Thurrock Community Safety Partnership

Key Strategic Aims of Thurrock Community Safety Partnership (TCSP)

The Community Safety Partnership exists to build and maintain relationships across the Borough so that those involved in community safety in its widest sense can support each other in the shared pursuit of our strategic aims.

For the period 2008-2011 in particular we will:

  • Reduce incidents of crime, anti-social behaviour and disorder
  • Bring extra support and protection for the vulnerable
  • Reduce death and injury caused through accidents and fires
  • Create a safe community by promoting tolerance and good citizenship

We will also seek to increase awareness of domestic violence, sexual crime and hate crime (crimes motivated by prejudice).

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Terms of Reference

The following file is in PDF format, please see how to access PDFs.

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How are we doing?

Current Performance

As the Partnership completes the second year of the 2008/11 crime reduction strategy there has been a 17%(1) reduction in crime (2) recorded in 2009/10 against the previous year, that's 1,332 less victims of these offences.

Criminal damage also continues to reduce, and reports of Anti-social Behaviour to the Police have also seen a fall of 9%.

Offence Category (3) Offences Recorded % Change, Year on Year
  2008/09 2009/10  
Violence against the person 2209 2096 - 5%
Sexual offences 103 95 - 8%
Robbery 176 143 - 19%
Burglary - dwelling 877 726 - 17%
Theft of a motor vehicle 810 630 - 22%
Theft from a vehicle 1361 945 - 31%
Interfering with a motor vehicle 196 120 - 9%

Key Achievements

Crime

  • Domestic burglaries have fallen by 17% - with 151 fewer homes burgled. This is due to a number of operations and initiatives, including Selecta DNA property marking which continues to be rolled out and has recorded success with the recovery of property. Burglary packs are also distributed as a matter of course to areas where burglaries are committed.
  • Vehicle crime continued to fall with 596 less offences, a 27% reduction. This has again been due to a number of initiatives and operations which have particularly targeted vehicles parked at Lakeside as well as the continued deployment of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) which has resulted in the recovery of stolen vehicles and led to the arrest of burglars.
  • Distraction burglary has been tackled through the continued roll-out of No Cold Calling Areas mainly to sheltered housing complexes. The message has been promoted at numerous community events and by Trading Standards which have been working closely with Social Care.. The result has been a fall in this type of crime to just 10 in the past year. We will continue to promote this message.
  • Through a number of cycle initiatives which included security marking – in particular at schools, passports and a tracker scheme; theft of cycles has reduced.
  • The incidents of wounding and knife crime in Thurrock have fallen as the consequence of a number of factors: Positive Activities for young people is offering more organised activities and events; the ongoing hard work of the drug and alcohol team has meant the numbers of people entering alcohol treatment has risen.

(1) Data taken from the database used for the National Statistics bulletin on crime in England and Wales published on 15th July 2010. Recorded crime figures remain subject to revision in future publications as forces resubmit data to reflect the latest information.
(2) Reported crime types as defined within the British Crime Survey Comparator.
(3) Not all crime types within BCS recorded measurement are detailed in the National Statistics.

  • Op Velo has seen Thurrock police Officers clock up the miles and reduce crime where they have been able to respond quicker to incidents and have increased their visibility

Anti-Social Behaviour

  • Thurrock's commitment to Anti-social Behavior was endorsed by the publishing of our minimum standards. The launch of these included a working together conference attended by 120 front line officers.
  • Locality Action Groups have been established to tackle ASB and one case brought to the group has been resolved through the use of an injunction.
  • ASB in Grays has been reduced through the implementation of a Designated Public place Order (DPPO) or Alcohol Free Zone, which gives the Police increased powers to seize alcohol.
  • Dispersal zones have been and will continue to be used in ASB hotspot locations.
  • Fly tipping in the Borough has reduced from 2408 reports in 2007/08 to 2211 in 2008/09 and was 1998 in 2009/10 a total reduction in two years of 410 fly tips.
  • Reports of nuisance motorbikes have fallen by a fifth this year following the installation of more than 200 signs across Thurrock warning that vehicles would be seized and even crushed.
  • A Firework campaign and operations had a positive effect on the number of small fires and criminal damage during November.

