At a meeting of the Hounslow Borough Community Police Consultative Group held on Monday, 17 January 2005 at 7:00 pm at Committee Rooms 1&2, Civic Centre, Hounslow.

Present:

Voting Membership: Mr J Bach Secondary Schools Headteacher Jo Bacquenois Hounslow Afro-Caribbean Association Flavia Beckwith Brentford, Chiswick and Isleworth Crime Reduction Panel Brian Close Heston Residents' Association Mel Collins Grand Union Developments Lata Dhiri Bereavement Services Hounslow Meenu Dhiri Victim Support Middlesex Julius Fletcher Heathrow, Hounslow & District Synagogue David Hardman LBH Neighbourhood Watch Association Bridget Jemmett HFTRA Raghbir Khangoora Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Leslie Robinson LBH Chamber of Commerce John Rowntree CAB Management Committee Jajiwan Singh Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha

Non-voting membership: Tony Arbour Metropolitan Inspector Adrian Baxter , Hounslow Chief Ali Dizaei Metropolitan Police, Hounslow Chief Inspector Gareth Morgan Metropolitan Police, Hounslow

Hounslow Council: Councillor Chaudhary Councillor Dhillon, A Councillor Gill, M Councillor Mann

Attendees: Inspector Alan Wither British Transport Police, Waterloo PC Russell Tatt British Transport Police, Waterloo

Apologies for Absence

Abdul Ansary, Andy Atkinson, Brenda Baptiste, Teresa Brown, Ashton Bynoe, Mohammad Chaudhry, Marion Dunn, Andy Fielding, Manjeet Heer, Hassan Isse, Jagpal Khangura, Anne Maloney, Mahmood Mirza, Rupinder Painach and Susanna White

48. Appointment of Chair and Vice Chairs

Members voted for the reappointment of Mr Mohammad Chaudhry as Chair of the Group, and acknowledged that this would be his fifth and final year as Chair in this term, in accordance with the Group’s constitution.

Flavia Beckwith and John Rowntree were appointed to the posts of Vice Chair.

49. Welcome Ali Dizaei, Borough Commander

As Mohammad Chaudhry had given his apologies for this meeting and John Rowntree had been delayed, Flavia Beckwith took the Chair and welcomed Ch. Supt. Dizaei as the new Police Borough Commander for Hounslow.

Ch. Supt. Dizaei gave a brief history on his career in the Police, from his time with the from 1987 to his move to the MPS in 1999. He thanked members for their good wishes and said that the support he had received since coming to Hounslow had been breathtaking. He praised the remarkable work achieved by his predecessor, Ch. Supt. Harris, and indicated that he had a simple philosophy for his approach to the job and that was “to serve the community”. He suggested that if members of the Police force were to look back at their original application forms, they would most likely find that they too had written something similar when answering the question on why they had wanted to join the force. Ch. Supt. Dizaei expressed his view that to serve the community and to be a legitimate presence in the community would help the community to take part in helping the Police to achieve its targets and that, rather than being seen as a soft approach, this method had a direct relevance to putting criminals behind bars.

John Rowntree arrived and took the Chair.

50. Minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2004

The minutes of the meeting were agreed and signed as a correct record.

Matters Arising:

Page 1, Item 36 “Matters Arising – Control of fireworks”: Julius Fletcher noted that the fireworks had finished shortly after 12 midnight and had not proved to be as loud as in previous years. He expressed his thanks to the Police for their involvement in the festivities.

51. Presentation on the British Transport Police

PC Russell Tatt and Insp. Alan Wither of the British Transport Police, gave a presentation on the work and areas of responsibilities of the Waterloo based division of the BTP (British Transport Police). PC Russell Tatt informed members that the Waterloo office was the only 24hour office in the region, which meant that if there were a fatality in Portsmouth late at night, Waterloo staff would have to travel. It was noted that a high proportion of crimes were reported to the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) and not the BTP and that the submitted statistics had been collated from the information available to the BTP and might, therefore, not be a true reflection of the actual situation. Having said that, targets (set in consultation with passenger liaison groups) are regularly met.

Insp. Wither, who was one of the inspectors responsible for operations and resources in the London South area, which recorded upwards of 60 fatalities a year, informed members that he was responsible for the London South team. He noted that the BTP priorities related to assault, robbery, hate crime and drug offences. Graffiti was also listed as a priority and combating the belief that it represented a dangerous environment. The BTP had enjoyed a high detection rate on graffiti tags and had put a high number of criminals behind bars.

