Agenda item

Report of the Director of Neighbourhood Services

Inspector Annie Yates of Nottinghamshire Police, provided a verbal update on crime and policing in the Berridge and Sherwood wards, highlighting the following points:

(a)  Op Graduate was introduced as a result of high levels of burglary in student areas. A review of burglary patterns resulted in an Op Graduate micro-beat in the Forest Fields area, with resources moving according to need. In the weeks running up to Christmas, the micro-beats will continue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, with teams moving around to add a visible presence. There was a significant impact on crime levels as a result of the Op Graduate micro-beats last year.

(b)  November is often a high risk month for acquisitive crime. A proactive team has looked at enforcement options across the whole central locality, with targeted patrols throughout November in areas of concern. There have been good results so far.

(c)  A small micro-beat has been introduced on Sherwood Rise, with some funding also available for greater security in the area.

(d)  There has been an individual loitering and rough sleeping in the New Basford area. He has not committed any offences, but has been approaching people and causing concern. The Police are aware of him and have sought an anti-social behaviour order. The Police are working with Framework and Outreach to try and offer help, but the individual is not cooperative.

(e)  Three arrests have been made in connection to "throwovers" at Nottingham prison. The Police have been working with the prison to improve cameras and netting, and with the housing patch manager to tackle problem households.

(f)  There has been a spike in household burglaries in Sherwood, particularly Sherwood Rise. An arrest has been made and the problem seems to have stopped.

(g)  Funding is now available for a car for community safety. The car will be available for use by the community for speed-watch related activities.

Following questions and comments from the Committee, further information was provided:

(h)  Whilst there has been an improvement in levels of anti-social behaviour and cleanliness, there are some levels of concern for crime, with a significant increase on previous years. There has, however, been an increase of all crime across all beats in the City.

John Marsh, Central Locality Manager, then provided updates on other areas of performance to the Committee, highlighting the following points:

(i)  Cleanliness levels across both wards have been maintained, with a trend for graffiti decreasing, particularly in Berridge. All graffiti incidents have been removed within 48 hours of reporting.

(j)  There has been a large decrease in levels of fly-tipping. Earlier in the year there were over 100 incidents per month. In October there were fewer than 50 incidents.

(k)  Work is being done with the local Roma community. Strong links have already been established with community leaders through the Roma Working Group. A community event was held, with over 250 attendees. Training has also been provided for frontline workers, and knowledge shared with Derby Council. The possibility of setting up a Roma Community Group across Nottingham is currently being explored.

(l)  A recent Fire Service survey revealed there are some significant risks within the Roma community, and some education work is required for fire prevention. The Fire Service is currently investigating producing a fire safety car, using symbols.

RESOLVED to note the information and thank Inspector Annie Yates and John Marsh for the update.