To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2019.

The minutes of 14 June 2019 were approved subject to below amendment -

Councillor Derrick requested to include on page 3 Misrepresentation in public consultation leaflet and add to minutes regarding lack of transparency about the precept.

Proposed: Councillor Batters (Chair)

Seconded: Councillor Hackett

Members will be asked to make any declaration of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest made by Members in accordance with the code of conduct.

To receive questions from (and provide answers to) members of the public that are relevant to the panel’s functions.

Questions should be no longer than 100 words and sent to Democratic Support, Plymouth City Council, Floor 3, Ballard House, West Hoe Road, Plymouth, PL1 3BJ or democratic.support@plymouth.gov.uk

Questions must be received at least 5 complete working days before the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive an overview of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s assessment of current performance against the strategic indicators for the Police and Crime Plan 2017-2020.

Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime and Commissioner, introduced the report -

(a)      The report provided an overview for the Police and Crime Panel of the OPCC’s assessment of current performance against the strategic indicators for the Police and Crime Plan 2017- 2020 ‘Safe, resilient and connected communities’.

(b)     The current reporting arrangements in place for the Police and Crime Panel were based on the strategic indicators set out in the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan “Safe, Resilient and Connected Communities”. A narrative commentary was included below for each of the measures. The purpose of this is to provide narrative to support the infographic and the necessary interpretation required to explain the OPCC’s judgement.

(c)      The OPCC’s assessment of performance to-date against the headline strategic indicators for the performance year ended 31st July 2018 show most indicators at Green – ‘Content’. This is the latest data for all indicators that are available unless stated otherwise. The infographic for September 2019 is included at Annex 1.

(d)  Four indicators had been graded as amber (requires additional scrutiny):

·        Public Confidence: % of the public who say the police are doing a good/excellent job;

·        Public Confidence: % of the public that have confidence in the police;

·        Repeat Victimisation: % of victims who are repeat victims of crime within a 12 month period;

·        101: non- emergency calls waiting longer than 10 minutes.

(a)  Repeat Victimisation In the 12 months to 31st July 2019 a quarter of victims (both people and organisations) of crime had also reported at least one offence in the previous 12 months. This figure of 25% was unchanged from the performance level reported to the June 2019 Panel meeting.

(b)  101 non-emergency calls and waiting times was the biggest challenge through summer period due to additional tourists. At the moment the PCC was to submitted summer policing bid to help the government understand challenges in Devon and Cornwall.

(c)  Informed members of the ‘Call the Cops’ TV programme which focused on local policing issues.

(d)  Had done something different with 101, when ring it you get an IVR (interactive voice recognition) which had helped the calls to get to the right places quicker;

The Panel discussed -

·        Cllr Derrick raised concerns about the misrepresentations provided to the public regarding the precept proposals;

·        what could be done to encourage the supermarket stores to step-up their security and take responsibility for what was happening locally;

·        what was being done regarding street drinking and drug taking, the Council was clearing up the debris but the Police haven’t tackled the problem;

·        the increases in domestic violence which had been increased by 5% and what was being done to tackle this;

·        Raised concerns about the consultations and the visibility of Police officers;

·        whether the Commissioner was satisfied with 8,000 emails not being answered through 101;

·        whether the Commissioner was confident recruiting to the current targets by 2020  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95.

To review matters arising and progress made since the last Panel meeting in June 2019.

Alison Hernandez (Police and Crime Commissioner) presented this report –

(a)  The impact of tourism on our policing service was an issue that is recognised by the Police and Crime Panel and was one of the reasons that the Commissioner continued to argue for a new, better funding formula for policing that reflected the impact of tourism as well as our resident population.

(b)  Numbers second only to London, at around 45 million nights per year, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly see significant increases from April to September in levels of recorded crime and in calls for service in areas such as missing persons and road traffic accidents. This level of tourism was equivalent to a base population increase throughout the whole year of 7% of who needed to be protected and police with no extra funding. Our recorded crime increased in the summer period and were the highest of any police force, and affected all areas of our geography as demonstrated by the presentation to the Panel at meeting in June 2019.

(c)  The Commissioner was expected to submit the application by the end of September and will keep the Board informed on progress. Panel members were invited to work with the Commissioner and her office to drive forward the campaign in this area and to join the Commissioner when she travels to Westminster to submit the application.

(d)  Progress had been made over the past two months on the establishment of a centralised solution for mobile CCTV. The OPCC had worked with Cornwall Council to jointly fund the purchase of 4 mobile CCTV units which are available for deployment across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

(e)  Operation of these units was being managed by Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service who were able to view recordings remotely through the 4G network.

(f)   The OPCC and Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service were finalising arrangements for requests for deployment, in consultation with partner organisations and they will be communicated to local authorities and councillors in October 2019.

(g)  On 12 July 2019 the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Out of Court Disposals Scrutiny Panel met. The panel was comprised of specialists from a range of organisations including Youth Offending Teams, Her Majesty’s Magistrates’ Service, the Crown Prosecution Service and Devon and Cornwall Police.An Out of Court Disposal (OoCD) was a way of dealing with a crime without it having to go to court.

(h)  At the panel’s meeting on 12 July 2019, 15 cases were scrutinised (adult and youth cases) all of which related to stalking and harassment. The panel was assured that all 15 cases demonstratedthat Devon and Cornwall Police had issued each disposal legally and in accordance with relevantpolices, and highlighted 4 cases as best practice.

