Agenda item

This report provides the Committee with an update following the previous meeting focusing on work of the Law Enforcement Team between December 2023 and May 2024.

Mo Basith (LET Manager) introduced the report (December 2023 to May 2024), highlighting the number of patrols particularly those in housing stock and parks, the number of service requests and the reactive or proactive actions involved, meeting the Police in several forums of different levels every month, working closely with the partners servicing the homeless, operation of PSPOs and actions taken against VAWG. He also shared the LET’s responses to several incidents that happened in the borough and the service compliments received during the period.

The Chair was pleased to note that the LET service had taken on board this Committee’s suggestion and arranged all officers to receive mental health training in February 2024.

Rough sleeping

Councillor Omid Miri was concerned if there was a pastoral element in mind instead of just enforcement when LET officers handled the rough sleepers.  Mo Basith stressed that enforcement was never the first step they used with rough sleepers. After obtaining the rough sleeper’s background information from the rough sleepers’ coordinator, LET officers might offer assistance to help them change their lifestyle or refer them to temporary accommodation.  Councillor Sally Taylor expressed appreciation on the compassionate way of the LET Manager and his team in dealing with rough sleepers.

The Chair asked about the protocol in removing the homeless person who was also begging, using drugs or engaging ASB in busy areas such as Hammersmith Broadway. Mo Basith noted the LET had tracked some familiar faces with frequent appearance in recent weeks/months and found that they actually lived in council properties. To deter them from undertaking these activities, the LET had served them warning notices.  In case of continual non-compliance as captured by CCTV cameras, enforcement actions would be taken, such as imposing fines.  In reply to Councillor Miri’s follow-up question, Mo advised the LET officers would be patrolling in their uniform so that they could do their job with the protective equipment (PPE).  

PSPOs

Councillor Lucy Richardson referred to the complaints she received against dangerous dogs and asked about the training that had been received by the LET officers in dealing with dangerous dogs and their owners. Mo Basith noted dealing dangerous dogs was a matter for the Police.  However, LET officers were trained to enforce the responsible dog ownership protection order (PSPO) which had been put in place more than six months’ ago to support responsible dog walking in public spaces. LET officers were empowered to take enforcement against those people whose dogs were out of control or fouling.

Noting that there were now altogether seven PSPOs enforceable in the borough, Councillor Miri was concerned about the capacity of the LET’s patrol officers in being well-versed in every single PSPO. Mo Basith referred to the LET A to Z which stated that LET officers were authorised to enforce PSPOs, and issued fixed penalty notice to anyone who breached a specific Order.  Ongoing training would be provided to the LET officers who could also obtain support from the senior if necessary. They might also be partnered up so their joint knowledge and experience could be utilised during the patrol to resolve the issues on the spot.

Noting that over the period of this report three joint operations had been conducted in Bishops Park with the local Police team, the Chair asked if the joint operations in respect of the Thames Path PSPO could cover areas further north.  Mo Basith apologised and clarified that the joint operations covered the entire Thames Path.  Under the PSPO, the LET officers would inspect the Path daily during the lunch and after school hours from 13:00-18:00 to tackle speeding and dangerous traffic behaviours.

Councillor Miri asked for an update on Shepherds Bush Green which was a crime hot-spot and a priority area under the Community Safety Plan.  He noted that the measures taken by the Police might have displaced some issues to the surrounding residential streets.

Neil Thurlow updated members that the Council had added lighting and high-specification cameras on Shepherds Bush Green and closed down some drug properties via the closure orders issued by the Police. Neil understood that Councillor Rebecca Harvey, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Community Safety was going to discuss with Christina Jessah, the new BCU Commander about strategic issues of drug supply and demand/dependence and ways to stop young people and other drug users being exploited by the drug dealers. In reply to the Chair’s enquiry, Neil said this was the BCU’s fourth Commander in three years while Craig Knight remained the borough’s superintendent.

Mo Basith noted that to address the displacement issue, the LET worked closely with the Police after the expiry of the closure order. The alternating patrol by both sides helped sustain a visible footprint over the neighbouring wards.  Upon residents’ complaints about ASB or other issues, the LET would deploy the CCTV van there in order to disperse people causing the nuisance.

