The Borough Commander, Darren Williams, presented detailed information on crime patterns in Merton. He said that overall, performance is high and Merton has the fifth lowest level of crime in London. Of the 7 MOPAC (Mayor’s Office of Policing and Crime) priority indicators, the only red indicator for Merton is the level of theft from person offences.

Darren Williams reported that he has examined crime patterns forensically and discussed findings with partner organisations in order to identify areas for improvement and to reduce crime still further.

He drew the Commission’s attention to some of the key findings:

·         Theft, vehicle crime and burglary are the crimes committed most frequently in Merton

·         Wimbledon Town Centre is a clear hotspot for all crimes, as are (to a lesser extent) Mitcham and Morden town centres

·         Wimbledon Village and West Barnes are hotspots for thefts from cars

·         Burglary rates have reduced over the last five years. The peak months for burglary are September to November

In response to a question about the profile of local criminals, Darren Williams said they were mainly male (except for thefts from vehicles) and not young people on the whole.

Darren Williams stressed that reducing crime is a partnership activity and he highlighted the role that the Council and councillors can play in helping to get crime prevention awareness messages across to residents, particularly in relation to burglary and theft from cars.

Commission members described some of the local issues brought to them by residents in relation to drug dealing, gangs, fear of crime and safer neighbourhood policing. Darren Williams said that the police rely on local information to target its activity and he therefore welcomed contact and feedback from residents and councillors.

Commission members asked for information about officer numbers so that they could assess the level of resourcing provided by MOPAC. Darren Williams said that there are currently 328 officers of all ranks in Merton and that this will increase to 351 by the end of 2015. Of these, 216 are constables (233 by 2015) and 45 are PCSOs (40 by 2015). He undertook to provide the number of Safer Neighbourhood Officers as well as a ward breakdown of numbers by officer type. ACTION: Borough Commander.

In response to a question about how many reported crimes are solved, Darren Williams undertook to provide this information. ACTION: Borough Commander.

A Commission member asked whether the buildings no longer used by the Police could be made available for community use. Darren Williams said that those leased buildings were still being used by the Police.

RESOLVED:

·         To thank the Borough Commander for the excellent work in keeping crime rates low

·         To ask the Borough Commander to provide any future reports or presentations in advance of the meeting so that Commission members can absorb and consider their questions

·         To invite the Borough Commander to future meetings (note – under agenda item 8, the Commission agreed to invite him to the meetings on 26 November 2013 and 11 March 2014) 

·         To ask the Borough Commander to provide information on the number and roles of all police officers in the borough pre and post the move to the Local Policing Model, not just those in neighbourhood teams.