Introducing the New Borough Commander, John Sutherland
Officers from the local Safer Neighbourhoods Teams to give an update
and respond to questions.
Community Wardens update
Minutes:
New Borough Commander
John Sutherland, Borough Commander, introduced himself to the meeting. He explained that he was previously a police sergeant in Peckham in the 1990s. He was optimistic about the challenges that lay ahead.
The Borough Commander outlined how the Metropolitan Police had to save over £500 million from its budget over the next two and a half years. It would have an impact on police stations and public access over counters but he hoped to maintain front line police services in Southwark for the foreseeable future.
In response to questions, Commander Sutherland said that:
· Hate crime in all forms was unacceptable and would be dealt with. In addition there were officers specially trained at dealing with the victims of hate crime.
· Major savings were unlikely to come from front line street officer numbers being reduced and was more likely to come from reductions in senior posts and the sale of buildings. There would be changes to the support functions that operate behind the scenes.
· Police buildings in London were now owned by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). MOPAC would decide on any sales or disposals. In addition to police stations, in future there would be some pop-up / temporary police facilities at local spaces advertised in advance to the community.
· He was committed to working in partnerships with the Council and residents. There would be a strong effort to tackle the problems of youth violence and gangs.
The chair thanked the Borough Commander and invited him to return to future meetings.
Safer Neighbourhood Teams
Sergeant Tom Leach, Brunswick Park and South Camberwell Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) gave the following updates for each ward:
Camberwell Green
· Officers had been working in partnership with local betting shops to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) and drug dealers. Several known individuals had been excluded from betting shops which had reduced the problem in Camberwell Green.
· There had been nine arrests related to drug dealing and a crack house was closed down.
· Street drinking had led to more than one hundred seizures of alcohol by officers.
Brunswick Park
· Dangerous dogs had been tackled via a dog watch partnership with the council called Operation Bark.
· Officers were working with young people and an organisation called Catch-22 to divert young people away from possible gang involvement.
· There had been eight arrests for drug offences in the ward.
· PC Liam Morrow had recently joined Brunswick Park SNT.
South Camberwell
· PC David Olley and PC Malcolm Gillespie had joined the team since the Olympics.
· PC Olley organised the cadets at Alleyn School on Thursday evenings, which helped to reduce local ASB.
· In South Camberwell there were 52 neighbourhood watch schemes and officers gave crime prevention advice to those groups.
· A cannabis factory on the East Dulwich estate had been raided and several arrests were made.
In response to questions, Sgt Leach said that begging was an arrestable offence and a blight on the area. The public should contact officers who would deal with it.
Community Wardens
Jo Skelton, Community Wardens Team Leader, explained that team capacity would soon double to six wardens covering the Camberwell area. Wardens worked mainly in three strands: environmental crime reporting, tackling anti-social behaviour and issuing penalty notices for things such as fly-tipping and dog fouling. The focus of their work was about to shift a little away from the town centres and more towards the housing estates. Community wardens, as part of their duties, visited burglary victims and vulnerable adults during the winter period.
In response to a question regarding unauthorised advertising / billboards on pavements, Jo said he would follow that up and take action to deal with the problem.