BIRMINGHAM WEST NPU NEWSLETTER – January 2019

BW Commander Chief Superintendent Danny Long

A few weeks ago I attended & passed the Senior National Assessment Centre. In January 2019 I will attend the Strategic Command Course for 3 months, then will be eligible to apply for ACC (Assistant ) roles across the country. Unfortunately, that also means I will leave my role here as West Neighbourhood Policing Unit Commander.

I have mixed emotions about moving on from what I know is one of the best jobs in Police. Over the last 24 years I have worked across central Birmingham in many different ranks and roles. I have loved every minute of it.

However, I am delighted to be handing the reigns over to the new Birmingham West Chief Superintendent - John Denley. John is the current Head of the ROCU (Regional Organised Crime Unit). He is a great guy and will enjoy working with you all.

It has been a privilege to work alongside officer’s, staff and communities across Birmingham and I wish you all the best for the future.

Northfield Constituency

Details of executed warrant.

NTF 4, Weoley and Neighbourhood Team executed a warrant at end of December in Brooklea Grove.

Seized from the address were a number of items,

4 x mobile phones 1 x Air rifle A quantity of herbal cannabis Set of scales An American Bulldog which has since been confirmed as stolen A Ford car key and steering lock

Occupants also disclaimed 2 x small knives and a knuckle duster.

2 persons were arrested from the address for possession with intent to supply Class B, theft (of the dog) and theft of motor vehicle

One of the offenders is currently on Tag for a Burglary, who he has breached this several times over Christmas. We are hoping he will be remanded in custody before appearing in Court

West Midlands Police Drones – Car Cruising Injunction (24/10/2016 to 24/10/2019)

Definition of Car Cruising:

A gathering of the drivers of 2 or more motor vehicles, including motorcycles, on a highway or in a publicly accessible place within Birmingham at which

Any person whether or not a driver or rider performs any of the activities listed which cause any of the consequences listed

Sunday 13th January 2019 – West Midlands Police Drones in operation to target Car Cruising around Viaduct, supported by Central Motorway Policing Group (CMPG), Local Neighbourhood Team, West Midlands Force Support Officers and Partner Agencies #OpHercules – dealing with the nuisance of Car Cruising and breaches of the High Court Injunction. BIRMINGHAM WEST NPU NEWSLETTER – January 2019

Selly Oak – Inspector Murrin

Knives and drugs were recovered after officers swooped on addresses in , Birmingham during dawn raids (Thursday 13 December).

The pre-planned operation was in response to intelligence and saw warrants executed at two properties in Baverstock Road and Milston Close. In total, two knives and a quantity of Class A and B drugs were seized from both of the properties.

A woman aged 50 and a 16-year-old boy were arrested from Baverstock Road on suspicion of possession with intent to supply drugs. They have both been released from police custody under investigation.

A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of cultivating cannabis from the other property. He has also been released under investigation.

Inspector Noeleen Murrin, from Birmingham Police, said: "This action should hopefully reassure our communities that we are committed to keeping them safe and tackling crime that effects them. We have listened to their concerns and this is just the start of other enforcement activity we plan to carry out. We would urge anyone with concerns about criminal behaviour in the area to contact us."

City Centre – Inspector Latif

Acting on intelligence officers from the Birmingham City Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team have executed a warrant at a premises and recovered a substantial amount of class B drugs.

Officers acting quickly on the intelligence by confirming the information they had received by visiting the premises concerned. Following which officers successfully obtained an out of hours court warrant and entered the premises arresting the occupants and seizing over 1000 cannabis plants.

The protracted enquiries that followed became very demanding and resource intensive most notably around securing and protecting the premises until the plants could be recovered.

The implications of this are far reaching in that we have successfully removed a substantial drug line into the City and removed 2 career criminals from their unlawful activities.

