Agenda item

POLICING PRESENCE IN NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME TOWN CENTRE

At the previous meeting the Committee considered a presentation from the BID Manager (Business Improvement District).  The BID Manager explained that an issue raised by local businesses concerned policing in the town centre.  The Committee requested the Police Commander attend the meeting to discuss police presence in relation to the town centre economy.   

Minutes:

A presentation was given by Staffordshire Police regarding policing presence in the town centre.  This had been brought to Scrutiny following concerns raised at the previous meeting about footfall being compromised due to issues within the town centre and the lack of police presence during the daytime / weekend.

 

In terms of policing around the town centre it had been acknowledged that there had been an increase in crime incidents and anti-social behaviour. 

 

Newcastle, at present, had neighbourhood teams based here with three shifts covering from 8am until midnight, with the Safer Nights programme on a Friday and Saturday night running until 3am.

 

There were currently 4 police constables dedicated to the town centre, split across the shifts 2:1:1 with each shift having a dedicated PCSO.

 

Being based at Castle House was advantageous as it created a good working relationship with the Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Team and the Rough Sleeping Team.

 

In the last few weeks there had been a drive to increase police presence, not only in terms of physical presence but also so that local businesses and users of the town would know what was going on from a policing point of view through the Smart Alert System.

 

In terms of where policing would be moving into the future, from 27 June, Staffordshire Police would be moving from a response hub model.  Currently, officers servicing 999 calls were based out of Hanley and travelled to Newcastle at the commencement of their shift.  From 27 June, seventy officers would be based at Newcastle – split across five shifts.  At present, officers on the response teams rotated around areas to north of Staffordshire.  With this transformation model, officers based at Newcastle would work in Newcastle, therefore increasing their local knowledge.  The ability to respond to immediate incidents such as public order issues would be increased.

 

The Police were in communication with the Council around how CPNW and CPN’s were processed in terms of breaches.

 

The Chair referred to there being more police presence in Castle House and asked if this meant more police hours physically on the streets. 

 

By having local response officers, it was hoped that local response officers would know what problems were occurring in Newcastle.  The reduction in response time would put less onto the neighbourhood officers who could then concentrate more on the problem solving issues.

 

The timings of the Safer Nights scheme on a Friday and Saturday Nights were requested and also, how many officers were present.

 

With Safer Nights, the PCSO’s went on duty before the PC’s.  The Neighbourhood team went on duty from 5pm and worked through to 3am.  PC’s presence on the town centre was from 10pm.  Under the new model, for the first three to six months, the Safer Nights role would be owned by the night shift which would work a duty of 10pm to 7am.  In terms of numbers, at present the full complement of the neighbourhood shift went on duty, which was around six or seven PC’s.  In addition a carrier would come across from Hanley and would have a similar number on one of the larger police vehicles.

 

Under the new model, the neighbourhood teams would have ownership for early intervention from 8pm to 10.30pm in the town centre.  Officers would be going into the pubs to find out what they had got planned for that evening and engaging with the licensees. From 10.30pm to 5am the response night crew would take over.  Newcastle’s night time economy ended at around 2.30am but officers would remain on duty until at least 3am.

 

A comment was made that for protests such as Walleys Quarry or HS2, the police presence was high but there never seemed to be anyone in the town centre when needed.

 

Walleys Quarry had become very resource intensive for the police so a decision was made that it become a Force response thus putting a command structure in place so it would be overseen by a Chief Constable.  The command structure would fall through the ranks if protests became disruptive and this would relieve some of the pressure on the neighbourhood teams.

 

The review timescale of three to six months was queried.   This was to do with how Safer Nights in Newcastle would be policed by the night shift.

 

The biggest issue in the town centre was ‘rough sitting’ and this needed to be the number one focus.  The Council and Police needed to work together to try and stop it from happening.   In addition, it was queried whether the police were going out to businesses to discuss this issue as premises owners were not making complaints.  It was off-putting for shoppers wanting to go into shops when there was someone sitting outside.

 

The police had limited powers to move them on unless they were breaching the PSPO in place.

 

Members were advised of a link to a survey about the police service.  This link would be forwarded to all Members.

 

Resolved:     That the information be received.

 

Watch the debate here