officers, would be used to help police with their special operations, such as Operation Raptor and Operation Caesar.

The Leader then discussed the three incidents that Essex Police had attended in South Ockendon over the weekend, and felt glad to see that they were using their additional stop and search powers under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. He added that the Council made lots of resources available to the police and this would help keep communities safe.

The Leader finished with the Clean It, Cut It, Fill It update and stated that since April 2019 1084 potholes had been filled; 647 fly-tips had been cleared; 1299 tonnes of waste had been cleared; 187 Fixed Penalty Notices for fly-tipping had been issued; and 54 people had been prosecuted for failing to pay fines.