Protecting the Vulnerable

  • We have supported high risk repeat victims of Domestic Abuse through multi agency conferences and reduced our high risk repeat incidents (NI32) by 6%.
  • Re-offending rates of both our young offenders and our priority and prolific offenders continue to fall thanks to multi agency work and information sharing.
  • During 2009/10 Thurrock drug and alcohol team (DAAT) has performed well and hit all its key targets. The most important one is the number of Problematic Drug Users in Treatment; against a target of 212 for the year, the DAAT achieved 213 (this is a provisional figure which may well go up) and compares with the 207 in 2008/09. The target for the number of all drug users in treatment was 425 and we achieved 437, also up from the 426 in 2008/09. The number of referrals for alcohol treatment increased from 327 in 2008/09 to 349, whilst the number of successful alcohol brief interventions increased from 208 last year to 266 in 2009/10.

Road and Fire Safety

  • In 2009/10 there were 67 people killed or seriously injured on Thurrock's roads. This is a reduction of 9 on the previous year.
  • Operation Calypso was held to target road users on the A13 at Christmas and focused on mobile phones, seatbelts and drink driving.
  • There were ongoing campaigns to highlight road safety, including the attendance of 333 people at the road runners young driver campaign and a Safe Young Driver event was held at South Essex College.
  • "Arson About" was offered to all 10 secondary schools 7 schools engaged with 1,246 pupils attended and listening to the consequences of committing arson.
  • A new arson reduction project Potential Arson Targets {P.A.T.} has been presented to the Strategic Board and launched. Due to the increased awareness of arson through initiatives like this reporting increased with an additional 66 reports to the Fire Service making a total of 523 for the year (Ni33).

Promoting Tolerance

  • Racially motivated crime has fallen to 150 reported crimes from 270.
  • We have reduced our repeat victims by taking a multi agency approach to the way high risk cases are dealt with.
  • Victims have been supported through the protection of victims' homes, including the fitting of Arson proof bags.

Perceptions

As part of the efforts to improve the perceptions of residents that Thurrock is a safe place to live, a number of new initiatives and communications tools have been used:

Tilbury Postcard

  • A postcard campaign was used in a specific targeted area (Tilbury) to seek residents' views on what is and what causes ASB and how to solve it. Follow-up work has included high visibility and undercover operations focusing on litter and dog fouling.
  • Perceptions are to be measured again when follow-up work has been completed.

Partnership Walkabout Days

  • These are being held at different locations in Thurrock with multi-agency experts to respond quickly to issues raised by residents.
  • The first walkabout day held in March saw more than seven tonnes of rubbish, ten flytips and nine areas of graffiti cleared.

Communicating for Confidence

  • Perceptions will not increase unless residents are aware of the work that has been undertaken and is ongoing.
  • The Safer Thurrock newsletter, You Said We Did ward targeted newsletters alongside articles in the Thurrock Magazine and local press (Thurrock Gazette, Yellow Advertiser and Your Thurrock) have all promoted the work of the Partnership and its partners.
  • Members of the Community Safety Partnership have attended a variety of events providing crime prevention advice and an opportunity for residents to share their experiences and concerns.
  • Led by Essex Probation Community Payback projects undertaken and completed since March 2010 to date, have resulted in approx. 400 hours of unpaid work at minimum wage rates. One project has been continuing periodically from March and is not yet complete, as it was a large project (Mardyke Walk, Purfleet). Street Cleansing and Probation are currently discussing a long-term project for Community Payback due to start in 3/4 weeks time - clearance of overgrown shrubs, trees along the 70 miles of Thurrock's cycle paths.

