Agenda item

(i) Update on Service and Operational Matters.

(ii) Performance Report. (Copy attached.)

(iii) Local Policing Plan Survey

Your Police 2022-2023 - Police Scotland - Citizen Space

Superintendent Vincent Fisher

2.1       There had been circulated copies of a report by Police Scotland with the agenda.  The Chair explained that whilst there was a level of crime present in the Scottish Borders, the region on a whole was a safe place to live.  Domestic violence continued to be an area of concern for the Board, and the Chair expressed that whilst domestic violence rates appeared to be increasing, that rise could be attributed to much higher levels of reporting than there had been historically.  The Chair placed on record her thanks to the Fire Service for their quick response to the fire at the swimming pool in Peebles, and welcomed Chief Inspector Vincent Fisher to present the Police Scotland report. 

2.2       Chief Inspector Vincent Fisher explained that Detective Inspector Ben Leathes was present at the meeting, highlighted that he had extensive experience, and was actively working on managing domestic abuse incidents.  A link to the Local Police Plan survey had been circulated with the agenda, and the Chief Inspector thanked those who had taken part in that survey.  The events calendar in the Scottish Borders had been busy with the return of common ridings and other related events.  Whilst there had been increases and decreases in crime rates, the Chief Inspector stressed that those rates did not necessarily reflect a rise or fall in the number of crimes which had occurred.  

2.3       Chief Inspector Fisher invited Detective Inspector Leathes to provide insight into work ongoing related to domestic abuse.  DI Leathes explained that he was responsible for the management of domestic abuse incidents, and explained the pathway that investigations followed.  From the initial reporting of the incident, Police Scotland would attend and seek to determine whether a crime had occurred.  There would be a risk assessment by a police risk assessor, which would allow historical or past abuse to be correctly explored and risk assessed.  The risk assessment officer would then make an assessment of the safety plan and consider referrals.  If the incident involved sexual offences, officers would form contact with the victim and over a number of weeks seek to progress the investigation.  Risk assessment officers would determine if the incident had met the required threshold of severity to merit a referral to the MARAC process, a co-ordination group which worked across the Scottish Borders to investigate high end cases of abuse, such as where there had been multiple and repeated incidents.  The Partnership would examine all of the available information on the victim, the family of the victim, and the perpetrator, and a safety net which would provide support to them would be planned.  A process was in place for instances where the perpetrator had been determined high risk, which would involve high level research and cross county investigations.  DI Leathes explained that the Domestic Abuse Disclosure Scheme, which was proactive in nature, and through which any party could raise concerns about a relationship, was also active.  A request could be made via the Force website, which would allow an assessment to be carried out and the degree of risk assessed.  If the risk was of a sufficiently high level then a disclosure could be made to the person entering a relationship with the person who posed a risk.  The key focus of the scheme was the desire to ensure that people were safe. DI Leathes highlighted that training had been extended beyond Police Scotland to other agencies and staff, such as midwives, which worked with people directly.  Those agencies and staff could all refer into the MARAC process, and there did not need to be a police incident to try and safeguard potential victims of abuse.  The Violence Against Women Partnership involved a large number of partner agencies, and sat above the other structures such as MARAC and the Domestic Abuse Disclosure Scheme.  The Chair thanked DI Leathes for his insight and highlighted that the Board were keen to assist in any way that they could. 

2.4       In response to a question regarding the specialist training provided to officers on the streets, DI Leathes explained that specialist input was provided to officers, and that his team would liaise with officers once they had completed college.  There were also domestic abuse champions, who were trained to a greater degree and could provide insight to colleagues.  Sergeants were provided with specialist training via sessions, and training was built into every level of the force.  Regarding reporting of domestic abuse by neighbours, DI Leathes stressed that if there was an ongoing disturbance which posed a high level of risk it was important to call 999.  Should neighbours wish to report incidents in a subtle manner, then Police Scotland would respect that and contact the caller in the appropriate manner.  In response to a question regarding the 66.7% rise seen in bail offences, DI Leathes explained that a large court backlog had accrued due to Covid-19 restrictions, and stressed that Police Scotland always sought to enforce bail checks, and were always proactive following domestic abuse incidents.  A larger number of people were on bail than in 2019.  The Group Manager – Safer Communities & Homelessness stressed that accredited training had been provided to all domestic abuse advocates.

2.5       Chief Inspector Vincent Fisher presented the Quarter 1 Police Scotland Report, outlining that hate incidents and hate crimes were up compared to the five year average. However, detections were down, which was attributed to a difficulty in securing the appropriate level of evidence.  CI Fisher highlighted that his officers often found themselves as victims, and that steps were taken to tackle repeat offenders.  Reports of sexual crime had increased by 7.7% across the Scottish Borders compared to the five year average.  The detection rate had increased by 5.5% compared to the five year average.  26% of the reported sexual crimes were non-recent for Quarter 1, which in many incidents dated back years, or even decades.  CI Fisher highlighted that reporting of historical offences was a testament to the collective strength of victims.  Drug supply remained a priority and local policing teams continued to respond to intelligence in relation to drug misuse.  Detection in relation to drug supply, production and cultivation were down by 13.8% compared to the five year average.  The links between drug supply, production and cultivation, and organised crime was highlighted, and violence and acquisitive crime was also often linked to drug debts.  There had been a 57.5% increase in violence crime in the Scottish Borders compared to the five year average, which equated to an increase of 16.8 crimes.  CI Fisher explained that part of the increase was attributable to sextortion, which was the single greatest contributor to the percentage rise which had been seen.  The nature of sextortion crimes, often perpetrated by offenders overseas using sophisticated computer networks, presented a unique challenge in the perspective of police detection.  All housebreaking crimes had decreased by 32.2% compared to the five year average. Each incident of housebreaking was unique in nature, and ranged from crude, locally perpetrated incidents to sophisticated crimes involving organised crime.  Investigations were often complex, and work was ongoing to ensure that intelligence sharing was taking place between Police Scotland and Northumbria Police.  There had been one more fatal road casualty in Quarter 2 2022/23 compared to the Quarter 1 2021/22.  Serious injuries had reduced by 50%, and slight injuries by 32%.  There had been a 19.7% decrease in the overall number of complaints about the police.  In response to a question regarding the 20mph speed limit in towns and villages, CI Fisher stressed that Police Scotland had a focus of casualty reduction.  Where 20mph speed limits had been introduced there had been an approximate 3.5mph speed reduction, which represented a considerable reduction in the terms of potential harm from traffic incidents.  Police Scotland were focused on national guidelines in terms of speed enforcement, whereby resources would be directed to maximise casualty reduction, and therefore resources would not necessarily be directed to areas which did not represent a risk of casualty.  CI Fisher stressed that the 20mph speed limit remained legally enforceable.  Superintendent Alan Carson was present, explained that he sought to be proactive and undertook to circulate his contact details for attendees.  Attendees expressed their thanks for the full and frank report and for Police Scotland’s attendance and input.

DECISION

AGREED to note the Report.