Superintendent Toby Davies to report.

Superintendent Toby Davies introduced himself to the Council and its newly elected Members.

He provided an update in relation to the current projects and interventions that were being delivered by the Devon and Cornwall Police authority and its partners.

He highlighted the following points:

·         There were four sectors of the Devon and Cornwall Police authority, which covered the areas of Barnstaple and North Devon.

·         Various teams within the force and he extended an invitation to any Members who wished to accompany an officer on duty to gain an understanding of the situations that they were facing on a daily basis.

·         North Devon was one of the safest areas in the country and whilst there were pockets of issues, the crime rate had fallen within the last 12 months.

·         The police had received a positive response from the public and with a supportive community, which was a key resource to the force.

·         The 101 service was improving but was very complex.

·         The public enquiry offices at Barnstaple, Bideford and Ilfracombe were due to re-open.

·         There had been a positive uplift with recruitment with 600 new officers joining the force over the last three to four years, this was despite the issues that the force had experienced with recruitment in Northern Devon.

·         The new Chief Constable wanted to invest in more neighbourhood policing, which was significantly reduced 10 years ago through austerity measures.

·         There was a real push for the neighbourhood role to ensure issues such as antisocial behaviour and the perception of public safety were addressed.

·         The town centres of Ilfracombe, Barnstaple and South Molton had seen increase in antisocial behaviour prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and there was a desire to work with these communities to address the issues.

·         The Force had received Safer Streets funding from the Home Office for the Barnstaple area, which had enabled the provision of additional lighting, street marshalls and support to the Community Safety Hub. As a result there had been a 30% reduction in antisocial behaviour together with a 20% reduction in crime, which had had a lasting impact within the area. An evaluation of the results would be published in September 2023.

·         The Force was working to put teams of officers in some areas to speak to the public and have a visible presence within the local communities.

·         If there were persistent problems in a particular area, it was important that the public reported these to 101 to ensure that an evidence base could be developed.

·         Contact details for the officers which covered each ward would be circulated to the Members to ensure that a dialogue was established for reporting problems within a particular area.

In response to a number of questions, Superintendent Davies advised the following:

·         Members were welcome to visit the main police station in Barnstaple and join officers on a pre-arranged drive along to observe the situations that officers were regularly facing.

·         The decision to re-introduce public enquiry desks at police stations within local towns was taken by the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). Any towns with aspirations to re-open their public enquiry desks would need to contact the PCC directly.

·         Firearms licensing was a national challenge particularly following incidents of that nature in recent years and he acknowledged that whilst the timeline was frustrating it was vital that the process was undertaken properly.

·         Drug issues were prevalent across the local communities and the force prioritised issues related to antisocial behaviour, young people and county lines and were working closely with local communities.

·         The presence of a community Police Officer was not achievable for every Town and Parish Council meeting. However, he was mindful of the importance of local Town and Parish Councils having access to their local team and added that he would expect at meetings on occasion and if that was not the case that Members should make him aware.

·         Acknowledged that rural communities felt isolated with regards to rural crime and that any potential line of enquiry would followed up.

·         Road safety was an important issue and the teams had grown significantly over the last few years and they currently had to vans out and about on the roads to monitor speed within the local area. The community speed watch had also been a brilliant deterrent.

·         There had been a significant reduction in crime through partnership working.

·         There was still an ongoing issue with recruitment of younger officers and transferees and the provision of affordable property to allow them to live within the North Devon area.

·         There were more offices employed by the force now than there were three or four years ago and they were on hand to support in villages and coastal towns during the summer months when the population of the local area increased significantly. However, there would always be an aspiration to employ additional officers but this would be a question to put to the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in terms of additional resources.

·         There was lots of work ongoing to improve the online reporting system together with the phone reporting system for crime logging.

·         There was a real need for local Members to involve their communities to educate them on the importance of reporting crimes and there was an option to sign up to the Council Advocate scheme through the Police and Crime Commissioner website to meet with the Inspectors.

The Chair thanked Superintendent Toby Davies for his attendance at the meeting.