Priorities

The Partnership priorities for 10/11 will focus on delivering further reductions in burglary and vehicle crime, and addressing the increase in non-domestic burglary (e.g. sheds). We will also be tackling violence against women and young girls, seeking to reduce crimes against young people; in particular we have received funding to implement a tackling knives action plan (TKAP), and are a designated TKAP area. We will also ensure that we promote the reporting of all forms of hate crime especially against those with a disability.

In addition we need to continue to address the perceptions of residents of Thurrock and build their confidence in the Police and Local Authority so that they believe and recognise positive action is being taken to tackle crime and Anti-social Behaviour and that Thurrock is becoming a safer place to live. As part of this we are committed to continue to tackle the problem that Thurrock has with car cruisers and we will be running a number of operations over the summer months.

Re-offending is now a statutory obligation placed on partnerships and we will continue to focus efforts on our most persistent individuals and families.

The development of the work to address concerns of violent extremism in all its forms is ongoing Future Plans.

Future Plans

Since April 1st 2010 Crime and Disorder partnerships have been renamed Community Safety Partnerships. Our focus and commitment remains the same; to make Thurrock a safer place. We will be reviewing our strategy in December 2010, to tell us your priorities contact us at safer.thurrock@thurrock.gov.uk

Download the Report

Contact Details for the Community Safety Partnership

  • Thurrock Community Safety Partnership
  • Civic Offices
  • New Road
  • Grays
  • RM17 6SL

Telephone Number: 01375 652301

E-mail:

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Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy

Strategy 2008-2011

The Partnership has a legal responsibility to ensure that a crime and disorder reduction strategy is produced and implemented with strategic objectives monitored and evaluated. The Partnerships are supported regionally by the decentralised Government Offices. The Government Office for Thurrock is the GO East Team based at Cambridge.

Both the full TCSP Strategy 2008-2011 and a summary are available below (please see how to access PDFs):

Strategy 2005-2008

The TCSP Strategy 2005-2008 is available below (please see how to access PDFs):

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Thurrock Council's Community Safety Strategy

The Thurrock Council strategy sets out the Council's approach to tackling community safety, and crime and disorder issues within Thurrock, and will assist the Council in continuing its work towards achieving targets against both National and Local Indicators, as well as demonstrating Thurrock Council's strong commitment to Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

The Strategy will be reviewed annually and updated in collaboration with the Thurrock Community Safety Partnership, and its strategies and plans.

Thurrock Council's contribution to the Thurrock Community Safety Partnership has helped to achieve some encouraging crime reduction figures. Between April and October 2009 compared with April and October 2008 there have been 755 less crimes, which means 755 less victims.

A small number of copies of the Strategy will be available for Thurrock residents in a paper and bound format for those who do not have internet access.

The full Thurrock Community Safety Strategy is available as a PDF (see how to access PDFs):

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Thurrock Community Safety Partnership Structure

The structure of the Thurrock Community Safety Partnership is outlined in a diagram below (please see how to access PDFs):

Thurrock Community Safety Partnership Information Sharing Protocol

The Thurrock Community Safety Partnership has a protocol to facilitate data sharing between signatory partners in the implementation of the crime and disorder reduction strategy for 2008/11. For further information contact us at safer.thurrock@thurrock.gov.uk

The full protocol is available below (please see how to access PDFs):

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Help Impact Essex Policing

Supported by Essex Police, the independent Advisory Group provides unbiased advice and opinions on a wide range of race-related issues and incidents. The Group inform policy and decision-making, as well as ensuring transparency and fairness.

We are looking for volunteers who are able to meet every two months as a group and to attend meetings with senior officers at short notice in the case of serious incidents. You should be articulate, passionate and committed and prepared to provide an objective personal opinion without representing any particular gmup or section of socie. You do not have to be a pillar of the community or have any specific experience: we want members from ordinary backgrounds who can reflect the community we serve.

Additionally we are also looking for volunteers who have an awareness or insight into the needs and issues of Thurrocks diverse community of children.

For more information, email thurrockiag@aol.com.

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Useful Links to external web sites

Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 - call anonymously with information about crime.