Hampshire County Council

Cabinet

27 June 2005

Community Safety Service - Progress Report and options for the future

Report of Director of Property, Business and Regulatory

Contact: Tony Langstone x 6619 [email protected]

1 Introduction

1.1 The Cabinet at its meeting on 26^th July 2004 approved the arrangements for implementation of the Community Safety Officers, in four pilot areas across the County. Cabinet requested a report back at the end of the pilot stage of the programme. This report outlines the impact of the Accredited Community Safety Officers (ACSOs) and operational issues arising from their first five months of operation.

1.2 Members will recall that the establishment of the Community Safety Service followed repeated feedback from MORI and other surveys that residents had a perception of crime and a desire to see more visible means of dealing with anti social behaviour.

2. Service review

2.1 The officers are working in four teams, in partnership with the police and district councils, covering the following areas:

· Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council

· Gosport Borough Council

· Havant Borough Council

· New Forest District Council

Thirty six officers have been trained and accredited by the Chief Constable. Since the launch of the County Council scheme the Constabulary have recruited 26 Police Community Support Officers. Close liaison with the police has ensured that the maximum impact has been achieved by both services.

2.2 Early indications from the pilot schemes suggest that the ACSOs make a significant contribution in their communities and have integrated their work well with other agencies in the field. Consideration is now being given to the issues that arise in extending the powers and operational coverage of ACSOs.

2.3 The ACSOs have been operational since early December 2004 and have already worked well in the pilot areas. The Chief Constable wrote to the Leader in February saying,

`Every BCU commander, whose area benefits from the presence

of your ACSOs, was extremely complimentary about the impact

they are having on the quality of life locally. The County Council

deserve great credit for taking this initiative and your ACSOs,

individually and collectively are proving a great asset to the

communities of Hampshire'.

2.4 New Forest District Council and New Milton Town Council were enthusiastic about the scheme and have funded 90% of two more officers. Due to positive impact of the ACSOs in the area, Lymington Town Council has decided not to employ their own warden over the summer.

2.5 Gordon Holdcroft, Chief Executive of Basingstoke and Deane District Council, said,

`The Accredited Community Safety Officers make a valued

contribution in Basingstoke and Deane to the multi-agency

approach to reducing crime and addressing anti social behaviour,

working closely with the Police and the Borough's Community

Wardens almost as part of one larger team. Although the ASCO's

have their own roles and responsibilities, they have established

excellent working relations with the various agencies in the

Borough and I hope that they continue to improve the quality of

life for the local community into the future. The team is a great

asset to the Borough'.

3 Integrated Agency Working

3.1 A key theme across all the areas has been the excellent working relationship established with the police, fire and rescue service, district councils and local agencies. Significantly, their presence and partnership working is bringing agencies together, for the first time in many cases. The ACSOs are representing the authority positively at a grass roots level in a variety of ways. Anecdotal evidence suggests that crime figures have dropped where the officers operate and there are good relations with the public. A study of crime and related activities in the recently published `Profile of Hampshire' suggests that the pilot areas have been chosen wisely.

3.2 The service is much in demand and the number of incidents dealt with has risen each month, increasing from 488 in March to 821 in April. Key themes are:

· youth nuisance and related anti-social behaviour eg under-age drinking.

· untaxed vehicles

· cycling on footpaths in Gosport and Havant

· fly-tipping

· abandoned cars

Gosport is the area of greatest activity overall and the highest for nuisance behaviour. The New Forest has the highest number of alcohol related incidents and is second highest for nuisance behaviour. The statistics from December to April are attached at Appendix 1. These illustrate the activity and range of incidents that ACSO's are involved with.

3.3 It is proposed to use funding from GOSE to extend the use of the CADDIE system to include the ACSOs and appoint a Data Manager to host the system in the department for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight including the Policy and District Councils. It is proposed to operate this system up to the value of the resource available, eg £40,000.

4. Key Themes and Activities

4.1 The ACSOs have regularly seized considerable amounts of alcohol from under-age drinkers. Information on suspect retailers of drink to under 18s is being fed back to Trading Standards and the ACSOs are visiting local off-licences to ensure that they do not sell to underage youths. The local Anti-social Behaviour Co-ordinator is also informed and writes to the parents concerned. The officers have also dealt with various incidents involving drug related crime.

