Chief Inspector Chris Nixon (CI), representing
the East Area Borough Command Unit (BCU) which provided policing
across the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Havering
on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service, delivered an update
as requested by the Committee at its 3 February 2021 meeting
(minute 45 refers). The presentation covered the following
areas:
·
Update on Response Times;
·
Potential reasons for the Borough’s high missing people
figures; and
·
Engagement with the LGBT+ Community.
The CM highlighted the challenges of young
people from other areas of London being placed in Barking and
Dagenham care homes, such as these young people being reported as
missing by their care homes when they went to visit friends in
their home borough and the resulting higher missing people figure
for the Borough. She referred to the BCU’s ward level review,
which showed a significantly higher volume of repeat missing
persons from the Abbey, Whalebone and Longbridge wards, which were
all sites of children’s care homes, and further sampling had
also shown that the majority of these cases related to children
living in care homes. LBBD social services worked closely with the
BCU to ensure that that they were responding appropriately to any
missing children’s incidents. The CI also highlighted the
complexities behind collating information when a young person was
associated with multiple local authorities, as well as in ensuring
that the right information was passed onto frontline care home
staff from the first day that a young person arrived in their
care.
In response to questions from Members, the CI
stated that:
- Over the last year, the BCU had
engaged with care homes to risk assess and prepare joint plans with
providers to reduce repeat missing episodes, which had reduced the
open missing investigations from a rolling 60 to a rolling 20.
- Part of this intervention was around
the Philomena Protocol (a scheme that asks carers to identify
children and young people who are at risk of going missing, and to
record vital information about them that can be used to help find
them quickly and safely) and making clear the expectation that care
homes would carry out reasonable enquiries as to the whereabouts of
a child, rather than immediately calling the Police. Part of this
was also about better managing longer-term investigations, and
ensuring that these were brought to a close, as well as speeding up
investigations where a young person regularly went
“missing” to the same location, such as a
parent’s house.
- The Barking and Dagenham Independent
Advisory Group (IAG) had more than six members; however, the LGBTQ+
IAG which had been established following the Stephen Port murders
to engage with the LGBTQ+ community, was looking to increase its
membership. The BCU had also set up Police Encounter Panels (PEP),
which had a larger rolling membership and looked to obtain the
views of young people around policing.
- There were three sites for response
team officers: Freshwharf, which was on the junction of the A406
and A13 in Barking; Ilford Police Station; and Jack Brown House, in
Havering. The response teams worked as an overall team, and if one
site was short of staff, officers from the other sites would be
transported to it to ensure that the call demand was appropriately
serviced.
- The BCU was part way through a DA
related training package for response team officers. Many teams had
now undertaken this training, with the BCU now using some broader
powers more often, such as arrests for coercive and controlling
behaviours.
- Staffing numbers in both Barking and
Dagenham, and Redbridge were broadly in line with their demand
levels.
- The Police actively sought staff
feedback, such as through staff surveys, employment engagement
plans and suggestion boxes, and responded accordingly, for example,
through increased Senior Leadership team contact.
The Chair suggested that the BCU contact the
Borough’s Flipside group if it wished to expand its younger
PEP membership, and stated that the CM and the Operational Director
for Enforcement Services (OD) may be able to help with further
recruitment for the LGBTQ+ IAG. The CM stated that herself and the
Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Enforcement had been
liaising with the Greater London Authority and the Deputy Mayor for
Policing and Crime, to feed learnings from the Council’s
Domestic Abuse Commission into Metropolitan Police training.