Ladywood West – Inspector Samuels

Successful Operation was conducted in partnership with Her Majesties Prison Birmingham. Tactics employed were Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), Safer Travel officers, High Visibility Patrols around the perimeter of the prison to deter ‘Throw-overs’ and Drone ‘drops’. This resulted in several vehicles being seized for no insurance, arrests for vehicle Taken Without Consent (TWOC) and offensive weapons and numerous intelligence logs submitted. The tactic has enhanced relationships between HMP Birmingham and the local NHT.

Op TWYER – This was a successful operation targeting an increase in business and personal robberies around the as a result of the festive season. Daily high-visibility patrols focusing on repeat offence locations, engaging and developing relationships between the local traders and the police. This increase in relations will assist with starting-up a Jewellery Quarter Business Watch program. BIRMINGHAM WEST NPU NEWSLETTER – January 2019

Perry Barr – Inspector Ahmed

A local prolific Burglar from was recently arrested for house burglaries. He was charged and remanded and he has now been convicted. He has been given a jail term of 3 years and 4 months.

The burglaries were all within walking distance of the Burglars residence in Oxhill Road. He has been a key offender in the crime in this locality which we had seen a sharp increase in offences, believe committed by him. In a bid to clean up this area he will re-housed out of the area on release.

House Of Multi Occupancy – Oxhill Road (12 x residents).

In a further bid to clean up this location Officers have been working in partnership with housing and the occupants have now been removed from the property.

These are the before and after pictures.

Ladywood East – Inspector Wiggan

Officers from were approached by a tutor of a local adult education group who expressed an interest in raising awareness around personal safety and crime prevention for the attendees. Many of the students do not speak English as a first language and are from communities that have very little contact with the police. As a result several crime prevention and personal safety workshops were delivered, covering home security, personal safety and personal awareness. The group was extremely positive and engaging and officers received positive feedback from the group where one person told officers that they now felt they could trust the police in the UK. This is an excellent example of the positive engagement work taking place across Ladywood East with our diverse communities.

Birmingham Partnerships Update – Youth Engagement

Teamworx: This is the 7th Teamworx programme completed in Birmingham involving primary school children in intervention and prevention work to avoid entry into the criminal justice system as either offender or victim. Following a successful Big Lottery bid this year we have sufficient funding to allow programmes to continue into 2019 and beyond with the first Quinton/ programme commencing this January. BIRMINGHAM WEST NPU NEWSLETTER – January 2019

Edgbaston – Inspector Trinder

Harborne is a location steeped in history (JR Tolkien is rumoured to have been partly inspired by Bridge) and being a relatively affluent area, it had always been a target for burglars. As a result, the neighbourhood team have continued to work with our partner agencies to target harden key locations, implement more robust management of local hostels and identify more robust processes around the level of hostels in the area, in partnership with local Councillors. A number of operations have been conducted with some excellent arrests resulting in a reduction in the number of burglaries being reported and therefore fewer victims of crime.

A number of members of the local community were also keen to step up and support the work being conducted by the police so in December 2018, Moorpool residents in Harborne set up the first Street Watch on Constituency and having already worked with retailers on Harborne High Street to tackle issues around homelessness and assist in reducing demand, PCSO Glen Moore was the perfect choice to assist with the formation of the Harborne Street Watch Team. The team currently consists of eleven very dedicated residents who have been patrolling the streets come rain or shine, with support from PCSO Moore. Their assistance has enhanced a real sense of community and Police partnership and has helped bring a sense of security and reassurance to the community. The team have been such an inspiration to other residents that we are very pleased to be expanding the team, with an additional 12 volunteers joining the team over the next couple of months. This will provide a greater capacity to conduct patrols within the Edgbaston Constituency and we are looking forward to working with the team to support the local community, offer reassurance whilst helping to deter crime and anti-social behaviour.

