Poole Safe Together Partnership

Draft

Crime and Drugs

Strategy

2005-2008

1st Draft – 4th February 04

Contact:

Amanda Bombardiere

Community Safety Manager

01202 633027FOREWORD

This is Poole’s first joint Crime and Drugs Strategy and covers the period 2005-2008. There are some challenging targets for the Partnership to meet and some key changes to the way in which this will be delivered locally.

The Drug Action Team (DAT) and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) have merged in Poole to create one Partnership called the Poole Safe Together Partnership. This Partnership must as part of its duties, amended by the Police Reform Act 2002, deliver a local Crime and Drugs Strategy every three years, on the back of undertaking a review of crime and drugs levels and trends in Poole over the previous three years. This work, found in the Poole Crime and Drugs Audit 2004, has been completed and considered ‘fit for purpose’ by the Government Office for the South West.

There are a number of priorities that to an extent are ‘set in stone’ for us over the next 3 years. One being tackling the misuse of drugs in Poole. This work undertaken by the DAT, as part of the partnership is not only monitored by the Home Office but by the National Treatment Agency (part of the NHS).

The Police Reform Act 2002 is clear that ‘Drugs’ must be included in both the audit and strategy but does not dictate what crime types need to be prioritised in the same way. A number of crimes are reviewed in the Audit but through a process of prioritisation only between 5-7 including drugs can be realistically focused on throughout the three year period.

The major change for the local partnership has come in its new responsibility to deliver a number of national targets, outlined in more detail throughout this strategy. In relation to crime this is Public Service Agreement 1 (PSA 1), which sets a target to reduce crime by 15% nationally using 10 ‘comparator crimes’. In Poole the target is to reduce crime by 17.2% over the next three years.

The Partnership must monitor not only the Crime and Drugs strategy and targets set within this but also these ten crimes to ensure it is meeting its duties and contributing to the PSA 1 target.

In relation to drugs, Public Service Agreement 4 is also one of the key national drivers. Although Local Authorities are responsible for meeting PSA targets the DAT plays a contributory part in ensuring that the drugs targets are met. In addition, the DAT has a number of other challenging targets set by the Home Office and National Treatment Agency and these will be monitored through a new Performance Management Framework at both a national and local level. In view of the diverse range of drug related issues for which the DAT is accountable, a detailed Drug Strategy has been developed which identifies additional targets and actions in relation to each of the strands of the National Drug Strategy.

The Partnership also has to produce an Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy. Again this sets the direction and a separate strategy covering all aspects of anti-social behaviour has been produced by the Partnership. There are two Cross Strategy themes. One is to work with those committing most acts of crime, called the Prolific and Other Priority Offenders Scheme, some of whom have substance misuse problems. The Prolific and Other Priority Offenders task group sits within the Partnerships framework.

The other is to reassure the public. Crime has been falling but the feeling from the general public is that crime is still a problem and their perceptions are valid.

This strategy will tell you ‘what’ we want to achieve based on the audit over the next three years. ‘How’ this will be delivered on the ground will fall to the partnerships task groups to deliver. The main outcome of this work will ultimately improve the quality of life for people of Poole and create safer neighbourhoods, thereby contributing to the Partnerships vision of creating:

‘Poole – a place where those living, working and visiting feel safe, secure and healthy’.

Signature of Chair of the Partnership Board

CONTENTS (page numbers to be added by printer)

1.0INTRODUCTION

2.0HOW THE STRATEGY CONTRIBUTRES TO NATIONAL PSA’S

3.0THE WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE PARTNERSHIP

4.0OVERVIEW OF THE CRIME AND DRUGS FINDINGS

5.0THE PRIORITIES FOR POOLE

5.13PRIORITY 1 – TACKLING ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

5.34PRIORITY 2 – TACKLING ARSON

5.47PRIORITY 3 – TACKLING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

5.67PRIORITY 4 – TACKLING RACIST AND HOMOPHOBIC INCIDENTS

5.88PRIORITY 5 – TACKLING VEHICLE CRIME

5.104PRIORITY 6 – TACKLING VIOLENT CRIME

5.127PRIORITY 7 – TACKLING SUBSTANCE MISUSE

6.0MONITORING THE STRATEGY AND PSA 1

CONTACTS

APPENDIX 1

1.0INTRODUCTION

1.1This is Poole’s third Strategy looking at how to tackle crime locally but the first combined Crime and Drugs Strategy. The Strategy is built upon the evidence about certain problems in Poole researched and analysed in the Crime and Drugs Audit 2004.

1.2In order to carry out this work in the past two local multi agency partnerships were formed; one to tackle crime and disorder issues, called the Poole Crime and Disorder Partnership and one to tackle drug issues, called the Drug Action Team. As well as combining the Strategy the partnerships have merged to become one partnership called the Poole Safe Together Partnership (the structure can be found at Appendix 1).

