Levenmouth Area Committee
03 November 2010
Agenda Item No 9
Fife Constabulary
Operational and Community Briefing
1.0
Introduction
1.1
To provide Members with information on matters impacting on, or
involving Fife Constabulary, which have relevance to community safety
in the Levenmouth Policing Area.
2.0
Notable Enquiries
2.1
On 23 September 2010, two children in Sandwell Park, Buckhaven,
aged 3 and 12 years respectively, were bitten by an out of control dog.
The dog owner was reported for offences under the Dangerous Dogs
Act 1991.
2.2
On 30 September 2010, Police received reports of two taxi drivers
being robbed at knifepoint. Two males were arrested and appeared at
court in respect of these unrelated incidents.
2.3
On 01 October 2010, two men were disturbed attempting to break into
cars on Swan Street, Methil and were arrested by patrolling Officers,
they will appear at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court at a later date.
2.4
On 03 October 2010, an enquiry was received from the Metropolitan
Police in relation to telephone bomb threats being made to the
American Embassy in London. Enquiry traced the treats to a mobile
phone purchased in Leven and following good work a local woman was
arrested and charged, she is to appear at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court at a
later date.
2.5
On 04 October 2010, a 50-year-old female was assaulted by her
daughter using a knife after a family dispute. She was admitted to
hospital for treatment to a puncture wound to her stomach and later
released. The daughter appeared from custody at Kirkcaldy Sheriff
Court and was subsequently released on bail.
2.6
Also on 04 October 2010, while attending a call to Maple Gardens,
Methil a window of the police vehicle was smashed; further damage
was caused to another police vehicle on 07 October on Byron Street.
Enquiry later traced a 19-year-old youth for both vandalisms and he
appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court from custody for these and bail
offences. He was remanded in custody.
2.7
On 05 October 2010, two sheds were forced open on Lochiel Place,
Methil and two off road motorbikes stolen. The bikes remain untraced
and enquiry continues. It is important to highlight the dramatic
reduction in crimes of dishonesty, particularly break-ins to sheds in the
Methil area since the concerted day of action carried out on 25 August
2010.
2.8
On 09 October 2010, a 32-year-old female was assaulted while at a
house in Ivy Grove, Methilhill by a male using a knife. She sustained
minor injuries to her legs. The male responsible was later traced and
arrested and appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
2.9
On 11 October 2010, a male from Glenlyon Place, Leven, reported to
police that he had been slashed to the face. Police units attended and
noted details from him during which he stated he had been attacked by
two males. An enquiry was started involving the deployment of a
number of resources to trace the persons responsible however through
further enquiry it was learned the male had inflicted the injuries himself.
He was arrested and reported for wasting police time.
2.10
On 14 October 2010, a robbery occurred in Anderson Street, Leven,
whereby a male was threatened with a knife and robbed of a sum of
money. The male responsible was traced within an hour of the crime
being reported and appeared from custody at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.
3.0
Initiatives
3.1
The Safer Neighbourhoods Team commenced their deployment in the
Levenmouth area on 12 October 2010 and will remain in the area for at
least the next three months. The overall aim of the deployment is to
tackle antisocial behaviour and other crimes committed by identified
youths in the Levenmouth area using a tiered response. This will allay
community concerns and reduce the danger these youths currently
pose to themselves and others. The Team will work in partnership with
those agencies represented on the Area Community Safety Coordinating Group and will employ a number of tactics based on
disruption and enforcement in striving to meet their objectives.
3.2.1 Communities' Policing Division is divided into seven distinct policing
areas, each co-terminus with the boundaries of Fife Council's Local
Area Committees. Each of the seven policing areas has a compliment
of Officers who perform various roles and functions such as community
officers, response officers, CID etc. Our community officers are
responsible for management of the Community Engagement Model
and working productively with partners to deliver long term solutions to
often complex problems. Whilst response officers work a common shift
pattern across the seven areas, community officers do not. For
example at Levenmouth, community officers do not currently work a
Sunday or Monday but are available to provide enhanced support
during times of high demand on Friday and Saturday evenings. The
current differing patterns worked creates problems in terms of
resourcing community events across Fife and assisting in serious
incidents and crime enquiries. It is clear that this is not sustainable and
for this reason all community teams in Fife are moving to a 3-3-3 shift
pattern, which means three dayshifts, followed by three backshifts,
followed by three days off.