If you are interested in joining a local Street Watch team, contact your local neighbourhood team by visiting: www.west-midlands.police.uk BIRMINGHAM WEST NPU NEWSLETTER – January 2019

Birmingham Partnerships Update – Design Out Crime

Birmingham City Council has become the first local authority to join a scheme run by Secured by Design (SBD), the national police crime prevention initiative, to build-in crime prevention techniques into all its new social housing developments to help keep residents safe.

The scheme makes it simpler, quicker and cheaper for organisations – like Birmingham City Council – and private building companies to achieve the security requirements contained in the building regulations.

SBD works with organisations and companies on their standard building types, such as houses and apartments. SBD checks those property types and the companies in their supply chain to ensure that products, such as windows and doors, will meet SBD standards.

This landmark agreement builds on a ten-year partnership between SBD’s Designing Out Crime Officers at West Midlands Police and the Council’s housing development and planning teams, to design out crime from initial concepts through to planning application of new developments.

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “Birmingham City Council is proud to work with Secured by Design on this initiative that will give residents peace of mind in their homes.

“I am delighted that we are leading the way for local authorities by joining the National Building Approval scheme. Through innovative design and planning, we can begin to future proof the safety of those who live and work across the city and, where possible, eliminate anti-social behaviour in local neighbourhoods.”

West Midlands Police, Designing Out Crime Officer, Gareth Pemberton, said: “We have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Council over many years and this agreement will speed up and tie everyone into the process of reducing crime. It will ensure a high standard of security will be enjoyed by residents and local communities in the years ahead.”

Notable buildings which incorporate SBD’s crime prevention principles are the 2012 London Olympics site, the 2014 Commonwealth Games Village, Wembley Stadium, the National Stadium of Wales and the Scottish and Welsh Assembly Buildings.

Birmingham Partnerships Update – Youth Engagement

City of Birmingham School Officer: PC 7220 Richard Barber has just been recruited as the dedicated City of Birmingham School Officer. Rich will be working with the 8 Pupil Referral Unit Centres to co-ordinate police liaison and activity and provide support, guidance and resources with the aim of improving outcomes for young people excluded from mainstream education who are attending the centres and are involved in crime or ASB, at risk of involvement in crime or ASB or vulnerable to becoming a victim themselves.

BIRMINGHAM WEST NPU NEWSLETTER – January 2019

Birmingham Partnerships Update – Crime & ASB

Gambling Commission Event – Police and partners unite and focus on safeguarding vulnerable people and reducing demand on the force

The Birmingham Partnerships team had a hunch that the true extent of the impact gambling addiction has on our communities may be underestimated. So they arranged an awareness event where partners from the Gambling Commission, local authority and Illegal Money Lending Teams were invited to give an input to officers and staff.

Over 100 people attended the event at Lloyd House, where the audience was reminded of the powers that officers have, the action they can take and the safeguarding that can be done to minimise the impact of gambling and reduce the demand it places on the force.

It is estimated that problem gamblers are more than four times more likely to be in prison than the average member of pubic. It is believed there are 400,000 problem gamblers in the UK, with a further two million at risk of becoming addicted.

Birmingham Partnerships - Vulnerability

Ability to help the most vulnerable is now at your fingertips

• New vulnerability form now available on force smartphones • Form allows you to immediately signpost vulnerable people • Referral can be made in the presence of the person to ensure their consent is given Somewhere today a vulnerable member of our community will reach out to the police for help. They might be at their lowest ebb. Sometimes it might not be a police issue, but at their lowest point they have turned to us.

Alternatively you might be concerned about the support a person you meet is getting, their mental or physical condition or the state of their home. Maybe you feel a person with a criminal background could be drawn back into offending due to housing, benefit or another issue they are struggling to resolve.

It is these scenarios that have led to the creation of a new Vulnerability Referral form on the force’s smartphones.

“Not only is the new form going to help us safeguard these individuals, but it is going to streamline the system, reduce the demand and reassure those who are vulnerable that we have made a referral to the best placed partner agency,” said Sergeant Marina Dain from Birmingham Partnerships.

