Inspector Wedgwood to attend to discuss the incidences of shop theft in the area.
Minutes:
The Chair informed Members that Inspector Wedgwood was unavailable, however Chief Inspector Ryan Chapman and Sergeant Lauren McGillivray from North Yorkshire Police were attending remotely to provide Members with an update on shop theft in the area.
The Chief Inspector introduced himself and explained that he was the newly appointed, dedicated, Neighbourhood Police Team Inspector for Selby and York, and the Forces lead officer on retail crime and one of the National Retail Crime lead officers working on the National Retail Crime Plan, which was a joint working initiative with private and public industry looking at ways to address the escalation in retail crime.
The Committee heard that nationally, post Covid, there had been a significant increase in burglary and robbery with an issue around shop lifting and the increased use of violence, particularly in large cities, and a more organised approach to the crime.
The Chief Inspector acknowledged that due to other pressures in the past, the focus of the Police Force had moved away from retail crime, however this had now changed, with all Forces concentrating on retail crime, working together with the major supermarkets, and independent shopkeepers, to ensure that the small business owner was also heard.
Members noted that there were dedicated retail crime officers in place, who dealt specifically with shop lifting and retail crime offences, and where good practice had been identified in other areas, this was cascaded nationally.
The Police Force was concentrating on managing suspects and offenders in the community, rather than the traditional route of the offender receiving a custodial sentence, by attaching Criminal Behaviour Orders; the Order controls the places that the offender can enter, with the aim of breaking the continuous cycle of offending.
The AC heard that all Forces had pledged that when violence was being used as part of a shoplifting offence the Police would attend the scene when they received the emergency call. In addition, the major retailers were being asked to take positive action, particularly where the shop had security personal, to make them pro-active and prevent known offenders from entering the shop; and with the introduction of body worn cameras for evidence collection.
Members asked a number of questions in relation to retailers expected stock losses through shoplifting, if the trigger for Police attendance at an incident, in monetary value, was £200, what the government was putting in place to support the Police Force in reducing retail crime, did the Police work with local community network groups; and finally did shops still have mug shots of persistent offenders to show to new staff members, and ShopWatch two-way radios in the individual shops.
The Chief Inspector confirmed that retailers had a built-in figure in their accounts for expected losses through shoplifting, North Yorkshire Police did not have a minimum value for stolen goods before they attended an incident, and that the Police did collaborate with local network groups. Members noted that the government were currently bringing in a new specific offence around the assault of retail workers. In terms of the ShopWatch radio, the Chief Inspector advised that this was something that the shops had in place in his previous role in Scarborough, and that one of his jobs was to identify a dedicated officer for ShopWatch in Selby.
Sergeant McGillivray advised the AC that during the summer of 2023 the Community Safety Team and the Neighbourhood Policing Team had been in contact with the shops within Selby, to ascertain if the shops still had the radios but unfortunately, they were not running at that moment in time. One of the difficulties was that there was a cost to the individual shop, however, if the radios could be partially funded, one of the response police officers could monitor the radio on a daily basis.
Members reminded the police officers of the Councillor Locality Budget; each Councillor has a budget of £10,000 per year to allow them to respond to local needs by recommending the allocation of small amounts of funding to support specific activities, of which the radio’s could be one of those activities. The Chief Inspector welcomed this information and confirmed that he would look into the process for accessing the Locality Budgets.
Sergeant McGillivray provided an update on prolific offenders in the Selby area and assured Members that they were monitored and that there was a specific local protocol in place to deal with these offenders.
Members queried if there were any plans to improve Police visibility across the area, it was confirmed that neighbourhood policing was a priority and that it was being taken seriously. A neighbourhood policing review looking at the allocation of numbers of Police Constables and Police Community Support Officers was currently underway, with the information due to be presented to the Chief Constable at the end of September 2024.
Finally, discussion took place regarding anti-social behaviour, Members heard that North Yorkshire Council, the Police and other external partners were working together to set up projects and events for the youths, and to provide some dedicated youth provision for the area.
The Chair stated how pleased she was to have a dedicated Chief Inspector in Selby.
Resolved:
That the Committee thanked Chief Inspector Ryan Chapman and Sergeant Lauren McGillivray for their attendance and the detailed information received.