10th July 2003

OWLERTON/SOUTHEY GREEN AREA PANEL


Meeting held 8th May, 2003 at St. Bernards Church Hall, Southey Hill

		PRESENT:			Councillors Mark Wilde (Chair), Joan Barton, James Hanson and Steve Wilson.

					Also in attendance:-
					Marie Oxley	-	Doe Royd TARA
					Mary Philips	-	Doe Royd TARA
					Cllr. Garry Weatherall	-	Norton Ward
					George Sewerin	-	Shirecliffe Forum
					John Crowther	-	50+ Group
					Joan Crowther	-	50+ Group
					John Whiteley	-	Shirecliffe TARA
					Jean Shutt	-	Norwood and Bishopsholme TARA
					Sergeant Mark Simms	-	South Yorkshire Police
					Inspector Bob Pitt	-	South Yorkshire Police
					Janet Bagshaw	-	Binsted and Cookson TARA
					Deborah Nicholson	-	Southey Forum
					Kay Munilum	-	Doe Royd TARA
					Colin Early	-	SOOC and Shirecliffe Forum
					Derek Brooks	-	SOOC and Shirecliffe Forum
					Keith Donston	-	SOOC and Shirecliffe Forum
					Lyn Brandon	-	Community Development Worker, Shirecliffe
					Christine Darby	-	STARA
					Janice Gudgeon	-	Shirecliffe TARA
					Patrick Salmon	-	Parson Cross Forum
					Wendy Young	-	50+ Group/ Elders Congress
					J. Ashmore	-	MAD TARA
					G. R. Gunnee	-	50+Group
					Andrew Stillborn	-	North Sheffield Drug and Alcohol Project

					Officers in Attendance:-
					Una Kelly	-	Housing Services
					Andy Cain	-	Committee Secretariat
					Katie Harrison	-	Communications Service
					Claire Molyneux	-	Area Co-ordinator
					Kieran Williams	-	Area Panel Support Officer
					Andrea Peers	-	Area Panel Support Officer
and 5 members of the public.

............

1.				APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
				Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Tony Damms, Doreen Newton, Tim Rippon and Chris Weldon.

	2.		INTRODUCTION
			Councillor Mark Wilde introduced himself and his fellow Councillors on the Panel and indicated that the theme of the meeting was crime and community safety in the Owlerton/Southey Green Panel area.

	3.		CRIME AND COMMUNITY SAFETY
			Presentation by Lisa Casey, Community Safety Officer
			Lisa Casey indicated that she was a Community Safety Officer for the City Council, based at Ecclesfield Police Station in the Sheffield North Police District, and was a member of a Community Safety Team linked to Sheffield First for Safety, the strategic crime and disorder reduction partnership for the City. Sheffield First for Safety had produced a three-year strategy and had developed four priorities which were to reduce burglary, vehicle crime, violent crime and anti-social behaviour.
			She explained that her role was to assist in setting up multi-agency problem solving groups to address local issues and this involved engaging agencies, community organisations, community groups and local people to develop action plans to address targeted priorities. She reported that the Area Panel had allocated £40,000 in Neighbourhood Renewal Funding towards community safety with £20,000 being used for high visibility police patrols, £15,000 for target hardening of vulnerable properties and £5,000 for the purchase and installation of Tunstall Alarms to vulnerable properties. In addition, funding was being obtained from the Government's Capital Modernisation Fund which was to be targeted towards security at small retail shops in deprived areas. The allocation for the City was £80,000 and a portion of this had been used to purchase and erect security fencing to the rear of the Buchanan Road shops aimed at preventing anti-social behaviour and criminal damage. Future issues included the need to continue to fund the post of a Community Safety Officer, develop further the second year of the strategy and direct future funding towards police operations, target hardening, youth diversion and other issues such as CCTV and abandoned vehicles. A particular initiative in the area was to target bogus officials who were harassing elderly people living in the area.

			Presentation by Sergeant Mark Simms
			Sergeant Mark Simms from Oxspring Bank Police Station gave a presentation regarding policing issues in the Panel area. He indicated that there were currently two police teams for the area, one operating out of the Oxspring Bank Station and one from High Green Station. The Oxspring Bank team was led by Sergeant Simms and he was supported by six Police Constables whilst the High Green team was led by Sergeant Tony Earnshaw who was supported by four constables. Sergeant Simms indicated that there was likely to be a restructuring with effect from October, 2003, which would result in an increase in the number of officers at the two Stations.
			Sergeant Simms gave details of the numbers of burglaries, auto crimes, robberies, assaults and incidents of anti-social behaviour in Shirecliffe, Longley, Parson Cross, Foxhill and Southey Green. In the Sheffield North District there were just over 200 police officers on operational duties, including uniformed and plain clothes officers, with approximately 170 of these being on duty groups or in community teams which equated to around 30 officers on each duty group to cover the whole district at any time and four community teams consisting of one sergeant and six constables who worked a flexible shift system. The district area communications room received an average of 170 incidents per day which were allocated to a duty group and community officers. During the first three months of 2003 1,284 arrests had been made by officers in the district compared to 826 arrests during the period of October to December, 2002.
			Sergeant Simms outlined the area police priorities, which reflected Government and South Yorkshire Police priorities, which were to reduce the levels of violent crime, particularly robbery, by 7%, house burglary by 4%, vehicle crime by 5% and anti-social behaviour by 5%. To achieve these priorities the police undertook daily tasking and co-ordinating action plans to target hotspots, had regular operations and initiatives to target priorities, held district team days/ community team days and monitored the work of their officers through personnel performance indicators which were reviewed every three months. He acknowledged the main concerns for the public were anti-social behaviour, vehicle crime, burglary and criminal damage. To tackle anti-social behaviour amongst young people the police followed a process which commenced with the identification of the individuals responsible and then to obtain their names and addresses which were input onto the youth nuisance database and letters subsequently sent to parents. Since September, 2002 a total of 156 letters had been sent, out of which only 18 had generated further action. If the situation escalated consideration would be given to developing Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and if the parent was a Council tenant this would be done in conjunction with the City Council. The Acceptable Behaviour Contracts were monitored and where disruptive behaviour continued there would be regular case conferences and consideration by an Anti-Social Behaviour Order Panel. For the most serious offenders an Anti-Social Behaviour Order could be imposed. During the last eight months there had been 53 Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, out of which there had been only four significant breaches. There was one Anti-Social Behaviour Order in the district so far although eight were pending court action and were at the Anti-Social Behaviour Panel stage.
			Arising from consideration of the information reported the following questions, comments and responses were noted:-

