Issue - meetings

To allow members to put any relevant questions to the Borough Commander.

The Borough Commander, Inspector Matthew Walton introduced himself and invited members to raise any issues that they or residents may be concerned about.

The Committee noted that incidents of violent crimes had heightened recently with concerning reports regularly being shared on social media. The Borough Commander explained that violent crimes had increased nationally, however arresting and charging perpetrators of serious violent crimes was a priority. Various violent crime reduction projects were also ongoing across the country and there were aspirations for Surrey Police to progress these ideas in our borough.

The Committee acknowledged that many of those engaging in crime within Spelthorne were travelling by train from outside the borough into stations such as Sunbury and Ashford where there was no manned presence or barriers to prevent them from leaving. The Committee queried whether Surrey Police could trial a manned presence around these stations and see if it makes any difference to wider offending. Inspector Walton clarified that safety in train stations fell into the remit of the British Transport Police, however, Surrey Police were in regular contact to raise concerns with this force as well as British Rail. Consideration would be given to initiating a targeted operation in future on certain stations together with British Transport Police.

Members raised that residents were often reluctant to report crimes due to lengthy response times and asked what steps were being taken to improve this situation. The Borough Commander detailed that ever increasing demands, lack of staff and funding, the increasing number of incidents and prioritisation of incidents was collectively contributing to slower response times. Generally, physical risk was prioritised over property risk however Surrey Police were making all efforts to mitigate delays for all reports.  

The Committee questioned whether Surrey Police had sufficient resources to support staff, particularly in relation to wellbeing. Inspector Walton identified that there were budget and resourcing challenges within the force, which had knock on effects on staff physical and mental health. There were a number of wellbeing services which police staff and officers could access for support.

Members highlighted that recent plain clothes patrols in Shepperton High Street had been useful in developing intelligence related to shopliftings to support local businesses. Members insisted that similar proactive operations should follow as many small shops were losing stock and customers were intimidated. Inspector Walton reinforced that a number of targeted operations were in place to reduce retail crimes in Spelthorne’s high streets.

The Committee asked how understaffing was impacting the force. The Borough Commander responded that although recruitment into the force was doing well in some areas, there was still a lack of PCSOs and Police Staff which resulted in warranted officers spending more time in office rather than on the street. There were further issues with retention and the fact there was a growing young force who were less experienced in policing.

The Committee stated that drugs offences were taking place regularly in the same locations across the borough, and asked whether a breakthrough on identifying repeat  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30