Minutes:
1. Our High Streets and rural areas are being plagued with an ever-increasing number of complaints from residents about anti-social behaviour (ASB). How is the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) holding Kent’s Chief Constable to account on these residents’ concerns about ASB? What are the PCC and Chief Constable doing to tackle the many hotspots in our towns and villages with people committing ASB with apparent impunity?
(Cllr Richard Palmer, Swale Borough Council)
1. The Commissioner replied that, from a policing perspective, anti-social behaviour was a priority. He reported that, from the April 2024 to September 2024, ASB had decreased by 8.1% compared to the year before. However, this figure did not include anti-social behaviour which was reported to the local authority or to housing associations. In order to tackle ASB and serious violence hotspots in towns and villages, 27 locations had already been identified and targeted.
2. Across the Borough of Maidstone, we are feeling an increase in reckless driving, speeding and a flouting of traffic restrictions and laws - yet there seems to be a dearth of enforcement. In addition, we have seen significant anti-social behaviour on the river with wildlife being shot and river users abused.
Motorist abuse of pedestrianised and public transport lanes in the town centre, such as Week Street and the High Street, has also become routine. Off-road motorcycle and quad bike use in rural areas where motorised transport is not permitted, such as Pilgrims Way, happens regularly, with the individuals involved using threatening behaviour towards families who get in their way. The use of anti-social off-road vehicles in urban areas has been curbed slightly but the problem remains in many places.
How is the PCC holding the Chief Constable to account for tackling ASB across the Borough?
(Councillor Stuart Jeffery, Maidstone Borough Council)
1. The Commissioner said that, with regard to the enforcement of traffic restrictions and laws, partnership work was key. As pointed out in his annual report, there was an increase in enforcement across the ‘fatal four’ - distracted driving, drink and drug driving, seat belts and speed.
2. With regard to specific roads policing, there currently were a significant number of roads policing officers, proactive tasking team, a Road Safety unit, as well as the support of Beat Officers with speed cameras and localized targeted enforcement. In the Maidstone Borough, police officers and the Roads Policing Unit patrolled the area and issued community protection warnings to the drivers of overweight vehicles that did not meet legal vehicle regulations. In addition, 12 community protection warnings were issued to off-road vehicles in the Parkwood and Shepway areas of Maidstone, and 76 e-scooters had been seized. The number of calls to Kent Police from those wards had fallen from 81 in April and May 2024 down to 39 in June and July 2024.
3. Could the Commissioner provide an update on the joint pilot road scheme he is running with Kent Police on road safety? How successful has the pilot been? When will it be rolled out to other areas, such as Folkestone & Hythe?
(Councillor Mrs Jenny Hollingsbee, Folkestone and Hythe District Council)
1. The Commissioner explained that Operation Voice was a campaign that the OPCC run with Kent Police and the Safer Roads Partnership. There were two separate elements to it. The engagement and prevention phase - where KCC and Medway Council invested in social media advertising, in particular on the dangers of drink and drug driving. There was also a separate advertising campaign raising awareness about Crime Stoppers as an alternative way of reporting intelligence about people who were committing acts of violence against women and girls. The prevention and engagement phase was successful. There was an increase in the number of people providing information about drink and drug drivers to Crime Stoppers, as well as an increase in the number of people contacting Crime Stoppers about domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.
2. The second phase focused on enforcement. Kent Police identified hot spot areas for road traffic offences. The Police targeted individuals who were known to commit road traffic offences and who were also involved in violence against women and girls. Across the eight shifts in this phase, which included Folkestone and Hyde, 182 stops were completed, of which 57 of those individuals were known by Kent Police for violence against women and girls. 9 people were arrested; 7 of them were arrested for drug driving.
4. The Commissioner will be aware that, in relation to the work of Kent Police and the police service in general, perception of crime and ASB, and indeed with actual crime and ASB, social media can be a bane to the whole Criminal Justice System as well as a source of information, if used correctly.
What steps can or will he take to deal with the range of misinformation out there which can often be harmful, misleading and cause further issues in seeking to combat crime and ASB and ensure that those who hide behind social media, usually anonymously or under a pseudonym, are brought to justice for the harm that they bring?
(Councillor Shane Mochrie-Cox, Gravesham Borough Council)
1. The Commissioner said that, in his view, in order to tackle misinformation, there was a need to diversify the range of platforms the force used to share information about policing, crime, and intelligence and in the way it communicated with the public. A key platform the public seemed to use to share information about their community was Facebook groups. Another successful social networking platform was Nextdoor.
2. The Commissioner explained that it was very difficult to deal with misinformation and purposeful distress caused on social media. However, there was more that the police could do, for example to tackle misinformation when it leads to high tension in the community.
RESOLVED: To note the responses to the questions