Agenda item

A presentation by Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Davison.

The Chairman welcomed Detective Chief Superintendent (DCS) Chris Davison to the Committee to give presentations in relation to Community Safety and also Operation Pottery.

The first presentation was in relation to the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Section 17 introduced Community Safety Partnerships with a requirement that all local authorities have a Community Safety Partnership.  For two-tier areas a County Strategy Group was required.  In Lincolnshire the requirements had been brought together under the Safer Lincolnshire Partnership (SLP).  Statutory requirements included the preparation and implementation of a partnership plan that set out a strategy for the reduction of crime and disorder and also addressed the priorities identified in the strategic assessment.  Protocols and systems were required to be set up to enable information sharing on community safety issues together with regular consultation and engagement with the public.  One or more public meetings were required to be held each year together with the need to commission Domestic Homicide Reviews following notification from the Police of a domestic homicide.  These reviews were carried out by an independent chairperson and looked at lessons learnt and how these could influence future work. 

The aim of the SLP was to reduce crime and disorder and increase the safety of individuals and communities in Lincolnshire.  Lincolnshire, compared to some districts was relatively safe, however, following the Police Crime Commissioners survey, the results were “off kilter” as there appeared to be a dis-connect between people’s perception and the facts, it was how this gap could be bridged.  Traditionally law and order fell to the Police, however in today’s society improved communication, coordination and collaboration between agencies was required.

DCS Davison then spoke about the SLP’s structure.  Each District Council was represented by an elected Member on the Overview and Scrutiny Board (OSB). This Board represented the views of the public within the SLP and oversaw and scrutinized partnership activity and decisions.  As part of its statutory functions it regularly engaged and consulted with the public about their community safety priorities and issues. The Strategy Board was made up of multi-agency partners and was responsible for devising and implementing a strategic plan to address SLP priorities.    Priority setting and strategic assessment was carried out by Police analysts who identified 10 issues as high risk. These issues were then looked at by Safer Communities Service analysts to develop a partnership strategic assessment. Previously too many priorities had been identified so the list was reduced.  Core priorities were; Anti-Social Behaviour, Domestic Abuse, Reducing Offending and Serious Organised Crime with the focus being put on Fraud and Modern Day Slavery.  Cross cutting and emerging issues were in relation to mental health and substance misuse where there was often a link.

A key driver going forward was the need for information sharing between agencies and organisations.   CDS Davison then gave a brief outline of each priority which would have a delivery plan with seven or eight main objectives behind it.

Members then discussed what had been presented and gave their points of view on reporting incidents and the lack of “bobbies on the beat” and how crime had changed from what it used to be years ago with the introduction of the internet and the shrinking resources available to the Police.   Reference was made to Crime stoppers where anonymous reporting could be made.  Knife crime was also discussed and it was stressed that although there were occasional incidents in Lincolnshire it was not a major problem.

DCS Davison was thanked for the presentation.

DCS Davison then gave a brief presentation on County Lines.  The presentation was one that was given to neighbour Police Officers and PCSO’s.  The definition of county lines was given as:

County lines is a term used to describe gangs and organised criminal networks involved in exporting illegal drugs into one or more importing areas [within the UK], using dedicated mobile phone lines or other form of “deal line”. They are likely to exploit children and vulnerable adults to move [and store] the drugs and money and they will often use coercion, intimidation, violence (including sexual violence) and weapons.

DCS Davison then spoke about what a gang was, who it could consist of including friends or members of family and the reasons people joined gangs. There were no indigenous street gangs within Lincolnshire. The gangs were based in bigger cities such as London, Nottingham and Birmingham.  The higher ranking members of gang would remain in their home city and control the drug line number.  Lower gang members who were often vulnerable teenagers were exploited and sent to the smaller cities and towns where there was a lower possibility of violence from resident dealers towards the incoming runners.  DCS Davison then went through how a County Line was established and showed a diagram how the operating system for the drugs network worked. It was a complex and well set up operation and it was between one week and one month before the Police would realise an operation was being set up in a new town.   Local suppliers posed less of a threat and could be kept in line with the use of violence. Each County line could bring in £2,000 a day, the workers who were expected to work around the clock would only receive a small portion of this between £100 and £150.  The risks were bigger for gangs when firearms were involved although they did routinely carry knives but there had been acid attacks in other parts of the Country.    Runners were often missing persons around 12 or 13 and they were transported around the Country using the rail network, taxis and hire cars.  There was also a link with Child Sex Exploitation with young females.

DCS Davison was thanked for a very informative presentation.