Rt Hon Jane Kennedy, Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside will be in attendance.
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed Jane Kennedy, Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside and who had attended the meeting, to give information on her role and discuss issues of local concern with residents.
The Chair also introduced Councilllor Trish Hardy, Cabinet Member, Communities and Environment (Community Safety Lead for Sefton).
Mrs Kennedy reported that following her election in November 2012 she had worked towards the development of a draft Police and Crime Plan, 2013 to 2017. The plan outlined her policing priorities for Merseyside which the Chief Constable would be responsible for delivering.
In determining priorities within the plan she had listened to the views that the public had expressed through engagement events and feedback questionnaires and had also spoken to partner agencies, such as community safety partnerships and the Criminal Justice Board, as well as considering the professional judgement of the Chief Constable.
Also in developing the Plan there was a statutory responsibility to have regard for the national Strategic Policing Requirement, which demanded a readiness to be able to respond to national threats from serious organised crime and terrorism. After giving careful consideration to all of the above, she had identified the following priorities within the plan:
(i) Reducing crime and anti-social behaviour;
(ii) Neighbourhood policing;
(iii) Tackling serious and organised crime;
(iv) Maintaining public safety;
(v) Hate crime; and
(vi) Victims of Crime.
Mrs Kennedy went on to take questions from local residents in attendance and the following issues were raised:-
· Concerns reagrding serious crime in the area, particularly gun crime;
· Drugs related crimes;
· The use of covert operations to detect drugs related crime;
· Educating school children to the dangers of drug use;
· Cannabis farms;
· Cannabis use leading to further and more serious drug use;
· Gangs of young people causing fear in shopping centres;
· The levels of policing in the Maghull area;
· “visible” policing as a deterrent to crime;
· The hours of operation of Maghull Police Station;
· Many residents in the area felt that the level of crime had increased significantly, particularly over the last few years;
· Issues around licenced premises;
· issues around the sentencing of offenders;
· Cross border issues with adjioning local authority areas;
· Residents identified a number of particular locations where they believed criminal activity regularly took place;
· The provsion of activities for young people;
· The lack of jobs in the area for young people;
Mrs Kennedy responed to the issues raised, referring in particular to action being taken in respect of recent gun crime in the area and cannabis farms. She also indicated that in conjunction with Sefton Council arrangements had been made to give the Police instant access to Sefton Council’s CCTV camers which would assist in detecting crime in the area.
Mrs Kennedy referred to an initiative involving a play “The Terriers” which was an invaluable tool in making children and young people aware of issues around gangs, drugs and violence. The play was available to schools and other organisations.
She also gave details of ongoing work with partner organisations in an effort to address criminal activity within the area.
The Chair thanked Mrs Kennedy for her attendance at the meeting and she indicated that she would be happy to return at a future date to gauge residents’ views on how successful the priorities within the Police and Crime Plan had been in reducing crime in the area.
RESOLVED:
That Jane Kennedy, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside be thanked for her attendance and presentation at the meeting.