Councillor Richardson asked about the length of the PSPOs.  Neil Thurlow advised that it was usually three years which was long enough to allow meaningful evaluation of the PSPO’s effectiveness before the next consultation for its continuation. 

Councillor Richardson expressed concern on the LET’s capacity constraints and asked about the ways to assess PSPOs’ effectiveness against other measures in addressing specific problems. Neil Thurlow explained that the PSPOs were made because the Police also faced capacity constraint.  For example, the Police was the only authority under the Highways Act to enforce against cycling on the pavement.   A PSPO was introduced to ban the antisocial use of e-scooters etc and it was enforceable by authorised officers. Neil further noted that PSPOs could be used to encourage greater engagement. For instance, the Alcohol Consumption in Public Spaces Protection Order allowed officers to engage with people of alcohol dependency, issued them a community protection notice/warning instead of a fine notice and encouraged them to seek treatment for alcohol addiction.

Neil Thurlow advised that there was work to do in aligning PSPOs and that, where there were longer term solutions possible work should be explored to seek alternative solutions e.g. via the use of bylaws.  Neil offered to further brief Cllr Richardson on PSPOs which was welcomed. A briefing note and offer of follow up discussion would be made outside of PAC.

                                                                                                    ACTION: Neil Thurlow

The Chair noted the increasing number of ebikes being left unattended on some of the pavements and caused accessibility issues to other pedestrians particularly wheelchair users.  Although the LET officers had removed the abandoned bikes proactively, it did not make any difference to the situation.  Mo Basith noted that the LET officers would move aside those bikes parked in the middle of the pavement.  They would also report this to the Council’s transport team which worked directly with the bike companies to remove the unattended bikes.

Emails

The Chair reflected the residents’ request for LET to operate a hotline after 5 pm.  Mo Basith referred to the Council’s emergency out-of-hour phone number that residents might call for life and limb situations.  Mo highlighted the 24/7 email service run by the LET. It had an average response time of 5 minutes even in small hours unless the inbox manager was busy during the patrols. Depending on the location of the patrolling officers, the deployment time was between 15 and 30 minutes upon emails receipt. The LET would also call the residents who asked for a phone call in the email. Councillor Taylor noted the quick response received by the residents in her ward.

Councillor Miri suggested deploying dedicated officers to monitor the inbox so that instant help could be provided to residents in need.  Mo Basith advised that the inbox was monitored by an administration officer during the office hours. Outside the office hours, the senior LET officer assigned to look after the inbox was also required to take up patrolling duty in small hours when emails were rare. It might cause some delay in responding to emails if the inbox manager was servicing the residents. Councillor Miri considered if capacity permitted, another administration officer could be allocated to monitor the email inbox outside the office hours.

In reply to the Chair’s further enquiry about the ward inboxes, Mo Basith noted that all emails of the ward inboxes would be forwarded to the central inbox.  The mail would be dealt with instantly if a quick response was needed. Otherwise, the related ward officer would take the matter up in the next office hours. Mo added that although the number of ASB over the reported period had been reduced, the number of email reports on ASB to the LET had increased. This might be due to residents diverting their reports from the Police to the LET which put ASB on top priority.

Councillor Miri noted that in addition to pastoral and enforcement functions, the LET officers also had an environmental function.  An example was cleaning up the junction of Wulfsan Street with residents and partners.  He urged the LET, capacity permitted, to spread the messages and raise this awareness among residents and councillors via emails. Mo Basith outlined the environmental tasks undertaken by a LET officer such as liaising with the landlords, clearing up lands and turning them into community gardens. 

Councillor Richardson commended the work of that LET officer and suggested running a story in the Council’s newsletter.  Councillor Miri proposed including it as a case study in the emails to be sent to councillors.  The Chair recalled that emails about the LET and officers’ patrol duty were sent to all councillors about two years ago. He considered now an opportune time to update councillors on changes and expansion of LET’s duties and functions.

ACTION: Mo Basith

The Chair expressed appreciation to the LET officers and everyone who went above and beyond to bring safer and more inclusive communities in H&F.

RESOLVED

That the Committee noted the report.