Waterloo had 5 teams, each with a team inspector. The outlying stations such as Feltham and Hounslow were taken care of by a ‘Case Building Team’ with the support of the MPS who took charge of an incident until the Case Building Team arrived to carry out the investigation. Investigations included serious fraud, such as fare ticket fraud. Ch. Supt Steve Morgan, based at Victoria train station was the BTP Area Commander. The force had recently recruited 2 new Ch. Insp.’s and a new Supt., which would give a breadth of fresh talent to the force. It was noted that the job of the BTP was difficult and that crimes were difficult to target and investigate, due in large part to the transient nature of the target audience. He confirmed that both Hounslow and Feltham had been relatively problem free, whereas the more densely populated South London area was more problematic. Insp. Wither invited members to keep in contact with the BTP through PC Tatt, who would be acting as their point of contact. He advised that, should information on any specific issues arise, areas could be designated as ‘hotspots’ and given due attention.

John Rowntree thanked both PC Tatt and Insp. Wither for their presentation and acknowledged that they would have to leave the meeting after the break to return to duties in Waterloo. He invited questions from the membership.

*** 7.20pm: Councillors Chaudhary and Gill gave their apologies to the Group, due to a booking clash with a second Council appointment. Councillor Chaudhary confirmed that the particular meeting they were attending tonight would be the last in the current series and would, therefore, not directly affect their future attendance at the CPCG. Councillors wished the Secretary of the Group, Kay Duffy, to pass on their concerns around such double bookings to colleagues in the Committee Services Department. ***

Brian Close, Heston Residents’ Association, asked whether the BTP were involved in any incidents on bus routes connected to the train stations. Insp. Wither confirmed that any incident on the bus routes was the jurisdiction of and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

Councillor Dhillon queried the extent of the relationship between the BTP and the MPS and acknowledged that the BTP relied heavily on the MPS for support and that the senior management liased on issues concerning central London policing. The two bodies worked in tandem with each other to provide effective policing of the region.

In response to Councillor Dhillon’s query on the extent of the BTP’s visible presence on the rail network, Insp. Wither highlighted the resource issue, which prevented the BTP from being able to provide patrols on the entire network. Instead staff concentrated on the mainline and networks. Patrols are deployed for low-level disorders, around school hours, late night and weekends. Reports are then sent to the Crime Management Centre. Insp. Wither confirmed for members that Hounslow had not been targeted as a crime hotspot.

Borough Commander, Ch. Supt. Dizaei, drew members’ attention to Home Office research from 2 years ago, which identified that the majority of robberies took place within 200yards of tube stations. He noted the importance of liaison with the BTP on operations, such as Operation Anapurna, which saturated the tube stations with Police presence at peak times. This had produced a very positive impact at Earl’s Court and the Borough Commander hoped to replicate this in Hounslow. He asked Insp. Wither to provide him with the contact details of a liaison officer for the tube network so that progress could be made in this area. Insp. Wither assured Ch. Supt. Dizaei that he would pass his request to the central London office and to London Transport offices at Tottenham Court Road Police Station so that a joint initiative could be developed.

Jo Bacquenois, HACA, expressed her view that tonight’s presentation had put the recent TV portrayal of the BTP into perspective, particularly in respect of the lack of staff resources. Insp. Wither agreed that the BTP relied heavily on the MPS. He confirmed, however, that if the MPS were to be involved in an incident, which fell under the jurisdiction of the BTP, the BTP would be entitled to take over the resulting enquiry.

7.30pm – MPA Link Member, Tony Arbour, gave his apologies and left the meeting.

In answer to a query from, Lata Dhiri of Age Concern, Insp. Wither confirmed that PC Russell Tatt had been nominated to attend future CPCG meetings. He cautioned, however, that although every effort would be made to attend future meetings, PC Tatt’s presence would depend on staff resources.

Julius Fletcher, Heathrow Hounslow and District Synagogue, queried the extent of the BTP’s powers should a member of the public wish to report an incident. He used the example of having a travel ticket snatched at a tube station. Insp. Wither confirmed that the BTP had the same powers as the MPS but only dealt with road traffic if it was specifically called upon to do so, or was in the area at the time of an incident until MPS officers arrived to take over the investigation.

The Chair, John Rowntree, noted that some of the train stations in Hounslow were unmanned and asked what the best procedure would be, should a member of the public wish to report an incident. Insp. Wither advised that calling 999 would be the quickest as help could be arranged quickly to the target area, whereas pressing the call button on the station platform would take the individual through to the control room at Waterloo and control room telephone lines could sometimes get jammed.

John Rowntree thanked Insp. Wither and PC Tatt for attending the meeting and providing such an informative presentation.

52. Break for refreshments

53. Police Progress Update including Crime Statistics

Ch. Supt. Dizaei drew members’ attention to the tables included in the preamble of the submitted Police update report and highlighted the reductions in crime victims as a success story. He acknowledged, however, that motor vehicle crime was an area that could be improved on. Members heard that the detection rate for domestic violence incidents in Hounslow had risen to 43%, which represented a remarkable achievement for that unit. He also noted that the race crime figures were only slightly below the MPS average at 22%. The core crime targets in Hounslow were robbery and burglary, in line with the national targets set by the Police.