4.2 The officers are assisting with problems of youth nuisance in Gosport and working with the Fire & Rescue Service (FRS) to identify potential arson and fire targets. The ACSOs are also dealing with bullying and intimidation among young people and providing intelligence to other agencies. Notably they have provided evidence of breaches of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBO). Four officers have court appearances pending as witnesses for breaches of ASBOs and a racial abuse case. The officers regularly patrol jointly with the police and local housing officers and have assisted with Crime Reduction Weeks (CREW) in various areas. In Basingstoke they have worked with the police on "Operation Cobra", which produced a marked reduction in car crime. Untaxed cars on some estates are a major issue for residents and the ACSOs have reported many vehicles to the DVLA.

4.3 The officers are now familiar with their local areas and visit residential homes,

school assemblies, youth clubs. An education resource as part of the Citizenship curriculum has been produced to explain the role of the officers and pupils' rights and responsibilities regarding anti-social behaviour. This will be offered to schools to be delivered directly by officers. Engaging with young people is seen as a key part of their role in changing behaviour. They are working with Social Services and the Youth Offending Team, collating information on the activities of vulnerable young people.

4.4 They have also been dealing with fly-tipping, cycling on footpaths, and motorbikes being used in prohibited areas. The ACSOs are working well in partnership with the local community wardens in Basingstoke and generally across the pilot areas with ASBO Co-ordinators and district officers.

4.5 The officers are also linking to the Youth Intensive Surveillance Project (YISP) and are involved with local PRIME groups (Problem Resolving In a Multi-agency Environment). The ACSOs in the New Forest have found that the Waterside and New Milton areas, together with Sway, are the main areas to patrol. The teams have done exceptionally well in the short time they have been on the ground, developing their own networks and partnership contacts while coping with entirely new jobs and all the logistical issues arising from a new service.

5 Fixed Penalties & Anti Social Behaviour

5.1 One of the key issues arising from the pilot areas is the lack of any sanction to deal with anti-social behaviour. The ACSOs only have the authority to take names and addresses and report them to the local Anti-social Behaviour

Co-ordinator who could initiate an ASBOs or Acceptable Behaviour Contracts. The officers currently use negotiation and persuasion but young people are getting to know the limits of their powers.

5.2 Additional powers to issue Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) are available under the Police Reform Act 2002, which gives the power for officers to issue PNDs for behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. However, this requires the permission of the Chief Constable. Similarly, the power to issue a PND for throwing fireworks in a public place is granted at the discretion of the Chief Constable and would be another useful power. PNDs for drinking in a designated public place may be another issue to consider in the future.

5.3 Before granting such powers the Chief Constable needs to consider both the functions carried out by the ACSOs and the views of partners. The responsibility for the prosecution of unpaid or contested PNDs would remain with the force. It is possible to issue PNDs in `slow time' ie issued at a later date rather than immediately, where the identity of the offender is known. This may be safer in many situations. It is understood that currently the police are only issuing PNDs when the offender has been taken into custody. It is proposed to discuss with the Chief Constable extending the powers of ACSOs into these areas.

5.4 The officers were issued with fixed penalty notices (FPNS) in late January and

have issued fifteen so far, mainly for cycling on footpaths, which is a key concern in Gosport. Police policy is to issue fixed penalties only to over 18s, except for specific offences in respect of 16 and 17 year olds. However, this policy is under review as the Home Office is pressing for FPNS to be issued to younger age groups. Research shows that most local authorities issue tickets to young people, some down to 10 year olds. This is a key area for our ACSOs and they are already warning youngsters that they risk getting an FPN to dissuade them from anti-social behaviour.

5.5 It is proposed to issue FPNs to anyone under 18. They would first be given a verbal warning and issued with a `yellow card' to warn them that future

behaviour may result in a £50 fixed penalty being issued. The yellow card would be followed up by a letter to their parents. Juveniles under 16 could be issued with two yellow cards before an FPN. If an FPN is issued to a minor a letter will again be sent to their parents. It is considered that this system would provide a proportionate approach to dealing with young people and prevent potential criticism from parents and the media. The Youth Offending Team and the police have been consulted and appreciate the need for this approach.

6 Ambulance Service

6.1 Hampshire Ambulance Service has asked if the ACSOs could be equipped with automatic defibrillators (ADs) that normally cost £1,600 each but would supply free of charge. The aim is for the officers to respond to anyone with a cardiac arrest if they can get there sooner than the ambulance service. The vans would need to be equipped with tracking devices so that ambulance service control centre could monitor their movements and deploy them when appropriate. The ADs are simple to use but the officers would need 10 hours training and a refresher every six months. Again, the ambulance service are willing to give this training free of charge.

6.2 Providing this service could mean a quicker response to heart attack victims and the potential for life saving interventions for the Hampshire community.

