Agenda item

Inspector Bob Darkens, Surrey Heath Borough commander, gave a presentation in respect of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) taking place in Surrey Heath.

Surrey Heath had been a target for SOC due to its high affluence and easy access to major cities such as Southampton, Reading and London via the motorway and railway network. Offenders of SOC often preyed on the most vulnerable in society such as drug and alcohol addicts, those with mental health problems and disabilities, the homeless, the elderly and vulnerable children.

Surrey Heath, like many areas across the country, had a known drug problem which was serviced by county line networks and had been a common thread in SOC cases. County line drug suppliers typically travelled from areas of high densities and often conducted exchange of illegal substances in the Borough for only a few hours at a time.

In addition to the trafficking and selling of illegal substances, Surrey Heath also experienced the following SOC:

·         Typically, elderly Surrey Heath residents were most vulnerable to fraudulent activities.

·         Fly tipping was often linked to other SOCs such as fraud. Surrey Police targeted and aimed to prosecute culprits via multiple convictions, as it was appreciated criminals, such as fraudulent tradesmen, were also likely to be those who dump waste materials.

·         Child exploitation was often allied to county lines and children in care were more likely to be victims of child exploitation.

·         The police had been challenged to find innovative ways to deal with cybercrime and had specialist units, such as the Surrey and Sussex Economic Crime Unit in order to tackle it.

There were several signs which indicated SOC maybe taking place.

·         A dilapidated, dirty, badly kept home or business premises may indicate criminal behaviour. In contrast the arrival of expensive goods or products in a home, without a proportionate change in circumstances may also indicate SOC.

·         People involved in SOC may have several mobile phones, known as “burner phones”.

·         The possession of fake or false documents may suggest involvement in larger criminal activity.

·         Cash only businesses had often acted as a front for money laundering.

·         Excessive amounts of beds and mattresses and poor appearance or health of residents had often been signs of human trafficking.  

Whilst the police led processes to reduce and stop SOC, it could not be tackled by one agency alone.

In most cases, it was not police officers who found the crucial signals or links which indicated the occurrence of SOC, but often key members of the community and staff of key services, such as mental health practitioners, cleaners and meals at home or adult social care staff. Surrey Police aimed to encourage informants of SOC by the reassurance of the sanitisation of information. Information was treated at Surrey Police Guildford headquarters to ensure the given information remains anonymous and unattributable.

Partnership working also strived to shield vulnerable adults from SOC. In Surrey Heath the Community Harm and Risk Management Meeting Forum (CHARMM), made up of multi-agency professions, worked together to identify and protect those at particular risk. The forum included representatives from the Council, Police, NHS, Adult Social Care, Children’s Services, Alpha Extreme, Housing, and Mental Health support providers.

Successful direct action at SOC in 2017 included:

·         The closure of 11 properties within Surrey Heath via the use of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Crime and Policing legislation. The properties had acted as bases for drug trafficking and hubs of anti-social behaviour. The effect of such closures had been exemplified by a report which had recently asserted that Surrey Heath was a hostile place for drug dealers.

·         The closure of a number of local brothels in 2017. Whilst it was underlined that prostitution was an illegal activity, there was acknowledgement that the police had limited resources and focussed on escort agencies, where human trafficking or other SOC might have also been taking place.

·         The carrying out of Joint Enforcement Days in conjunction with the Surrey Heath enforcement team against scrap metal dealers. Whilst only 2-3 businesses in Surrey Heath had licenses for scrap metal dealing, a number of other traders had been illegally trading and collecting scrap metal.

·         Working collaboratively with organisations such as Accent Housing and Adult Social Care had resulted in a number of Criminal Behaviour Orders being imposed.

·         Whilst Surrey Police had tended not to exact significant numbers of Dispersal Orders, it was recognised they could be a valuable tool when there were indications that Anti-Social behaviour could be linked to drug dealing. 

Arising from the Committee’s questions and comments the following points were noted:

·         Surrey Heath had the lowest rates of crime in the Surrey Police western division and the second lowest crime rate in the County. The crime resolution rate in the western division was 18%. Noting national crime survey statistics, in the past year crime nationally had risen slightly from a low base.

Surrey had also experienced a rise in reported crime. Whilst particular categories of crimes had high reporting rates such as burglaries, it was noted reporting rates for crimes such as domestic abuse and rape were significantly lower. As a result it was opined that the rise in reported crime should be positively perceived as it indicated higher reporting rates in the latter categories.

Despite this it was acknowledged incidents of Surrey-wide burglaries had spiked.

·         It was noted as a result of limited resources, illustrated by fewer visible police officers on the beat, greater emphasis was paid to working with neighbourhood watch groups and wider society. Members praised the informative social media bulletins from Surrey Heath Police, which formed part of the engagement with the local community.

·         It was suggested that Surrey Police may have withdrawn too many resources from engaging with local schools. It was appreciated that officer engagement with pupils in local schools was a valuable tool in order to reduce instances of youth anti-social behaviour, as exemplified by recent cases in Heatherside and the Old Dean.

·         Even though there was always slight potential for Greater London’s gang-culture and knife-crime problems to permeate into the neighbouring counties, there had been no sign of gang-related criminal activities in Surrey Heath. However it had been observed there were certain “social groups” who committed crimes. These crimes were often drug related and on very rare occasions could culminate in drug related violence.

·          Surrey Police currently worked in partnership with the Victim Support to keep in contact with victims. There were plans to move the provision in house following a combined Police and Crime Commissioner Victim Support Service model; which had been followed by several police forces nationally. The in house Victim Care Unit would aim to deliver a seamless, coordinated journey of support, which would run from an initial assessment to rehabilitation services such as counselling support. It was estimated that the unit would be running from April 2019 at an initial Surrey-wide cost of approximately £1.4 million a year.    

·         One of Surrey Police’s best non-material assets was its intelligence gained by its 10 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). PCSOs had been best placed to pick up crucial information in relation to SOC which led to various cases being transferred to the National Crime Agency.

·         Offences against people would always take priority over offences against property. Reflecting this, as a product of greater training and a more interventionist mentality, Surrey Police was better equipped to deal with cases of domestic violence than ever before. Whilst the reporting of domestic abuse cases had increased, the number of actual incidents per year had remained at roughly the same.

·         An equivalent proportion of the Surrey Police precept was reinvested to pay for police services in Surrey Police. 

The Committee thanked Inspector Bob Darkens for his informative update.