The new forms means an officer can ensure they have the permission of the vulnerable person to share their details. instantly. BIRMINGHAM WEST NPU NEWSLETTER – January 2019

Birmingham Partnerships Update

During the month of December partnership's linked in with third party agencies to assist in the distribution of crime reduction literature in total 2200 burglary reduction advice leaflets and also WM now cards were distributed with on line grocery deliveries by Tesco Direct - I-Care meals and Morrison's.

Officers and police staff alike from Birmingham Partnerships have been going door to door in high risk BDH areas to offer SelectaDNA property marking kits, burglary kits and general crime reduction advice to residents jointly with PCSOs from Neighbourhood teams. In addition, pavement marking has taken place on all the streets visited to warn would-be burglars that property marking initiatives have been carried out in the area. It’s a psychological prevention tool which sees messages marked on pavements using a special chalk spray paint that is designed to wash away after a few weeks. Feedback from residents has been overwhelmingly positive.

In addition to this, the team are also monitoring every person arrested for a burglary, robbery, theft from or theft of MV offences and checking their home addresses against a database of council and social landlord properties. Where they reside in a social housing property, details of their offending is being shared with the council or social landlord so that they can look at opportunities to enforce tenancy conditions or even revoke tenancies using an absolute grounds for possession power provided under the ASB, Police and Crime Act 2014. To find out more about this BDH initiative, contact Gary Stack who is the project lead.

Mr Lawrence Jacobey (Landlord of 4 x premises on Tiverton Rd): “I have a few student properties that I rent out to students. At least now I have a (SelectaDNA) kit, I can ensure the properties are marked and registered. Local residents are aware of many properties that are near-by having been burgled This is really promising that the Police are taking an active approach to making residents feel secure.”

Birmingham Partnerships Update – Vulnerability

Criminal Exploitation: the good news headlines is that the Criminal Exploitation panel have discussed more than 130 cases. We are monitoring and have interventions in place for more than 270 children. We are taking or seeking to take enforcement action against 90 identified county lines and West Midlands have secured the first conviction nationally for trafficking children and exploiting them in this manner. At the end of 2017 early 2018 we suffered a cluster of serious violent offences culminating in one young person being shot and losing a leg and another tragically being stabbed to death off the force area. Since the Criminal Exploitation panel convened we have not had another child suffer this level of violence. Street Watch

Street Watch is a community-led initiative based on street patrols carried out by members of the public with no police powers.

Groups are managed by a volunteer co-ordinator who keeps a volunteer list and provides advice, guidance and support in consultation with the local police.

Volunteers patrol in pairs and register each patrol on a website. The neighbourhood policing team can look at the website before the patrols take place. If volunteers spot suspicious activity they should report it to the police but not get involved. Members of Street Watch must be 18 years or older.

If you would like to register your interest to participate in Street Watch please email Streetwatch@west- midlands.pnn.police.uk.

Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch is one of the UK’s largest community crime prevention initiatives. It is not run by the police, but has dedicated members of staff working with it.

Every Neighbourhood Watch group is different because each is owned and run by the people of its community. Members of the public and their neighbours come together to make their area a safe and pleasant place to live.

Groups decide what measures to take because they know what their community needs best. Local groups also draw on support from police, local authorities, fire and rescue services, the voluntary sector and other volunteers.

Find out more by visiting www.ourwatch.org.uk

Crime Prevention – Have you heard about 27 Station Road

The virtual reality crime scene that could quite easily be your home . Can you beat the burglar in this crime-fighting challenge? Play the game, and get your home security tips at www.west-midlands.police.uk/27stationroad

If it’s not 999 – Search Online!

Start using LiveChat to interact with West Midlands Police rather than dialling 101.

The full 101 service is now online.

If a citizen can’t find what they are looking for on the site, they can LiveChat with an advisor.

(LiveChat available Mon – Sun 8am – midnight)