Castle Point Public Meeting Wednesday 18th November 2015 District Profile Castle Point forms part of the South policing area for Essex Police, combining with Rochford to form one of Essex Police’s ten local policing areas. Castle Point is a small borough covering an area measuring approximately 17 square miles. Located in South Essex, at the heart of the Thames Gateway South Essex sub-region, Castle Point is bordered by Basildon to the west and Southend to the east. Castle Point comprises the areas of Benfleet, Hadleigh, Thundersley and Canvey Island, with a combined population of 89,400 according to the last census. Just over 60 per cent of the land area in Castle Point is designated as ‘Green Belt’ and there are a number of important wildlife areas in the borough. West Canvey Marshes is situated on Canvey Island and has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Partnership work continues between Essex Police, Castle Point Borough Council, the RSPB and Natural England to maintain and secure this site. Road links via the A13 and A 127, and frequent train services from Benfleet into London Fenchurch Street provide good transport links for the borough, and make it an attractive residential area for commuters. Current Policing Structure and Resources The district of Castle Point forms half of the Rochford and Castle Point police district. Rochford and Castle Point District, together with Basildon and Southend police districts make up the South Local Policing Area (LPA). Neighbourhood Policing Team Castle Point consists of four neighbourhoods: Benfleet, Hadleigh, Thundersley and Canvey Island. The local Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) for the area comprises an Inspector, Sergeant, Neighbourhood Constables and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). There is one police station, situated at Canvey Island, and the Castle Point NPT operates from this police station, between 08:00 and midnight, seven days per week. Front counter services are currently provided from Monday to Saturday, between 12:00 and 18:00 (with the exception of bank holidays).The local neighbourhood policing teams aim to meet with the community regularly, and work with them to seek solutions to local problems. Youth Officers Castle Point NPT currently has one dedicated Youth Officer who operates from Canvey Island police station and liaises with the schools in the Castle Point District. She is closely involved with local schools and youth projects, and supports processes to divert young people, wherever possible, away from the criminal justice system. Currently there are proposals planned to reduce the number of youth officers across the force, which will see the reduction to one centrally managed Youth Officer with responsibility for both Rochford and Castle Point districts. Local Policing Teams The Local Policing Teams (LPTs), including officers working response and investigative duties, provide a 24/7 service from within the district, attending emergency responses and routine calls from the community. The LPTs are co-located at Canvey and Rayleigh police stations and comprise three Inspectors, six Sergeants and 54 Constables. Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is currently based at Rayleigh, due to the refurbishment of Southend police station. The CID comprises Detective Inspectors, Detective Sergeants and Detective Constables. They investigate the more serious crimes such as assaults of Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), fraud, robbery and dwelling burglary. Juno Team The Juno Team is a specialist team responsible for investigating domestic abuse cases. It is led by a Detective Inspector and comprises Detective Sergeants and investigators. The team provides a service for the district seven days a week and is currently based at Rayleigh, due to the refurbishment of Southend police station. Castle Point and Rochford Community Safety Partnership (CSP) The working relationship with Castle Point Borough Council is very healthy and there is extensive joint working and co-operation through the Community Safety Partnership. The CSP is a multi agency group established under an Act of Parliament to reduce crime and disorder, anti-social behaviour and re-offending. Among partners with a statutory responsibility to work with the CSP are Essex Police, Essex Fire Authority, Castle Point Borough Council, NHS South East Essex, Essex Probation Service and Essex County Council. Other organisations and voluntary groups represented on the CSP include Canvey Island Town Council, Crimestoppers, Canvey Island Youth Project, the Integrated Youth Service, Victim Support, Neighbourhood Watch and Schools. Current priorities for Rochford and Castle Point CSP are burglary, anti-social behaviour, violent crime (including domestic abuse) and preventing re-offending. The CSP has also improved its focus on hidden harms often affecting the most vulnerable in communities, which is a key part of the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan for Essex. Some examples of work undertaken by the CSP in the last year include the provision of security packs for vulnerable residents to help prevent crime in their homes, a sanctuary scheme for victims of domestic abuse, and safeguarding awareness training for taxi drivers, managers of licensed premises and other front line agencies, to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation and other hidden harms. The CSP also holds regular multi-agency meetings to monitor and develop partnership solutions to anti-social behaviour, with a focus on repeat and vulnerable victims. Proposed Changes to Local Policing in Castle Point Essex Police is continuing to face significant financial challenges, and is facing further potential cuts of £63 million by 2019/20. With 83% of Essex Police’s budget spent on salaries of police officers, staff and PCSOs, these cuts will inevitably mean Essex Police has to move to a smaller workforce. In addition to this the force faces further financial pressures caused by its ageing estate. Essex Police’s 80 buildings are in poor condition, requiring £30 million of repair work to bring them up to standard, and a further £2 million a year to maintain them. Comprehensive analysis of the use of police stations shows that very few people visit police stations to report crime, making this expense difficult to justify, and ultimately unsustainable. Under current proposals developed according to robust evidence of operational policing need, Essex Police plans to reduce its estate from 80 to 30 buildings. Essex Police is also proposing to close 15 of its 25 police station front counters, and reduce the current number of PCSOs from 250 to 60. These proposals are currently under consultation with affected staff. FRONT COUNTER FOOTFALL DATA IN CASTLE POINT DISTRICT Research carried out over two separate months showed: 441 people visited Canvey Island Police Station’s front counter, compared with 3,951 in Basildon, and 6,601 in Southend during the same period. Of those 441 visitors, only 10 were attending to report a crime. Under current proposals, Canvey Island Police Station front counter will close to the public in April 2016, although the building will remain an operational base for local policing teams. Front counter services will be available to the public at Basildon and Southend police stations from 9am – 5pm seven days a week. The sale of South Benfleet Police station and Hadleigh Police building will go ahead, as agreed by the former Police Authority in 2012. Under current plans for the restructuring of local policing in Essex, it is proposed that the new Community Policing Team (CPT), which will cover Castle Point and Rochford, will comprise one Community Policing Inspector, two sergeants, six constables, one dedicated youth officer, and four PCSOs. These proposals, which are currently under consultation with affected staff, could remove 12 of the 16 PCSOs in Castle Point and Rochford, and affected staff would either be retained and redeployed elsewhere in the county, or made redundant. The Community Policing team will be locally based, and will prioritise protecting people from harm, preventing and reducing crime, bringing criminals to justice, and engaging with the public. Local policing teams will focus on the greatest areas of threat, harm and risk to communities, and will work closely with local partners to tackle all aspects of neighbourhood policing and community safety, from tackling night-time economy violence, to responding to emerging crime trends and repeat anti-social behaviour. Crime data for Castle Point District At the meeting on 18th November there will be a detailed discussion on local crime figures and trends, and the facts and operational activity which support the statistics. Comparing reports for 1st October 2014 to 30th September 2015 with 1st October 2013 to 30th September 2014, areas of note include: All Crime has increased by 2.9% (103 more offences); Shoplifting has decreased by 17.5% (34 fewer offences); Other Theft has decreased by 12.8% (60 fewer offences); Criminal Damage (including Arson) has decreased by 11.0% (60 fewer offences); Anti-Social Behaviour has decreased by 0.9% (20 fewer incidents); Violence without Injury has increased by 34.7% (133 more offences); Sexual Offences have increased by 27.4% (23 more offences); Other Burglary has increased by 42.6% (80 more offences). House Burglary During the reporting period, offences of house burglary increased by 13.2% (45 more offences). Burglary offences are monitored daily, and crime analysts