(i)   Devon and Cornwall Police began accepting film footage from the public of potential driving offences on 15th July. The facility, known as Op Snap, allowed the public to upload dash cam footage to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96.

To receive an update on complaints received and handled up to 13 June 2019.

Fran Hughes (Chief Executive) presented the report to the Panel –

(a)  Two formal complaints against the Police and Crime Commissioner were received in the last period (15th May 2019 - 13th August 2019).

(b)  The first complaint, a scoping exercise was undertaken by the Chief Executive and recommendations were sent to the Chair of the Police and Crime Panel for handling the complaint, which were accepted. The complainant was written to and the complaint is now finalised.

(c)  The second complaint was sent to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner via the Police and Crime Panel. The Chief Executive is currently looking into the complainant’s concerns and will be making recommendations to the Chair of the panel in due course.

The Panel noted the Non-Criminal Complaints against the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Proposed: Councillor Toms

Seconded: Councillor Derrick

To receive an update following the announcement by Government of additional policing resources.

Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner, presented this item to the Panel -

(a)  Since the investment of 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years was announced at the end of July, work had commenced both locally and nationally to prepare for this significant upscale in officer numbers. The new National Policing;

(b)  Board met at the start of August and had made this their number one focus;

The main aspects of the uplift that were known were as follows:

·        20,000 warranted officers uplift for England and Wales was announced by the new Prime Minister;

·        Additional officers would be recruited over a three year period to March 2023;

·        The phased implementation was proposed to be 6,000, 8,000 and then 6,000 officers over the respective years. It was likely that the first year of the uplift will cover September 2019 to March 2021 with additional officers being recruited in this financial year;

·        A new National Police Board chaired by the Home Secretary had been set up to oversee the uplift. Representatives of both the Association of PCCs (APCC) and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) were members of the new board. The APCC was represented by its Chair, PCC Katy Bourne. Work was being undertaken by the NPCC to assess the full cost of the uplift and the support requirements necessary to achieve it and all police forces were working on recruitment plans to achieve the uplift;

·        The distribution of the additional 20,000 police officers had not yet been decided and will ultimately be a matter for Ministers to determine;

·        The Commissioner was in no doubt that our communities will expect this investment to deliver tangible and visible increases in policing presence locally. The Commissioner was lobbying with our MPs to make the strongest possible case for allocation of these resources in a way that brings maximum benefit to the communities of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The Panel discussed –

·        whether there would be any halt on PCSO or estate rationalisation;

·        what the specific ask was when lobbying Government and how our Leaders could help;

ACTION- the Commissioner to share what the OPPC had done with MPs with Council Leaders.

The Panel noted the PCC update on National Police Officer Investment –

Proposed: Councillor Doggett

Seconded: Councillor Hackett

To receive a briefing on digital policing and the use of technology.

Alison Hernandez (Police and Crime Commissioner) introduced this report to the Panel -

(a)  There were 17 national programmes co-ordinating and delivering additional capability that will be available across all Police Forces. These were set to enable all

(b)  Forces to work towards the National Policing 2025 Vision, which included a focus on digital policing and better use of technology.

(c)  Initial funding for these programmes had been enabled through national bodies, including the Police Transformation Fund, although each Force had to fund its own delivery and ongoing support costs through their local budgets. Programmes included -

(d)  Emergency Services Network (ESN): The ESN capability was a national replacement to the Airwave system, upgrading handsets (so they would become a capability more than a radio akin to a mobile device with potential to have applications on them and be able to utilise a wider network (4G/5G etc.) this would improve the deployment of officers.

(e)  Digital Public Contact; The national programme was delivering a capability for the public to interact with the police service online. This reform would mean websites would be consistent across each Force, alongside increasing the ability to receive and interact online, for people would be able to report a crime / incident, and webchat,

(f)   Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR); The programme was developing the ANPR capability for all Forces rather than each developing separately.

(g)  Biometrics: The national programme provided access via mobile devices to enable officers to check at a scene fingerprints via the national data base

(h)  Digital First: The programme was in the initial phases allowing digital evidence transfer from police systems into the CPS and other organisations.

(i)   Office 365: The Microsoft suite of products included around 28 additional capabilities that could be used to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

(j)   Body Worn Video: Over the past year the successful roll out of body worn video had been enabled, allowing recording of police actions at point of public interaction.

(k)  Op Snap: this initiative allowed the public to upload dashcam footage of suspected road traffic offences.

Dr Richard Bullock (Head of Alliance Business Change) handed out some police technology for Panel to look at.

The Panel discussed -

·        Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service were promoting a phone app called What Three Words to help pin point locations down to 3 metres;

·        how long would videos captured via Digital Public Contact, Body Worn video and Op Snap be stored for;

·        whether it was possible to track peoples locations through their mobile phones.

The Panel noted the update report on digital technology in policing -

Proposed: Councillor Jarvis

Seconded: Councillor Hackett

The Panel noted the Work Programme and agreed to -

Receive an update on numbers in Devon and Cornwall and Isle of Scilly resulting in charges, summons and conviction;

To bring forward Forensic Sciences (Deep Dive) to the 31 January 2020 meeting;

Schedule an additional meeting in the spring, it was agreed to make use of the February meeting if not needed for a precept meeting.