Chief Officer Team Briefing for COM
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OFFICIAL Chief Officer Team Briefing for COM Title: Anti-Social Behaviour Report COT Sponsor: ACC Hankinson Report Author: Sergeant Kate Connelly Date: 15th September 2020 SUMMARY This report outlines the Force’s current position in relation to Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). It includes details of the current trends in relation to ASB calls and locations within each District in West Yorkshire. It also contains data detailing the volume of recorded incidents, repeat rates, public perception and satisfaction. West Yorkshire Police along with our partner agencies continue to face significant challenges during the COVID 19 pandemic. This report explains the issues experienced by the communities of West Yorkshire during the lockdown and how West Yorkshire Police has pro-actively addressed these additional challenges. ASB LEGISLATION The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into force in March 2015. This was a significant change in the structure of the legislation with a reduction from 19 available powers to 6: Injunctions to prevent nuisance and noise (INPAs) Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) Dispersal Powers Community Protection Notices (CPNs) Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) Closure Powers This change consolidated and simplified the law in relation to ASB. For local involvement and accountability, the Act also includes the following measures: ASB Case Review (Community Trigger) – Victims can activate a multi-agency review of their case and agencies can use early intervention techniques to try to resolve the issue. A recent review of Community Triggers confirmed each District has a publicised procedure in place for when a Community Trigger request is made Community Remedy – In some cases, the victim can have a say in the outcome 1 | P a g e OFFICIAL ASB GOVERNANCE The Force uses Storm and Corvus computer systems to produce monthly Management Information for each District and for the Force. The Storm interface is on the Bluestar platform and is where all contact to the Police is recorded. This includes 999/101 telephone calls, web chats and online reporting. Corvus is a tasking and intelligence system, which is also developed by Bluestar. It contains information about the volume and types of ASB incidents and how they are dealt with. This data enables the Force to identify whether rates are increasing or decreasing. ASB victim satisfaction is monitored through the Victim User Satisfaction Surveys, which are carried out each month. The survey covers all aspects of the victim’s journey with the police, including ease of contact; speed of arrival; actions taken; keeping informed of progress; treatment and overall satisfaction. The response provides an insight into how the victim is left feeling following their interaction with the police and feeds into the service recovery process. The existing satisfaction survey is currently under review alongside the question sets asked to any person reporting ASB in West Yorkshire. This review is due to be completed by October 2020. REPORTED ASB AND COVID-19 Between July 2019 and February 2020, the total overall reported number of ASB incidents showed a reduction for all Districts compared to the same period the previous year, with most showing a gradual month on month reduction. This demonstrates the continued hard work and commitment the Force and Neighbourhood Teams have undertaken to reduce ASB across our communities (A full monthly breakdown for each District is shown in Appendix A). West Yorkshire – Total ASB Incidents 2018-19 2019-20 +/- vol +/- % Jul 5443 4866 -577 -10.6% Aug 5233 4991 -242 -4.6% Sep 4178 3888 -290 -6.9% Oct 4243 4292 49 1.2% Nov 3568 3402 -166 -4.7% Dec 2883 2668 -215 -7.5% Jan 3037 3071 34 1.1% Feb 3471 2794 -677 -19.5% Mar 3384 4118 734 21.7% Apr 3856 3402 -454 -11.8% May 3734 4585 851 22.8% Jun 3701 5389 1688 45.6% Total 46731 47466 735 1.6% However, from the period at the beginning of COVID 19 and onwards (Mar 20 to June 20) the number of reported incidents compared to the same period in 2019 showed a significant increase of 2819 reported incidents compared to the same time the previous year. 2 | P a g e OFFICIAL In March 2020, the initial spike in ASB calls recorded coincided with the national COVID 19 lockdown on the 23rd March. This was mainly due to our Call Centre staff recording COVID 19 related concern incidents as ASB as there was no other code available at that time. This was rectified by the end of March 2020. In April 2020, which was the