3.2.2 Levenmouth presently has two community teams, co-terminus with
Council Wards 22 and 23. It was clear that moving to the new shift
pattern was going to cause problems in terms of continuing to provide
much needed Friday and Saturday evening cover. To address this
Ward 23 has been sub-divided into two teams to create three
community teams each managed by a Sergeant. This will ensure we
can embrace the new shift pattern and provide seven-day working of
community officers in this area and thus enhance service delivery. This
change takes effect from 22 November 2010.
3.2.3 One consequence of this change is that Schools' Officer, PC Richard
Cartwright will move from his current Monday - Friday pattern to the
new shift pattern on 22 November 2010 and will become a more
integral part of the sub-divided Ward 23 community team. PC
Cartwright adds considerable value to his current role and enjoyed
much success as a consequence of the trust and confidence he has
built up in local pupils. PC Cartwright is fully funded by Fife
Constabulary but has remained as Schools' Officer by virtue of the
specific pressures and demands created by deprivation, youth crime
etc in this area. There is no intention of eliminating Levenmouth
policing area's commitment to this role, however with effect from 22
November, PC Cartwright will continue to be the Levenmouth Schools'
Officer but will only be dedicated to that role during his three dayshifts,
when they fall on a school day. In the three backshifts that follow, he
will have a responsibility to maintain dialogue and liaison with the two
schools to ensure any issues requiring attention are addressed either
by him, if feasible, or by alternative resources from the Levenmouth
area. For the remainder of his backshifts, PC Cartwright will be working
within the local communities building on the relationships he has
developed in the schools. When he is not on duty and the schools have
an issue or problem that would previously have been dealt with by PC
Cartwright (ie not an emergency), the schools have the names and
contact details for the three community Sergeants so that they have a
direct point of contact to assist them in speedily resolving any arising
situation.
3.2.4 This revision in the role of the Schools' Officer has been intimated to
both Rectors who have acknowledged the collaborative working that
has taken place over the last few years and the significant and positive
impact this has had on the ethos, work and activity of the schools. This
positive relationship will continue in the years that follow assisted by
continuity in the role provided by PC Cartwright.
3.3
The Managed Call Appointment System (MCAS) is now in place across
each of Fife's seven policing areas, managed centrally by the Force
Contact Centre. This system has now received an extremely positive
appraisal from those who responded to a recent survey in the
Levenmouth area. Unfortunately the disappointing response to the
survey means that the data gleaned does not have any statistical
significance. What is clear, however, is that the public value the
certainty of knowing when an Officer will arrive to address their
concern.
3.4
Operation LASER is now deploying again each Friday and Saturday
evening and the Levenmouth area has thus far successfully bid for
these additional Officers on at least one of the days each weekend
since recommencement. Part of the deployment strategy involves a
commitment to contact regular complainers to the Police to advise
them of the enhanced Police presence in their community as a means
of building reassurance and confidence in local policing. There is no
doubt about the positive impact these additional resources have on the
Levenmouth area. They primarily tackle those issues that concern the
public most such as youth disorder, anti-social behaviour, street
drinking etc.
3.5.1 Levenmouth has submitted two entries for the Force Problem Oriented
Partnership Awards 2010, one being Safer Neighbourhoods Levenmouth Youth Strategy founded on the significant reduction in
youth offending in the area over the last year. The second is entitled
Safer Neighbourhoods – Antisocial behaviour Maple Gardens, Methil
and recognises the significant achievements by partners in improving
community safety in that area. Two months on, following the closure of
the last walkway in Maple Gardens on 11 July 2010, analysis was
undertaken comparing a two-month period from 2010 to that of a
similar period in 2008. This analysis provides two significant outcomes:


88% reduction in STORM call cards and
83% reduction in recorded charges
between the two comparison periods for Maple Gardens.
3.5.2 The Awards ceremony takes place at Police Headquarters on 19
November 2010 and members of the Area Community Safety Coordinating Group will be present to support the Levenmouth bids.
