Sussex’s Police and Crime Commissioner has confirmed a meeting with Adur and Worthing Council members in November to discuss crime and antisocial behaviour.
Sussex PCC Katy Bourne, and Chief Constable, Jo Shiner, will be attending for an interview by the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, on November 2 about handling of, and increases in, crime and anti-social behaviour.
Members invited the PCC and Chief Constable at a previous JOSC meeting on June 28, along with the CEO of Southern Water, with the Adur chair of the committee Joss Loader (Ind, Marine Ward) saying this is a ‘really good’ outcome provided by council officers.
This follows a report in April from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) demanded ‘urgent’ change from Sussex Police on recording of violent crimes and how it responds to the public.
HMICFRS said they were ‘pleased’ with the force’s response to the findings, saying the PCC and Chief Constable had been in contact with the inspectorate about its concerns.
Adur member Lee Cowen (Lab, Mash Barn Ward) highlighted an incident with a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) refusing to respond to an alleged assault in a Lancing Co-op – an incident Ms Bourne condemned.
He said PCSOs did not have the powers, and newly hired police officers were lacking experience, to properly address crime and anti-social behaviour.
Adur Cabinet Member for Communities and Wellbeing, Kevin Boram (Con, Buckingham), said PCSO’s he met had ‘fantastic people skills’, and that police were meeting their training targets for new officers.
He stated a 10 per cent population increase in West Sussex was leading to rises in crime, claiming a rise in online scams and cyber crime in Adur district.
He said repeat offenders were a large driver of shoplifting cases, stating it was still ‘massively underreported’ – with a 42% increase in shoplifting across the South East of England reported by the ONS.
Adur member Carol Albury (Con, Manor) said stopping and punishing youth crime was of concern, as to prevent a cycle of re-offending amongst young people.
Worthing member Hilary Schan (Lab, Tarring) raised concerns about LGBTQI+ hate crimes and crimes against women, stating one in ten women in Britain say they have experienced having their drinks spiked, according to a YouGov poll.
In a statement apologising for ‘historical prejudice and ill-treatment’ of LGBTQI+ communities by Sussex Police, Ms Shiner said the force has the highest proportion of LGBTQI+ officers in the UK, saying the relationship between the community and police has ‘come a long way’.
HMICFRS rated ‘preventing crime’ and ‘treatment of the public’ in Sussex Police as ‘good’, and rated ‘recording data about crime’ and ‘responding to the public’ as ‘inadequate’ – with ‘investigating crime’ as ‘requires improvement’, on a five stage scale from outstanding to inadequate.
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