	Q.		A local resident asked whether Anti-Social Behaviour Orders were more effective against Council tenants.

	A.		Sergeant Mark Simms acknowledged that in the Panel area Anti-Social Behaviour Orders were generally used against Council tenants but that this was not exclusive. Inspector Bob Pitt indicated that Acceptable Behaviour Contracts were proving very successful.

	Q.		Colin Early highlighted the fact that demolition created vulnerable areas and it was important for the City Council to ensure that hedges were not overgrown and street lighting effective.

	A.		Inspector Bob Pitt acknowledged that this type of maintenance was important. He pointed out that crime reduction officers were experts in advising on good design for new housing developments to ensure that the opportunity to commit criminal offences was minimised. Lisa Casey commented that the City Council's Environmental and Stewardship Teams had carried out a great deal of maintenance work in recognition of this problem. Inspector Bob Pitt commented that open spaces were an effective deterrent for criminals as there was natural surveillance by the public.

	Q.		Could action be taken to make the Landfill Site more secure as nearby housing was vulnerable to crime due to it being easily accessible.

	A.		Sergeant Mark Simms noted that there had been some new security fencing erected around parts of the site and Lisa Casey pointed out that some of the properties which backed on to the Site were included in the target hardening initiative.

	Q.		Councillor Joan Barton sought clarification on what target hardening involved.

	A.		Lisa Casey indicated that this involved the purchase and fitting of additional security locks to doors and windows for properties in vulnerable areas and was particularly targeted at people who had been the subject of repeat burglaries.

	Q.		Pat Salmon expressed concerns regarding the crime figures for Parson Cross and asked whether the proposed new structure was going to help the situation, as the number of officers allocated to the area did not seem to match the levels of crime.

	A.		Sergeant Mark Simms acknowledged that the demand was heavy on Parson Cross and as a result more officers had been directed to that area, both uniformed and plain clothes, to tackle crime.

	Q.		Keith Donston, on behalf of Shirecliffe Forum, asked Lisa Casey what work she had undertaken to liase with community groups in the area.

	A.		Lisa Casey indicated that she was a member of the SOAR Board which had links into community groups in Shirecliffe. She also attended the Crime and Community Safety Theme Groups, liasing closely with a representative of Shirecliffe. She noted Keith Donston's invitation to attend a future meeting of the Shirecliffe Forum.

	Q.		A local resident complained that the recently erected fencing around the Buchanan Road shops was an eyesore and asked why no consultation had been undertaken.

	A.		Councillor Mark Wilde asked Una Kelly from Housing Services to investigate this matter and respond directly to the questioner.

	Q.		A local resident highlighted the problem of reporting crime to the Oxspring Bank Station as this did not have an answer machine that took messages and asked what action was being taken to alleviate this problem.

	A.		Sergeant Mark Simms indicated that this had been a temporary problem due to officers being moved to "Operation Impact" which meant that there had been no police officers at Oxspring Bank who could deal with enquiries during the seven week period during which "Operation Impact" took place.

	Q.		A local resident raised an issue regarding a handbag that had been stolen out of a property on Palgrave Road and the fact that, on reporting the incident to the police the resident was advised to take photographs of the children it was believed had carried out the crime which resulted in a parent complaining to the police that an adult was taking photographs of children which was subsequently reported to the police who then attended immediately.

	A.		Inspector Bob Pitt indicated that he would speak to the questioner at the conclusion of the meeting and that he would investigate the matter further.

	Q.		In view of the fact that at least one or two cars a week were stolen and burnt out what action was being taken with respect to the reporting of those incidents.

	A.		Sergeant Mark Simms acknowledged this problem and indicated that all crimes needed to be reported to the police.

	Q.		A representative of Doe Royd TARA asked why there was no police officer present at their particular meetings which took place at Mount Tabor.

	A.		Sergeant Mark Simms indicated that police officers could not attend all community meetings as this would be detrimental to the need for them to carry out their duties as police officers.