3.6
The local festive safety campaign, Operation Tinsel, will once again
operate in the Levenmouth area during November and December
whereby dedicated high visibility patrols founded on the priorities of
violence, dishonesty and anti-social behaviour will seek to ensure the
area is a safe place to visit, shop and socialise in during the run-up to
Christmas.
3.7
The Station's dedicated vandalism team has now been in place for over
a month and is achieving good results, boosting the detection rate and
through positive prevention and enforcement tactics assisting in
reducing the commission of this offence by 50 crimes last month,
accounting for almost 40% of the overall Force reduction. The most
recent example is the detection of seven vandalisms at both Methilhill
Primary School and Buckhaven High School.
3.8
On Thursday 23 September 2010 the Alcohol Diversion Scheme
piloted in Kirkcaldy was rolled out throughout Fife. All persons issued
with an ASB Fixed Penalty Notice where alcohol has been a factor will
be offered the opportunity to attend a 3-hour intervention session run
by Fife Alcohol Support Service (FASS). The sessions will be run
locally in each area and organised by FASS. If they attend and
complete the session then the £40 Fixed Penalty Notice fine will be
waived.
4.0
Community Safety Co-ordinating Group
4.1
The group met again on 13 October 2010 and this meeting was again
well attended by all partner agencies. The meeting included an input on
the 'Getting it Right (for Every Child)' agenda and recently constituted
local group by Bernadette Duddy of Fife Council Education Service.
4.2
There was much discussion about the deployment of the Safer
Neighbourhoods Team and the Team were introduced to partners and
began networking and relationship building to ensure a collective
approach to tackling their objective. This included detailed discussion
in relation to the ongoing area Youth Strategy and there was valued
input from Social Work, Education and Sacro. There was also
considerable debate around the motorcycle and quad bike problem and
a range of tactics were discussed to address the issue.
4.3
An update was provided on the Shorehead area of Leven relating to
the anti-social use of motor vehicles during the evenings, which has
prompted numerous complaints from local residents. Discussions
between Police and Fife Council Transportation Service have been
productive and a traffic regulation order is being progressed to prevent
parking in the Shorehead car park between the hours of 2100 and
0600 daily. This should assist in alleviating the nuisance caused to
residents.
4.4
It was noted that there are no bonfire or fireworks' displays planned for
the Levenmouth area on or around 05 November 2010. Fife, Fire and
Rescue Service continue to monitor the situation in association with the
Police to ensure any unofficial bonfires are dismantled to allay safety
concerns. Police assured the Fire Service of their commitment to
support calls to bonfire/fireworks incidents in previously problematic
areas.
4.5
Following problems with the former Stuart's the Bakers' building in
Church Street, Buckhaven (vandalism, fireraising, dampness) the
group asked that a meeting take place between the building's owner,
Fire Service, Police, relevant Council Services and Ward 23 Elected
Members to progress its possible demolition as quickly as possible.
4.6
There has been limited use made of the area's Community Safety Fund
with only one successful application to date by the Street Pastors and
two others of limited monetary value pending. The group were
encouraged to suggest and promote initiatives where funding could
assist in improving community safety locally.
5.0
Performance
5.1
The following provides an overview of current crime trends in the
Levenmouth area for the reporting year to date, 01 April 2010 – 30
September 2010.
5.2
In this reporting period crime continues to fall compared with last year
with a reduction of 257 crimes, 1728 having been reported compared
with 1985 over the same period in 2009/10.
5.3
Detection rates for sexual crime have increased to 72.2%, which is
ahead of the Force target of 65%.
5.4
Initiatives held in recent weeks to address increasing reports of thefts
from garden sheds and garages have proven successful, contributing
to a reduction of 149 crimes of dishonesty being reported compared
with the same period last year. 801 crimes have been reported
compared with 950 last year.
5.5
Group 4 crimes that include vandalism and fire-raising have also
reduced by 63 crimes falling from 624 reported crimes last year to 561
in the current year.
6.0
Recommendation
6.1
Members are invited to endorse and support the policing commitment
being made by Fife Constabulary.
Chief Inspector Mike Stevens
Levenmouth Policing Area
Tel 01592 418910