Agenda item

Consider Minute of Meeting held on 13 February 2015.   (Copy attached.)

2.1       There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the meeting held on 13 February 2015.   

DECISION

APPROVED the Minute.

2.2       MATTERS ARISING

(a)     With reference to paragraph 5 (b)(i)  of the Minute, Chief Inspector McLean advised that ages were not recorded in relation to the  statistics for  older people in the age hate crime category. 

         DECISION

         NOTED.

(b)     With reference to paragraph 5(b)(ii) of the Minute, Inspector Scott advised that the flyer relating to SB Alert had been issued to Members.

         DECISION

         NOTED.

(c)     With reference to paragraph 7(b) of the Minute, Mr Scott advised that a representative from the Ambulance Service would be invited to a future meeting to give a presentation on their operations and how they linked in with Police Scotland, Fire and Rescue Service and the NHS.

         DECISION

         NOTED.

(d)     With reference to paragraph 11(a) of the Minute, Chief Supt Imery advised that it was difficult to quantify the contribution of CCTV to criminal proceedings, and to the wider prevention of crime and community reassurance.  Criminal Justice colleagues confirmed that the highest volume of productions, i.e. evidence for court, came from CCTV recorded evidence, and it was a fundamental tool for all investigating officers.  One of the first actions on all crime reports was to confirm that CCTV had been checked.  There was no central monitoring facility for CCTV in the Scottish Borders, and officers interrogated systems locally to glean evidence for criminal cases.  There was such a centralised monitoring facility in Edinburgh, and the data collated there gave an indication of the value of CCTV.  Over the calendar year 2014, the central monitoring facility logged 15,255 incidents, and monitored 1,618 arrests, 860 of which resulted directly through the actions of the central monitoring facility.  The facility received 4,389 requests from officers to view CCTV, and prepared 1,654 court and further enquiry packages.  No figures were available from the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service to show the number of convictions resulting from CCTV evidence.  It was a fact that criminal proceedings had been taken against offenders in cases of serious violence where the victim was unwilling to report the crime, but where the offender and his/her actions could be seen on CCTV.  Most commonly, the CCTV formed part of the evidence in a case, and could lead to an offender pleading guilty at an early stage, saving victims and witnesses from giving evidence in court and reducing the impact on court and police time.   It was noted that Members of the Teviot and Liddesdale Area Forum had agreed that quality of life funding be used to upgrade and extend the existing CCTV system in Hawick.   This was now housed in a suitable building which the Police had access to 24 X 7  by means of a punch code entry system enabling them to extract the necessary information.

         DECISION

         NOTED.

(e)     With reference to paragraph 12(b)(i) of the Minute, Members were advised that Councillors Moffat, Turnbull and Herd together with Mr Scott had visited Bilston Glen  on 13 May 2015.   The visit had been first class, and Members noted that there had been huge progress made over the last few weeks.  Background information was given on the visit in relation to the operation of the centre and an updated report would be presented to the Board in 3 months’ time because the establishment was not fully complemented in relation to staffing at the present time.    A suggestion was made that staff from Bilston Glen attend a meeting of Council to give a power point presentation on the operation of the facility but it was agreed that a more appropriate way forward would be for an open invitation for any Councillors or colleagues, to visit Bilston Glen in person.  Anyone wishing to do so should liaise with Chief Supt. Imery or Mr Scott to enable arrangements to be made for a visit.    The Chairman encouraged Members to take up this offer.

         DECISION

         NOTED.

(f)     With reference to paragraph 12(b)(ii) of the Minute, Inspector Scott advised that a consultation with stakeholders in relation to by-laws in the Scottish Borders was ongoing.  After Scottish Ministers had been consulted he would bring a report on by-laws to a future meeting.

         DECISION

         NOTED that Inspector Scott would bring back a report on by-laws in the Scottish Borders to a future meeting.

(g)     With reference to paragraph 12(b)(iii) Chief Supt. Imery advised that since the introduction of Police Scotland, arrangements for Diversity Lay Advisors/Community Advisors remained as they were under legacy police forces.  The process was reviewed by the national Safer Communities Unit with a view to identifying existing arrangements and creating a national scheme.  The Lothian and Borders Police scheme operated under an arrangement with Edinburgh City Council. On 13 April 2015 a letter was issued to Lay Advisors across Scotland, including those in the Scottish Borders, inviting them to be part of the national scheme for Community Advisors.  Once all the replies were received, any gaps in specialities or geography would be identified and efforts made to recruit and train additional Advisors accordingly.  In the meantime, current arrangements continued to apply. 

         DECISION

         NOTED.