height of the full lockdown the number of ASB calls reduced below the 2019 levels for all five Districts. As the restrictions began to be lifted, the number of reported ASB incidents increased significantly during May and June respectively as shown on the timeline. This increase in reported ASB was expected and is the result of a number of contributing factors such as: During the relaxation of the Government COVID lockdown rules, there was a large degree of confusion within our communities as to what constituted a breach of the lockdown and what was general ASB A large percentage of the population were at home for an increased number of hours during the day due to furlough and shielding and were therefore able to witness and report more activity Schools were closed therefore more children and young people had longer opportunity to be outside in open spaces The UK enjoyed warm dry weather, particularly in May There were the Bank Holiday periods and VE celebrations The death of George Floyd in May brought large numbers of people onto the streets The easing of regulations gave people a feeling of freedom and an opportunity to express themselves Some individuals rebelled against imposed regulations and restrictions as they regarded it as an impingement on their right to freedom and expression The increase was visible across all Districts in May and June 2020. 3 | P a g e OFFICIAL ASB PROFILE APRIL-JUNE 2020 In order to understand the increase in incidents, the data in the table below shows the breakdown analysis comparing the year to date data figures. This coincides with the COVID 19 lockdown period. The overall total ASB figures show that in most Districts the volume increased between 14.2% and 18.7% except in Calderdale where it shows an increase of 44.8%. Historically the number of ASB reports in Calderdale have always been low so any increase will show as a higher percentage than the larger Districts. Long Term Volume (YTD) Long Term Per 1,000 Pop Short Term Trend ‐ ASB per Day West 19/20 20/21 +/‐ 19/20 20/21 Mar 20 Apr 20 May 20 Jun 20 Trend Yorkshire Rank West Yorkshire 11,083 13,158 18.7% 7.1 8.4 154 112 145 177 1 Leeds 3,805 4,444 16.8% 8.8 10.2 54.7 37.1 48.3 61.1 2 Bradford 2,865 3,342 16.6% 5.5 6.4 38.9 28.5 37.5 44.2 3 Kirklees 1,956 2,314 18.3% 4.6 5.5 25.1 21.3 25.2 29.8 4 Wakefield 1,634 1,866 14.2% 10.5 12.0 22.7 16.0 19.9 25.6 5 Calderdale 823 1,192 44.8% 23.4 33.9 12.2 8.9 13.8 16.6 The table in Appendix B shows each District’s ASB incident type. It is immediately apparent that nuisance motorcycle / quad bike category was the highest daily volume during April (36.8/day) and May (48.7/day). The change is in June when youth related ASB has the highest daily volume (46.7) however, the nuisance motorcycle / quad bike was second (38.2/day). A similar pattern can be seen across each District by varying degrees. Breaking down the nuisance motorcycle / Quad Bike occurrences further (Appendix C) shows there is an increase in all Districts to variable degrees. The largest increase in incidents was during May in Calderdale with an 829.4% increase in reports. However, this increase equated to 158 reports compared to only 17 the previous year. The monthly comparison for June 2020 shows a reduction in reported incidents across all Districts which is more reflective of the previous year. There is now a dedicated Problem Solving Occurrence (PSO) to address the main report areas and to increase patrols at the key times. In partnership with the Local Authority, two operations have been conducted and positive results shared with the communities via a press release. A further two operations are due to be completed in September 2020. Appendix C shows an overall increase of 1732 nuisance motorcycle / Quad Bike for the months April - June compared to the same period in 2019. Of note from the crime incident type in Appendix B, Alcohol and Youth related ASB decreased in the three months in the year to date (April to June) compared to the same period last year. Again, this is directly attributed to the lockdown and the closure of public houses. June has seen a return to the normal expected levels. There has also been an increase in neighbour related incidents, which features in the top three for all Districts and the Force. This can be attributed to the COVID-19 lockdown as more people were at home over this period and covers incidents including noise nuisance as well as verbal disputes. 4 | P a g e OFFICIAL REPEAT CALL LOCATIONS In relation to the top 10 repeat call locations, it is evident that the nuisance motorcycle / quad bike incidents dominate the figures for all Districts.