Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships

[solidarity]

Jennette Arnold (Labour, North East)
London Assembly Member
Following a successful career in nursing, Jennette Arnold worked as an
Industrial Relations Officer and as Regional Director of Services and
Special Adviser (Equalities) to the General Secretary of the Royal
College of Nursing. She then moved on to become a leading associate
with the award winning training and organisational development
consultancy, Beacon Associates.
Jennette was elected to Islington Borough Council in 1994 and held a
number of key positions, including a term as Deputy Mayor. In May
2000, Jennette was elected to the London Assembly. She was re-elected
in 2004 as the Assembly Member for North East London. Within the
Labour Group on the London Assembly she is the Lead Member for Culture
and Older People issues and also Chair of the Cultural Strategy Group
for London.
Jennette was re-appointed in 2004 as a Member of the Metropolitan
Police Authority. As a Member of the Metropolitan Police's multi-
agency Domestic Violence Working Group Jennette worked to help shape
the Met's Domestic Violence Strategy and lobbied to secure funding for
Community Safety Units. As an Assembly member Jennette investigated
the impact that safety concerns have on women's employment
opportunities and ensured that the needs of workers were included in
the Mayor's Safer Travel at Night project. Jennette chaired the London
Assembly Scrutiny into Smoking in Public Places, and has worked with
the GMB and TUC on the issue of Safer Workplaces.
Specific interests
 Policing crime prevention & community safety
 Key Human Resource issues, particularly recruitment and retention
and Health & Safety.
 Police Reform Agenda
 Domestic Violence
MPA Link Member for:
 London borough of Hackney
 London borough of Islington
 London borough of Waltham Forest
Contact details
 Telephone: 020 7202 0184
 Email: members...@mpa.gov.uk

Rachel Whittaker MBE, JP
Magistrate Member
An independent consultant, she was appointed to the Inner London
Division in 1995. She served on the Metropolitan Police Committee
(1995 - 2000) and was appointed to the MPA in 2000. A sociology
graduate from the University of London, she has worked in advertising,
marketing and human resources. She spent over twenty years with
Reuters, working in both the UK and North America, latterly as
director of personnel. She has extensive voluntary experience
including membership of a local authority, area health authority,
governor of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. Her
interests include travelling, walking, bridge and entertaining. She
was awarded an MBE in 2002 for services to the MPC and the MPA.
Specific interests
 Managing change
 Improving technology
 Crime and Disorder Partnerships
MPA Link Member for:
 City of Westminster
Contact details
 Telephone: 020 7202 0184
 Email: members...@mpa.gov.uk
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5. Formed in 2005, the Safer London Foundation helps to reduce crime
in London by supporting and funding innovative community-based crime
reduction projects. It works in partnership with the police,
government and business to make London's neighbourhoods safer places
to live, work and visit. SLF corporate volunteers and mentors work
across the capital's diverse communities, providing a unique and
valuable link between the people of London and its businesses. More
information about the Safer London Foundation is available at:
www.saferlondonfoundation.org.uk

