Agenda item

Officers from Leicestershire Constabulary will be present to discuss policing issues in the Westcotes Ward.

Sergeant Simon Barnes, (Leicestershire Constabulary), advised the Meeting that in the Ward in the last three months there had been:-

·            26 burglaries to dwellings, which was a reduction of 20 on this time last year;

·            8 burglaries other than dwellings, compared to 20 over this period last year;

·            21 robberies and thefts from persons, compared to 29 over this period last year;

·            34 thefts from and of motor vehicles, compared to 36 over this period last year; and

·            11 arrests for anti-social behaviour, compared to 14 over this period last year.

The Meeting welcomed these improvements.

The following points then were noted during discussion:-

·            Begging had not been legalised.  Recent incidences of children begging in the streets were being dealt with by the Police and other agencies;

·            Consideration was being given to installing more CCTV cameras by the canal.  The towpath was not owned by the City Council, but all agencies were being encouraged to work together to improve lighting there and cut back trees, so that the cameras in that area could work more efficiently;

·            The Police did not own any CCTV cameras, but were given access to those owned by the City Council, De Montfort University and local businesses as needed.  For example, 25 reports of incidents in the area around Tarragon Road had been received in the last year, with 14 reports applying to Bede Park on its own.  It was not always possible to be sure that these had been made as a result of cameras, but having cameras meant that it was possible to check information received.  Arrests had been made through this system of working;

·            The CCTV camera in Bede Park was owned by De Montfort University.  Trees in Bede Park obscured the camera’s view of the path, but it was hoped they could be trimmed back.  De Montfort University had provided a map of the trees’ locations and details of which ones needed trimming.  A tree surgeon would be used, to ensure that the work was done properly;

·            The cameras in use in the Ward had no audio interface and did not automatically scan round an area, although controllers could direct the cameras to particular points when needed.  Scanning cameras were not very useful, as it could be very difficult to get a good quality image from them;

·            The camera operators from De Montfort University would be invited to the meeting with residents about Bede Park on 1 July 2011, (see minute 44 above), to explain how the cameras worked;

·            The Police had classed Westcotes as a priority area for responses to calls reporting incidents at night, due to the extent of the night time economy and the amount of alcohol consumption in the Ward.  However, this did not guarantee any particular response when reports were made; and

·            The Police still operated an anti-social behaviour car, in which a Police Community Support Officer could attend reports of such behaviour.

The Meeting thanked the Police for the work they had done to make the Ward a nice area to walk round.