Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Crime and Disorder Committee meeting held on 2 February were an accurate record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

1.            Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Price provided an update to the Committee in terms of Kent Police’s view on Street Lighting and KCC’s Safe and Sensible Street Lighting programme (SSSL).

·         Street Lighting has been a significant issue for some people of Kent, with the Police being aware of strong feeling around the county.

·         Crime figures are generally positive at present, even with the increases resulting from improved crime recording accuracy.

·         Burglary was down by 850 incidents that last year.

2.            ACC Price explained that research conducted by the Police had shown that there was no direct correlation between crime and street lighting, with varying outcomes observed in different districts.  ACC Price noted that the perception of crime and safety was affected by street lighting despite the lack of supporting evidence.  The specific figures showed a greater reduction in crime in areas of part night lighting rather than all night lighting, while anti-social behaviour (ASB) had dropped slightly more in all night lighting areas.

3.            While responding to questions from Members, ACC Price explained that the Police’s contribution to the KCC consultation was based on a simple risk assessment using crime figures to identify areas where all-night lighting should remain in place.  The Police have continued and were maintaining ongoing assessments.  ACC Price stated the Kent Police was the best placed organisation to conduct the risk assessments.

4.            Roger Wilkin, one of the review authors, explained that Dover was the first area to be changed over to part-night lighting and that as a result it was the only area suitable for initial review.  Plans for further research and reviews were underway; to be conducted as additional data becomes available.

5.            In response to Member questions about Kent Police’s view on the whether a pilot of SSSL would have been beneficial and whether the Police were supportive of the programme, ACC Price explained that there would be positives and negatives in any alteration to Street Lighting.  He explained that managing area specific pilots would have created its own problems and he appreciated that such a delay limited the savings options; however he noted that the follow up work in Districts had mitigated any negative results of not running a pilot.  In terms of Kent Police’s view of SSSL as a whole, ACC Price commented that his letters included in the constitution could have better laid out Kent Police’s position.

6.            ACC Price outlined the Police’s view as follows;

·         Kent Police would prefer all street lights to be run all night due to their impact on fear of crime.

·         Kent Police appreciated that budget constraints demand that very difficult decisions had to be taken by KCC.

·         Kent Police did not believe it was it its place to influence KCC’s decision regarding street lights.

7.            A Member gave an example of local crime and ASB in their Division, stating that the residents strongly felt that the change to part-night lighting was responsible for their negative experiences of criminal damage and ASB.  In light of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.