The Mayor welcomed Roger Hirst the Police Fire & Crime Commissioner, Darren Horsman, Strategic Head of Policy and Public Engagement, and Mark Barber the District Commander to the meeting and asked they deliver their presentation which would then be followed by questions from members. Roger Hirst updated members on the following:

·         Crime Trends – Theft, Burglary, ASB and All Crime - Figures for anti-social behaviour had increased through lockdown with the impact of social distancing, engaging with residents and explaining how Government guidelines were being broken and to encourage behaviour. Figures continued to decline, but not where we want to be with lots to do to get crime down, knowing what to do and how this was working.

·         Crime Trends – Domestic Abuse and Injury and All Crime – Levels had been down during the pandemic which may have been due to it being harder to report when in a domestic environment and this had been confirmed by charities who offered support. Violence with Injury, drug related, were at unacceptable levels and this issue would be given a big focus and support from the Government.

·         Current Landscape of Crime – Thurrock’s crimes were up and down and were having the same issues in Thurrock that were similar across Essex and would be taking the same approach.

·         2021-2024 Police and Crime Plan – Highlighted the 12 policing key priorities to get crime down.

·         200 more Police Officers taking total growth since 2016 to 900 officers and this had been strongest it had ever been with more Police on the streets, dealing with crime prevention in hot spots following the sharing of information and partnership working.

·         Safer Streets – Launched by Government to make streets safer. In June 2021, Essex Police Fire & Crime Commissioner and Thurrock Council had been awarded £432k in funding and an additional match funding of £193K totalling £625k.

·         Violence and Vulnerability – Working in partnership to reduce the volume of serious violence across the county, focusing on tackling gangs, county lines and exploitation. 

·         Thurrock Police Operational Activity – Off road motorbikes remained the number one anti-social hot spot in Thurrock. Referred to road policing operations which included cruisers.

·         Ports and IOC – Tackling modern slavery, human trafficking and organised immigration crime continued to be a priority in the police and crime plan.

·         Police Community and Visibility – Committed to invest even more in community and neighbourhood policing to get crime down.

The full PowerPoint can be found on-line from the following link:

https://democracy.thurrock.gov.uk/documents/b18593/Item 10 - Police Fire Crime Commissioner Presentation 26th-Jan-2022 19.00 Council.pdf?T=9

Members raised the following questions:

Councillor Ralph: Questioned how the Police were engaging with those using e-scooters to deliver drugs in Corringham town centre. Mark Barber stated the Town Centre teams around Corringham and Grays town centres had been briefed on the zero tolerance policy on e-scooters and had the enforcement to take e-scooters away for those undertaking a crime. It was the Town Centre teams that were the front facing officers who would respond quicker in town centres but if this was felt this was not being addressed he would be happy to have a conversation outside the meeting.

Councillor Jefferies: Referred to the two push bikes which had been delivered to the South Ockendon Police Station in 2019 from the Council. Councillor Jefferies raised this point at January 2021 Council but still the bikes were not being used and asked for reassurance they would be out on the streets in the near future. Roger Hirst apologised and would follow up.

Councillor Pothecary: Referred to the stats on violent crime and questioned were these still ticking up and what the next steps would be to tackle those crimes. Roger Hirst stated this unfortunately was still ticking up and they were not yet ahead of violent crime. There had been successes in terms of drug and knives being taken off the street and there were domestic abuse solving teams picking up on victims and perpetrators.

Councillor Muldowney: Referred to the issue of off road motor bikes in Chadwell St Mary and questioned what the plan of action was to address this issue. Roger Hirst stated there was a plan and involved closer working with Councillors through the community safety partnership and had signed off his share of investments that would help to improve the situation. Mark Barber stated Chadwell St Mary had been recognised as one of the five hot spots. An action plan was in place for each of the five areas and highlighted some were more difficult to hard target than others. Mark Barber stated the Task and Finish Group was in place, the action for each area was in place and the Community Police Teams number one priority was around anti-social behaviour specifically around off road motor bikes through Operation Caesar to help tackle and the joint investment would help.

Councillor Gledhill: Thanked Roger Hirst for the joint work undertaken last year to help reduce fly tipping and the illegal transport of waste and questioned whether these, going forward, those joint operations would still continue to which Mark Barber stated yes absolutely and would be more than happy to have further conversations with Councillor Gledhill.

Councillor Collins: Referred to the “whose controlling your child” section on the 2021- 2024 Police and Crime Plan and questioned who they were targeting. Roger Hirst stated this was about the exploitation of young people by drug gangs intended to help parents, carers and teachers to enable them to spot signs of young people at risk, who were being groomed. This was predominately around sexual exploitation but mainly drug violence was the bigger issue and there were some good training and education programmes in place.

Councillor C Kent: Referred to the 12 policing priorities to get crime down, specifically “Reducing Violence against Women and Girls” and questioned what the Essex Police had learnt from lessons of other Police authorities and what confidence could Roger Hirst give this evening that reports made by women and girls would be taken seriously and in a confidential and helpful manner. Roger Hirst stated this had formed part of this manifesto from last May and in his Police and Crime Plan, he stated this was an important issue and personally condemned violence by men against women and girls. Roger Hirst stated he would hold Essex Police to account to ensure they also did this. Roger Hirst was unable to offer a guarantee that every interface or contact between a woman and girl with Essex Police was going to be as it should be but was aware of the cultural challenges. Not to be complacent there was still a big job by Essex Police to do to help and support women and girls in Essex to feel safer and to have the confidence to report.

Councillor Spillman: Questioned the best example of partnership working in Thurrock and what areas were being looking at to develop in the short and medium term to improve this, to which Mark Barber stated anti-social behaviour focused on issues reported by local residents and local Policing and the successful partnership around anti-social behaviour, target hardening and the work undertaken in a short amount of time. In the last nine months there had been a reduction in anti-social behaviour. The partnership was good and strong around organised immigration crime but would like to see this grow, continue and widen across the force.

Councillor J Kent asked for this item to be extended so further questions could be heard.

The Mayor thanked Roger Hirst, Darren Horsman and Mark Barber for their time this evening.

Roger Hirst, Darren Horsman and Mark Barber left the meeting at 7.40pm.