Agenda item

Inspector Mark Khan will introduce the Policing Pledge.

Inspector Mark Khan gave a presentation about the Policing Pledge. 

1.      The Policing Pledge means a lot to the police; its values illustrate why we joined the police service.  It will make them think and concentrate on giving the kind of service the community wants.

2.      It will be a challenge.  In some areas they are doing well, but in some they are still working hard to improve.  They were the first force in the country to get an inspection on the Policing Pledge. It was not rated excellent, but that was not expected.

3.      We want to deliver the aims of the Pledge properly, with no gimmicks.

4.      The local element of the Pledge incorporates the SNT’s local priorities.

5.      The aim is to improve all areas of service delivery, from first contact to follow up. The feedback that is given to each individual is vital. Insp. Khan indicated the resident who had earlier complained about his treatment as a witness at court, and stated that the service he received, without any feedback, was unacceptable. However he did highlight that many witnesses do get an excellent service from the police.

6.      The current feedback is that people like seeing the PCSOs around the local area.

7.      When Insp. Khan joined North Yorkshire Police 73% of the British public had confidence in the police.  Now it is 47%.  In North Yorkshire it is 52%, but the target set by the Home Office for 2012 is 62%.

Residents were given the opportunity to ask questions.

Q:  Why can’t we all have a Policing Pledge card put through the letterbox?

A:  Sgt. Pointon replied by saying that he believed it had been delivered to every house with the last council tax bill.

Many residents said they had not received one, and Zoë Burns and the councillors agreed that they could send them out with the next issue of Your Ward.

Q:  Is the Policing Pledge realistic given the lack of policemen in the area?

A:  It is going to be a challenge, and there are elements with which we will struggle.  It is not a case of solving the problem by getting more staff, as they need to all be knowledgeable enough.  The Pledge gives something to aspire to.

Q:  How many police officers do you have in this ward?

A: The Micklegate Safer Neighbourhood Team consists of the Inspector, the Sergeant, two PCs and eight PCSOs.  There are also always fourteen or fifteen response cops based at Fulford Road on every shift, and they cover the whole city.  There are also Special Constables who work in the ward.

Q:  What percentage of reported crimes are solved?

A:  The figures this morning were that 36.4% of reported crimes detected in York since April this year have been solved.  This figure might seem low, but it is much better than ten years ago.

Q:  How much liaison is there between the council and the police?  If there is an issue, such as graffiti, do I need to report it to both?

A:  In terms of graffiti, there is a tagging database which both the police and the council use to get information together to prosecute offenders.  Last year 160 tag crimes were detected as being produced by just four people.  The council and the police worked together on this.

Cllr Fraser explained that ward planning team meetings are held every month, where the councillors meet with the police and other service providers in Micklegate to talk over problems in the ward.  Graffiti was one of the main discussions at out last ward planning team.  Another big problem we discussed was the litter problems, especially at school lunchtimes and finish times.  The PCSOs do sometimes issue fixed penalty fines, but this can only be done if a parent is present.

The crime detection rate has increased in the last ten years.  Also there has been a nation-wide rise in numbers of police officers and PCSOs have been introduced.

Cllr Gunnell mentioned that regarding litter we have been doing a lot of partnership work with schools.  She emphasised that the councillors do try to work closely together with more than one body. 

Jenny Taylor, one of the magistrates, mentioned that the probation service do a great job in getting rid of graffiti.

Cllr Merrett stated that the main problem was to catch the taggers and encouraged residents not to turn a blind eye to graffiti, and to report it if they see it.  Every year £1000s are wasted on cleaning graffiti.  Last year the councillors did a workshop about the cost of graffiti in a local school to get this message across to young people. 

Cllr Fraser mentioned that the graffiti on a local house outside the venue was spotted by Street Environment officer, Clair Bailey-Lane on the way in to the meeting and she had said she will sort this out.

Q: Can we make the offenders of graffiti clean it off themselves; wouldn’t this be a good punishment?

A: Insp. Khan said that he expected this kind of punishment may begin to occur more often.  There is a pilot scheme similar to this in Scarborough at the moment, which might move across to York.

Insp. Khan finished the presentation by announcing his move to Selby and thanking the team he has worked with in Micklegate for the last two years.

Cllr Gunnell also thanked Insp. Khan on behalf of the ward for his hard and committed work and said that it had been a pleasure to work with him.