Agenda item

Considered – A presentation from the Head of Community Safety and CCTV, providing an update on progress against the NYCSP priority of tackling hate crime, and an update on the work of the Community Safety Hubs which included data on a number of specific crime types.

Odette Robson, Head of Community Safety confirmed the operational work of the Hubs was not within the remit of the committee, as they reported to the Area Constituency Committees, which was why the Committee did not usually receive data on specific crime types across the county within their bi-annual CSP Delivery & Partnerships Working update. 

The Chair suggested the Committee should encourage the Area Committees to request biannual crime data updates to ensure Members were aware of the ongoing issues within their divisions and the steps being taken to address them.  In response it was confirmed:

·          Those committees were already receiving bi-annual community safety updates from the Community Safety Hubs and that operational statistics could be included in those going forward.

·          There was often peaks and troughs in the crime data as a result of seasonal trends. 

·          Hate crime was often linked to the night time economy

·          Police officers were often subjected to hate crime

In response to Members questions, Odette Robson and Fiona Wyllie, Chief Superintendent for North Yorkshire Police confirmed:

·          Key elements to tackling hate crime were community engagement, and working with schools and North Yorkshire Youth Groups – online hate was often reported by school leaders.  The importance of early education was stressed, and the work of school liaison officers was noted

·          Early intervention and prevention were a key focus of the Joint Coordination Group, as detailed on slide 11

·          One of the challenges was mis-information. It was noted that the media often delivered incorrect/inflammatory information. Issuing joint NYC and NYP communications was helpful to ensure the right messages were going out, helping to deflate situations.

·          Tackling anti-social behaviour provided key intelligence on other more serious organised crime. 

·          The clean-up of graffiti was sometimes delayed to enable intelligence gathering

·          The Hate Crime team consisted of a sergeant and PC who coordinated work out in to the area teams.  The team oversaw all reported hate crime incidents and liaised with victims

·          Tackling anti-social behaviour hotspots – there had been notable success in Harrogate with a significant reduction, delivered through a wider collective approach.

·          There were ongoing initiatives in other areas, with monthly discussions on neighbourhood plans.  The Chair requested information on the ongoing work in his division.

Councillor Subash Sharma stressed the importance of integration and the role of community leaders, recognising integration was different for different groups/communities. Understanding what it might entail for specific communities would provide people who come in from the outside to have a context within which to work.

Odette Robson drew attention to her cycle of 6-monthly committee updates on community safety and requested that the Committee identify an area of focus for her next update.

The Chair agreed to consider this at the next mid cycle briefing, and thanked the officer and Chief Superintendent for their presentation.  

Resolved – That:

i.      The update on tackling hate crime and the work of the Community Safety Hubs be noted.

ii.     Information on the ongoing work in the Ripon Minster & Moorside division be provided to the Chair

iii.    The Area Committees be encouraged to request operational statistics as part of their Community Safety Hubs 6-monthly updates