However, it would distract officers from their primary purpose of dealing with anti-social behaviour and would add to their workload and pressures. Staff may also feel that this is not a task that they expected to take on when they joined the service. So far they have only received basic first aid training. There will be the possibility of officers arriving too late and having to deal with a fatality and all the trauma that would involve. While the ambulance service will take legal responsibility when they deploy our officers the onus would fall on the County Council if ACSOs acted on their own initiative. It is not proposed to undertake this service for the time being and to review it at a later date.

7 Public Relations

7.1 The launch of the service was matched by a successful public relations campaign to ensure that the community was aware of the County Council's objectives and the role of the new officers. It seems sensible that as we come to the end of successful pilots that once again we highlight the achievements so far, but in line with corporate objectives of making the community perceive Hampshire to be a safer place, that a short focused campaign is launched in the new few weeks.

8 Success Factors

8.1 The success of the service is in no small part related to the hard work and

application of the officers and also to the other agencies that have supported the service. However, the main objective of the service is to provide a visible presence on the streets to deal with low level anti-social behaviour and provide reassurance to the community. The `snapshot' provided in Appendix 1 illustrates the scale of activity that ACSOs are involved in over a five month period. On the assumption that many of the incidents could have gone unrecorded or not been dealt with at all, then it will be argued that the positive presence that ACSOs have hade in the pilot areas points to further success is attempting to make the community in Hampshire a safer place to live and work.

9 Health and Safety - Telecommunications Equipment & Risk Assessments

9.1 All emergency services are transferring to the Airwaves radio system and this will become the standard across Europe. Airwaves provides a secure, high quality signal with excellent coverage and enables officers to access information remotely and work across services. The Emergency Planning Officer will need to use this system in emergency situations to communicate with other agencies. Airwaves is being rolled out to all police forces and over 100,000 officers are already using it. It would be our preference to migrate the ACSOs onto the same network to have the same benefits. This would have implications for the Council's policy on the erection of masts and telecommunications equipment on Council land.

10 Service Development

10.1 A key issue from the pilot areas is the lack of capacity to provide seven day a week coverage. Officers work a shift pattern which enables every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to be covered but only Monday's - Wednesday's on a fortnightly basis. This covers the times when anti-social behaviour is most likely to occur. Each team member works the same hours to enable the team leader to supervise and control the patrols and ensure adequate back-up is available. This shift pattern was adopted following guidance from the police and partners, and after trialling four different shift patterns.

10.2 The key issues for developing the service outside the pilot areas with current staffing levels are:

· Coping with the increased workload

· Ensuring sufficient officers are available for support and back-up

· Pressure on the team leader to liaise with a wider group of stakeholders

· Increased number of briefing meetings with the police and local agencies

· Officers having adequate local knowledge to assess situations and deal with problem individuals

There is a concern that working over a wider geographical area officers may feel more isolated and vulnerable in stressful situations. This could be overcome if there were sufficient ACSOs in each area to cope with the local demand.

10.3 Alternatively, a mobile unit could be introduced, which would react purely to enforcement issues in other areas. In order to be effective an additional 8 officers would be required at a cost of some £300,000 per annum. An element of mobile working has already been introduced with teams being asked to work in parts of Eastleigh Borough, close to Weston, where there are serious vandalism problems in the County Council's West Wood country park. In addition the Basingstoke team has spent a number of days on Elveham Estate in Hart following requests for assistance. The advantage of a mobile unit would be the flexibility and lower cost than increasing the teams to a size that would give permanent and wide coverage. It also provides the option for District Councils and other agencies to buy in the service for so many days or weeks per year. The main disadvantage is that it will not result in 7 day coverage.

10.4 The service could also be developed by inviting District Councils (together with Town and Parish councils) to contribute say up to 90% of the cost for two ACSOs each, who would then cover their areas. This would fit in with Government plans to give parish councils powers to issue fixed penalty notices. Eastleigh Parish Councils have already approached the service regarding this matter. Lymington and Pennington Town Council are also interested in `extra' hours. However, it should be noted that this is less likely to be supported by districts who are already funding wardens or similar officers eg Basingstoke and Dean, Test Valley and Winchester.

Recommendations

1. That Cabinet note the initial success of the service and the partnership and support of other agencies in the field.

2. That the introduction of a mobile team be reviewed and costed as a potential option for the future.

3. That District, Town and Parish Councils be contacted to establish the level of support to develop the ACSO service through joint funding.

4. That, subject to further discussion with the Chief Constable:

i) fixed penalty notices be issued to under 18's as detailed in paragraph 5.5

ii) the ACSOs be given extended powers to deal with anti-social behaviour as detailed in Section 5.

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Papers:

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works.

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

File Location

None.

Cabinet 270605 Community Safety Service

Appendix 1