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Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
Crime and Disorder is tackled across London by Crime & Disorder
Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) in each of the 32 London boroughs. They
are made up of a combination of police, local authorities and other
organisations and businesses who have banded together to develop and
implement strategies for tackling crime and disorder on a local level.
Safer London Problem Solving Awards
The Problem Solving Awards are a collaboration between the MPA, MPS
and the The Safer London Foundation, celebrating initiatives that
develop problem oriented policing techniques – in essence projects
that are responsive to local needs, are people focused and address the
causes of crime, not just the consequences. The projects are conceived
and put into practice in partnership between local police and
communities.
Presenting the 2008 Problem Solving Award, Cindy Butts, Deputy Chair
of the MPA, said:
"The Metropolitan Police Authority is once again delighted to see so
many effective projects that have had such positive results in the
local community. I offer my congratulations to everyone who entered
their projects but especially to the winners who have set a high
standard for next year's entrants to be judged by.
"The Authority firmly believes the problem oriented approach to
policing makes a significant contribution to reducing criminality and
anti-social behaviour at the local level and helps to achieve our aims
of reducing the fear of crime and making our communities safer
environments to live and work in."
Tony Shepherd, Chief Executive of the Safer London Foundation, said:
"The Foundation is pleased to once again be a partner in the Safer
London Problem Solving Awards. This year there has been a large number
of high quality, innovative applications and selecting the winners has
been a difficult task. Clearly the problem solving approach to
policing is now being undertaken in many areas of London and is making
a significant contribution to contemporary policing in the Capital."
Tim Godwin, Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing, Metropolitan
Police Service, said:
"I am very pleased to be involved with these awards. The winners
deserve every credit. Their determination, focus and partnership
approach have resulted in some excellent examples of the work that is
going on across London to address the fear of crime and issues of
community safety and reflects the MPS' commitment to safer
neighbourhood teams and problem solving policing."
Presenting the Safer Travel Problem Solving Award, Jeroen Weimar,
Chief Operating Officer (Enforcement and Compliance), Surface
Transport, Transport for London, said:
"TfL is pleased to be part of these awards and to have the opportunity
to recognise initiatives which are improving the travelling
experiences of everyone who uses public transport in London. The
problem-solving approach to dealing with crime and disorder issues on
and around the public transport network can produce brilliant results
and plays a vital role in reducing the fear of crime."
Notes to editors
1. Inaugurated in January 2006, the Problem Solving Awards recognise
the achievements of partnership projects between the police and local
communities to reduce crime and disorder. The awards are a
collaboration between the Metropolitan Police Authority, the
Metropolitan Police Service and the Safer London Foundation, the
independent charity that aims to reduce crime, promote community
cohesion and develop safer neighbourhoods through innovative community
led crime reduction projects.
2008 Problem Solving Award winning projects:
2. 1st place:
GASCOIGNE ESTATE BURGLARIES:
Barking and Dagenham
The Gascoigne Estate was having particular problems with Burglary.
Some residents had been burgled as many as five times in the previous
12 months - particularly ground floor flats.
It was discovered that the windows of these flats had numerous
weaknesses relating to the locking. Due to lack of community
engagement and fear, the residents were unwilling to come forward
against the offenders, who in turn took advantage of this situation.
In order to reduce Burglary within the estate, make the estate a safer
and cleaner place to live, and to build community engagement, various
measures were enacted, including;
 High visibility policing.
 Increasing community involvement in community safety and young
people schemes
 Crime prevention work including the installation of new window
locks.
 Cleaning teams assigned to remove graffiti and domestic/bulk
refuse.
As a result there was a 75% reduction in residential burglary in the
three months February to April 2007 compared to the previous three
month period (November 2006 to January 2007). This significant trend
of burglary reduction has continued. Residents are more forthcoming in
reporting crimes, and there is a positive turnaround in residents'
perception and understanding of community engagement.
2nd place:
ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR BY GROUPS OF YOUTHS ON THE CLEVELAND ESTATE
BETHNAL GREEN:
Tower Hamlets
In March 2005 the Bethnal Green South Safer Neighbourhoods team (SNT)
began a problem solving process to address the twin aims of reducing
anti-social behaviour and fear of crime among residents on the
Cleveland estate in east London. As the SNT worked with partners and
interacted with the young people on the estate it became apparent that
there were several underlying community cohesion issues that needed to
be addressed. Levels of mistrust between young people and the elderly
on the estate, and between young people and the police, were high.
In response the SNT and their partners held a 'World Café' event,
which brought the residents together and enabled them to bring issues
of concern into the open. To demonstrate their commitment to improving
their relationships with young people on the estate, the SNT suspended
work on Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and Acceptable Behaviour
Contract (ABC) applications.
In January 2006 the police and young people took part in mediation
sessions to progress the initiative. A number of these young people
began training in community development and some went on to become
peer youth workers. The partnership commissioned a community film
project to record and publicise the commitment of those living and
working on the estate to work together to improve their environment.
This innovative approach to tackling the causes of anti-social
behaviour and improving community cohesion has been enormously
successful. Between January 2005 and March 2007, recorded crime on the
estate fell 49%. The proportion of residents who considered youth-
related anti-social behaviour to be a serious problem fell from 100%
in August 2005 to 36% in March 2006, and some individuals previously
identified as instigators of anti-social behaviour on the estate have
become peer youth workers.
3rd place:
'PARKLIFE' - COMBATING DISORDER THROUGH PARTNERSHIP IN LOWER MORDEN:
Merton
Analysis of Merton's 2005 Annual Residents' Survey identified the
Lower Morden ward as having the highest fear of crime in the borough.
A consultation exercise to find the cause pointed the finger squarely
at King George's Playing Field, a park situated in the centre of the
ward, whose broken down fence allowed access to the park via open,
privately-owned alleyways. There was increasing youth disorder in the
park and in the streets around it, as it had become a focus for the
gathering of local youths to drink and smoke. The quiet residential
streets in the vicinity became awash with graffiti and a park ranger
living in a tied house in the park was subject to frightening
victimisation.
In response, funding was acquired to replace the fence for the 1.5km
perimeter of the park with a 5m high ultra-modern version. Resident
Action Groups were formed around existing Neighbourhood Watches and
alley gates installed. These resident groups were given incident
diaries in which to record anti-social behaviour, as there was an
issue with under-reporting. Intelligence gathered from these diaries
led to the identification of a cannabis factory next to the park,
which was selling drugs to the young people in the park. This was
raided and an arrest was made.
Diversion and engagement of the youths in the park took place, led by
the Safer Neighbourhoods police team but with assistance from youth
outreach workers, and 'Reclaim the Park' events took place, including
several youth football tournaments organised by the local police team.
Fear of crime in the ward dropped: in 2005 75% expressed concern about
crime, compared to 58% in 2007; calls to police in the park or its
perimeter dropped by 34%; and graffiti callouts to the park dropped by
39%.
Safer Travel Problem Solving Award winning project:
3. CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO BUSES IN FULLWELL:
Redbridge
Fullwell Safer Neighbourhoods team led a project designed to address
the disproportionate levels of criminal damage to buses on Route 169
in the ward. This crime trend caused considerable concern because
public transport was the only available method of travel for a large
proportion of the local community.
The main objective of this project was to address this issue on a long-
term basis, and in doing so prevent further bus service withdrawals,
whilst also improving safety for bus drivers and members of the
public. It was hoped that during, and as a direct result of the
initiative, good working relationships would be built with all the
partner agencies involved.
A multi-agency partnership was created which implemented several
measure including: reglazing the bus shelter; replacing the paving and
improving lighting in the area; and tackling the offending behaviour
of those believed responsible by way of education as well as
enforcement.
The project achieved all of its objectives: dramatically reduced crime
levels on the Route 169; improved public confidence in the police and
public transport; reduced fear of crime; and excellent professional
partnerships.

4. The MPA Scrutiny on Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
(CDRPs), published in January 2003, included a recommendation to
develop the use of problem oriented policing across London
(Recommendation 28:The MPA recommends the problem oriented policing
model as good practice for boroughs and CDRPs. It recommends that the
MPS evaluate how the model works in those boroughs where it has been
implemented and considers how it can be developed for use in all
London boroughs). The scrutiny report is available at:
www.mpa.gov.uk/reports/cdrpscrutiny.htm