1.3The Partnership has a number of duties placed upon it as a result of a number of different pieces of legislation but primarily its role is to:

  • Form a multi agency local partnership with four agencies responsible for its work namely; the Fire & Rescue Service, Local Authority, Police Authority, and Primary Care Trust.
  • Review problems about crime and drug misuse in its locality (the locality is based on the local authorities boundaries) every three years
  • And create a local crime and drugs strategy to tackle the identified problems.

1.4Newer duties or requirements upon partnerships include:

  • Developing a local strategy to tackle Prolific and Other Priority Offenders.
  • Developing a local Anti-social behaviour strategy.
  • To reduce crime in Poole over the next three years by 17.2%, setting local targets on 10 specific crimes.

1.5Underpinning the work of the partnership is the responsibility and need to create sustainable communities and ultimately improve the quality of life for those in Poole.

1.6This is done through its link with the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) in Poole, called the Poole Partnership. The Poole Safe Together Partnership is one multi agency partnership contributing to a longer term vision for Poole and will support the delivery of a number of key national and local outcomes:

  • To reduce crime, to reassure the public by reducing the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour and to reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs
  • To have cleaner, safer and greener public spaces
  • To increase the capacity of local communities so that people are empowered to participate in local decision making and are able to influence service delivery
  • To improve the quality of life for people in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods and ensure service providers are more responsive to neighbourhood needs and improve their delivery.

2.0HOW THE STRATEGY CONTRIBUTES TO NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENTS

2.1The Poole Safe Together Partnership will be contributing towards National Public Service Agreements (PSA targets) over the next three years. These targets will be challenging for Poole but will set the direction of travel and ultimately create a safer environment.

2.2These targets are:

  • PSA 1 - To reduce crime by 15% (nationally) over the next three years (this is made up of a reduction of 10 crimes which are mentioned below.) The South West target is 16.9% and Poole’s is 17.2% based on where we rank against all other partnerships. This is a mandatory target for Poole in 05/06.
  • PSA 2 - To reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime and anti-social behaviour and build confidence in the Criminal Justice System.
  • PSA 3 - To bring 1.25milion offences to justice by 07/08
  • PSA 4 - Reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs including substantially increasing the number of people entering treatment. (As measured by the National Drug treatment Monitoring Service)
  • PSA 6 - Increase the voluntary and community engagement, especially amongst those at risk of social exclusion. This is a mandatory target for Poole in 05/06 and the strategy includes the aims of where we want to be by April 2006.

2.3PSA 1 is broken down into 10 comparator crimes which have individual targets set against them for the 3 year strategy period in order to meet the overall target for Poole of 17.2%. These are;

  • Theft or unauthorised taking of a vehicle (inc attempts)
  • Theft from a vehicle (inc attempts)
  • Vehicle interference
  • Domestic Burglary
  • Theft or unauthorised taking of a cycle
  • Theft from a person
  • Criminal damage
  • Common Assault (inc on a PC)
  • Wounding (serious and other)
  • Robbery of person

2.4Individual targets have been set against the 03/04 baseline for 07/08 for each crime where appropriate, some have targets to maintain the current rate due to the fact the baseline figure is so low. Those crime types that also match the priorities within Poole’s Crime and Drugs Strategy and their respective targets are set within the relevant section for that crime, i.e. the target for criminal damage can be found in the Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour section. The other comparator crimes not considered a local priority are included in the section Monitoring the Strategy and PSA 1.

2.5Local Partnerships will have funding in order to carry out the aims of the strategy and help meet these targets from two different Government funding streams, the Safer & Stronger Communities Fund (SSCF) and the Basic Command Unit fund (BCU). The SSCF will be allocated to Local Strategic Partnerships to support the development of the Local Area Agreement. This strategy forms the basis for the ‘mini LAA’ which concentrates on the Safer and Stronger communities strand. and They also have core agencies funds for community safety activity. Drug based work is supported partially from this fund but has a number of other larger ring fenced funds for treatment and other drugs based initiatives.

2.6PSA 6 for Poole means developing how can we engage more fully with the voluntary and community sector to ensure that they have opportunities to meaningfully influence the crime and drugs agenda. This runs throughout the Strategy and the Partnership’s structure, for example, ensuring that on the Partnership there is a representative of the voluntary and community sector who can help develop a more effective and improved working relationship and feed into how the Partnership operate and how that works with this sector.

2.7Poole Safe Together Partnership will look towards the Local Strategic Partnership in Poole for an overall approach to ensuring this effective delivery and will need to follow this approach to ensure consistency.

2.8PSA 6 Targets will need to be set around three core areas:

  • Voluntary and community involvement in the Partnership, which includes developing our relationship with other Strategic partnerships.
  • Voluntary and community involvement in the audit and consultation.
  • Proactive community engagement in relation to community issues relating to the crime and drugs agenda such as anti-social behaviour in a particular area.