Ch. Supt. Dizaei noted the importance of addressing the “quality of life issues” and pointed to the results of a recent survey of London residents where such issues as ‘noisy neighbours’ and ‘kids on bikes on the pavement’ had been highlighted in the top grievances. He suggested that the priorities of the community should also be of paramount importance to the Police and noted that, in order to have the freedom to address these issues, the core target would need to be met.

On the issue of the 30 PPOs (Priority and Prolific Offenders) identified in Hounslow, who were alleged to be responsible for up to 80% of the crime in the Borough, Ch. Supt. Dizaei expressed the hope that the Police would be the ‘pebble in the shoe’ of each of these individuals through serious and hard core ‘in your face’ policing. Using these methods, together with neighbourhood policing, he hoped to see a growing improvement in the crime figures. He suggested that criminals were not just caught using forensics but that 90% of cases were solved with the help of community intelligence networks.

Ch. Supt. Dizaei acknowledged that members of the public would not contact the Police to offer their help if they did not believe in the Police or if the Police did not offer a high quality of service. He confirmed that the Police had a duty to be accountable to the community and that these meetings were a forum for that accountability. He expressed his hope that this would be the way the business of policing was carried out in Hounslow. Members were invited to ask questions on the submitted update report.

Flavia Beckwith, Vice-chair, asked when the C3i telephone call centres would be implemented to alleviate the longstanding problems experienced by those trying to contact the Police. Ch. Supt. Dizaei could not provide the precise implementation date for Hounslow but confirmed that he had been in contact with his senior management team in order to help alleviate the current situation by increasing the number of staff who answered the telephones. He suggested that members of the public could use other means of getting in touch with the Police by contacting their citizens’ advice bureaux, councillor surgeries or coming in to the stations around the Borough.

Mel Collins, Grand Union Developments, made two points. First he highlighted the fact that the statistics provided did not take into account those crimes against or perpetuated by individuals with disabilities, despite requests being made for this information at past CPCG meetings. His second point highlighted the fact that, although congratulations should be sent to those who had been promoted to higher ranks in the Hounslow Police force, their promotion had left weakness in the lower ranks with less experienced staff filling the places.

Ch. Insp. Wynne Jones responded to the first issue and confirmed that data on disability was currently not available on the borough-level Police Crime Reporting Information System (CRIS), only on a metropolitan wide basis. He highlighted the difficulty in finding clear definitions of disability, which could be agreed by all. Ch. Insp. Jones advised community groups to continue lobbying the MPS on this issue.

In response to the second point, Ch. Supt. Dizaei expressed his opinion that new experience was not a negative thing in his experience, as new recruits were often keen and, providing they received the correct guidance from those departing the relevant posts. Councillor Dhillon wished to record his appreciation of the work done in Hounslow West by Sgt. O’Brien in the last 6 months. He requested the deployment of plain clothed officers to combat incidents around the Abbey Building Society outlet near the Hounslow West tube station and noted that additional funding was needed for CCTV cameras in the Hounslow West area.

Councillor Mann congratulated Ch. Supt. Dizaei on the excellent quality of the submitted Police update report and noted that the hotspots in Hounslow West could be attributed to transient perpetrators. He acknowledged that investigations had been initiated and that information would be provided at a later date and highlighted the fact that the area around Hounslow High Street and the Hounslow bus garage was also a crime hotspot and should also be the subject of Police attention.

Julius Fletcher noted that Hounslow had been mentioned on the BBC national news in connection with the recent influx of East European visitors and gave members a summary of a recent case where a young Latvian girl had been abducted and taken to London but had later been reunited with her family. It was noted that the issue of prostitution should be tackled in the Borough.

54. Local Policing Matters

Please refer to Agenda Item 54

55. London Wide Update

The Chair, John Rowntree, confirmed for members that the Group’s funding bid had been submitted to the MPA for consideration and that an update would be provided at the March meeting.

56. London Gets Safer - MPA Newsletter

Members noted the report.

57. Date of Next Meeting - March 14th 2005

Members noted the date.

58. Any Other Business

Julius Fletcher informed the Group that, after being a resident in Hounslow for 53 years, he and his wife had finally been persuaded him to move closer to their children. As a result of this, he would no longer be able to attend the Group meetings, although he hoped to be able to come to the March meeting.

Julius also invited all members of the Group to attend the 2005 Holocaust Memorial Day, which would be held on Thursday, 27th January at the Civic Centre from 2pm. He noted that he had been involved in it for a number of years and hoped for a good attendance this year. The Chair thanked Julius for this information and closed the meeting.

The meeting finished at 8:40 pm.