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38 Oral Report from Rebecca Avery, Police and Crime Commissioner Outreach Worker PDF 19 KB
Minutes:
The Committee received an oral report from Sir Graham Bright the Police
and Crime Commissioner.
Sir Graham Bright the Police and Crime Commissioner made the following
points:
i.
A Speedwatch service had
been set up around Cambridge as there was an issue with motorists complying
with the 20mph speed limit. The Police
would issue tickets where appropriate and any money that was collected from
fines would be spent on road safety projects.
ii.
There were issues with cycling and cycle theft on
East Road, a stolen bike was retrieved from Mill Road. Currently there was a campaign to educate
people on the dangers of cycling without lights as this not only put the
cyclist in danger but also other road users.
iii.
The Police would like to see as many lights on in
the City as possible, the risk to road users and pedestrians needed to be
measured and considered.
iv.
A Victim Hub had been established to help support
victims of crime to recover and cope with their experiences. The Hub had three psychiatric nurses and it
was hoped that people would take advantage of this service. The Victim Hub was the first set up in the
Country and other Counties were using this idea.
v.
The number of frontline Police Officers had been kept
constant and the public said that they feel reassured when they saw Police
Officers around Cambridge.
vi.
Concerns surrounding domestic abuse remained, however there had been an increase in reporting
incidents and all Officers had received special training in this area.
vii.
Requested that any suspicions regarding human
trafficking were reported to the Police.
viii.
A Cyber Crime Unit has been set up in
Cambridgeshire, and a lot of work has been done with children in schools to
educate them about cyber crimes.
Members of the public asked a number of questions, as set out below.
1.
Mr Woodburn asked
whether the speed cameras in Cambridge were dependant on film which had to be taken
away to be processed. Mr Woodburn also
stated that he thought it would be better to install more high tech cameras
which might be expensive to purchase but would cost less money to
maintain. The enforcement of the 20mph
speed limit would be easier to enforce if had modern speed cameras.
Sir Graham Bright said that road traffic was organised on a three county
basis and was led by Bedfordshire. The
speed cameras were digital cameras and they flashed what was seen straight
through to a control room.
The speed cameras in Cambridge were due to be replaced with upgraded
pieces of equipment. Sir Graham Bright also
asked that hot spot speeding areas were reported to the Police so that tickets
could be issued, portable cameras could also be used in problem areas.
2. Mr Gawthrope asked about the 101 non-emergency
telephone number and stated that when he had phoned the telephone number he
gave up due to the length of time he waited for the call to be answered.
Sir Graham Bright stated that he had had a meeting about the 101
non-emergency telephone service 3 days prior to the Committee meeting. He also stated that there was a target to
answer calls within 30 seconds, with a further target of an initial pick up
within 5-9 seconds. It was also
confirmed that authorisation had been given to recruit extra staff for the 101
service, 7 new members of staff had been recruited however it took 8-9 weeks to
fully train staff members.
3. Mrs Cranmer asked whether mobile speed cameras
required street lights to be lit so that the speed cameras could work
effectively.
Sir Graham Bright said that he did not know the technical details but
would find an answer.
The Committee
discussed the following issues:
i. Pleased to hear that a Cyber Crime Unit had been set up.
ii. Questioned what percentage of funds would be received from speeding tickets and how this would be used.
iii. Requested clear data on domestic violence as domestic violence covered a multitude of crimes.
iv. Questioned what was being done about bad parking on the pavement.
v. Questioned whether there had been a freeze on the recruitment of Police Community Support Officers (PSCOs) and whether there was a threat to the number of Police Officers on the beat as budgets were to be cut for the Police.
In response to Members’ questions the Police and
Crime Commissioner answered:
i.
Emphasized that Members of
the public needed to report domestic violence crime to the Police.
ii.
Confirmed that cash
received from ticketing for speeding crimes was collected on a three county
basis being Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. A reasonable sum of money would
be received back for Cambridgeshire and the money would be put
towards road safety.
iii.
If someone parked in such a
way to cause an obstruction then the Police can take action.
iv.
The numbers of PCSOs had been
reduced however there were more Police Officers than when he came into
office. Currently the Police had a
balanced budget for this year and the next year, further work had been put into
joint working with Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire in order to make further savings.