2.9Targets to achieve this are:

  • To increase the resources capacity to the Partnership from the Voluntary and Community sector by April 2006.
  • To review the role of the voluntary and community sector representative, invite a representative to undertake the role, and provide support and relevant development opportunities by October 2005.
  • To create a network of resident groups and a partnership service user panel to consult with on a variety of issues by April 2006.
  • To have two Neighbourhood Agreements in place by June 2006.

2.10This strategy is still a local strategy but takes into account national priorities and targets.

2.11The strategy will focus on how the Poole Safe Together Partnership will tackle the key strategic priorities identified by the Crime and Drugs Audit 2004. The next chapter will summarise the key findings of the audit and subsequent consultation and structure of the strategy.

3.0THE WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE PARTNERSHIP

3.1This Strategy is mainly about targets to tackle specific crime and drugs issues, however there is also a need to set Partnership Development targets. The audit highlighted some key issues for improving the work of the partnership which in turn benefits Poole. These were;

  1. To find out more about areas of crime that are still largely unreported
  2. To work with agencies to improve our knowledge about the drug problem in Poole
  3. To work closer together between the two existing partnerships to ensure a cohesive understanding of joint crime and drugs issues.

This to a large part will be co-ordinated by the Partnership and Performance Team.

3.2This follows the review the Partnership undertook to establish its key strengths and areas for development, called the Self Assessment.

3.3As a result the Partnership began an integration of Partnerships between the Crime and Disorder Partnership and the Drug Action Team. This resulted in a new name, logo, vision, terms of reference, funding structure, membership and partnership structure. Despite much success in 2004/2005 to improve working to deliver better results to people in Poole, there are still areas to further develop.

3.41. The purpose of the Partnership is to bring agencies together to better tackle crime and find ways to prevent drug misuse. Poole’s partnership only has so much money to achieve this. The partnership identified that by becoming a stand alone entity there may be greater scope to draw in funding to which statutory agencies do not have access, as well as improving accountability.

3.5Partnership Target One – To investigate how the Partnership can draw in additional funds by June 2006.

3.62. Nationally using the British Crime Survey almost ¾ (73%) of the public believe that the national crime rate is rising. In Poole the Partnership use the Poole Opinion Panel. Despite low rates in the area people still believe that crime is a bigger problem than it is. To contribute to this the Partnership has set a target to change the way people feel about crime to reflect the picture the crime statistics give in Poole. This links with the Dorset Criminal Justice’s Boards target to improve confidence in the Criminal Justice System.

3.7Partnership Target Two (a) – To reduce peoples concern about all crime types included in the previous POP by 10% by 2007/2008 using the Poole Opinion Panel.

3.8(b) To include new crime and drugs questions in the Poole Opinion Panel in 2005 to gain baseline data on issues not previously asked.

3.93. Ensuring that community safety is mainstreamed throughout agencies’ work similar to the way in which health and safety is enshrined is not straightforward or obvious. Improving peoples’ quality of life and creating safer neighbourhoods is an ambitious aim but one which a number of key agencies sign up to in Poole. Making this happen in terms of the detail of service delivery is even more ambitious. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 made a clear statement that certain agencies were expected to do all they reasonably can towards this aim in terms of preventing crime and disorder in their areas. Section 17 of this Act stated that the Police and Local Authority and now joined by the Fire Service have a legal duty to ensure this happens.

3.10In practical terms this means these agencies reviewing their policies, strategies, plans and budgets. These will need to be considered from the standpoint of their potential contribution to the creation of safer neighbourhoods.

3.11Partnership Target Three – All agencies with a duty for section 17 to have an action plan to review compliance in place by April 2006.

3.124. One of the Partnership’s duties is to set up and monitor the delivery of the Prolific and Other Priority Offenders (POPO) Strategy. The aim of the strategy is to identify and work with those who are committing or at risk of committing a substantial amount of crime. There are three strands to this work:

  • Prevent and Deter – to try and stop those who have been identified, by perhaps one act of criminality that has come to the attention of agencies, from committing even more acts of criminality or anti-social behaviour.
  • Catch and Convict – to try and stop those who are committing more than six acts of anti-social behaviour or crime by offering them a ‘premium service’ which means offering perhaps an alternative to enforcement action such as drug or alcohol treatment.
  • Resettle and Rehabilitate – to try and work with those being ‘released’ back into Poole from prison, thereby preventing the ‘revolving door’ syndrome often associated with someone once they have been sentenced to imprisonment more than once.

3.13This is still a new developing piece of work. One of the key issues that need addressing is building trust between agencies so that they feel confident in bringing names forward. This will result in a positive outcome for both the individual and the community at large.