To note the Safer Neighbourhoods teams priorities discussed at the Police ward panel meetings
Minutes:
PS Turnbull from East Dulwich Safer Neighbourhoods Team (SNT) gave feedback about his team’s priorities and activities. He also reported back that a colleague in village ward had been run over by a car, and was currently off sick. He reminded the meeting that Superintendent Cheryl Burden had been at the previous meeting to ask for feedback on how the public would like to interact with the police. This consultation had been extended to 12 June 2011. He said that the response rate in the south of the borough had been one of the highest in London.
His team were leading on revisiting neighbourhood watch schemes which had been somewhat overshadowed since the advent of the Safer Neighbourhoods Teams. The other priorities of the team were dealing with burglaries and parking around schools.
The meeting expressed their good wishes for the injured SNT officer in Village ward. Questions were raised about what would happen to East Dulwich police station, as residents had difficulties in getting the police to see them. There was a discussion about an alternative home for East Dulwich SNT. Councillors reminded the meeting that they had asked to work closely with the police, and would be defending services in Dulwich. A resident said that there should be a face-to-face reporting facility, which was what people preferred, especially on Saturdays. The fact that there was a police station in the area deterred crime.
A resident said that the areas in front of schools should get a zig-zag rather than a yellow line, and that this needed to be enforced. PS Turnbull said that road enforcement was necessary as well as communicating with parents. In answer to a question from the floor, PS Turnbull said that there was no mystery shopping, but there was a process of calling people back randomly to check they had received a good service from the police. He went to explain that there was no statutory target for waiting times to speak to the police. At Dulwich, there were currently only two counter staff which meant they were stretched because of other commitments such as 999 calls.
The chair said that councillors would take these comments to future meetings with the police, and that members wanted to be kept in the loop about volunteer programmes and school parking enforcement issue.
PS Turnbull responded that there was a schools officer in his team now, who would be speaking to schools about the vehicle obstructions, and educating parents.