London Assembly Police and Crime Committee ‘Respecting others: tackling antisocial behaviour in London’ – evidence pack Organisation Page number British Transport Police 1 City of London Police and City of London Corporation 16 G15 19 Heart of London Business Alliance 25 London Borough of Barnet 29 London Borough of Brent 36 London Borough of Camden 39 London Borough of Hackney 45 London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham 48 London Borough of Hounslow 52 London Borough of Lewisham 57 London Borough of Merton 61 London Borough of Newham 64 London Borough of Southwark 67 Peabody and Family Mosaic 77 Philip Herlihy 96 Royal Borough of Greenwich 98 Southern Housing Group 112 The Metropolitan Police, Richmond-upon-Thames 117 Transport for London 119 Velvet Living Ltd. 131 Victoria Business Improvement District 132 Westminster City Council 135 Youth Justice Board 144 1 London Assembly Police and Crime Committee Tackling antisocial behaviour in London Submission by British Transport Police 12 July 2017 2 INTRODUCTION British Transport Police (BTP) would like to thank the Committee for the opportunity to provide evidence on this important matter. The letter inviting the submission set out a number of specific areas for which the Committee has requested information and they are addressed below. BTP provides a national specialist railway policing service to passengers, rail operators and their staff across England, Scotland and Wales. Within London as well as the over ground railway, BTP also police the London Underground, Docklands Light Railway, Croydon Tramlink, and the Emirates AirLine. Since April 2014, BTP’s B-Division has been responsible for delivering policing across London and the South East. B Division is divided into two Sub Divisions: • Sub Division North responsible for delivering policing on mainline and underground services north of the river Thames across London and the surrounding Home Counties. • Sub Division South responsible for delivering policing on mainline and underground services south of the river Thames across London and to the South East Coast. BTP’s close links with its stakeholders in London ensures effective command and control arrangements. BTP’s Force Control Room London (FCRL) is situated at Transport for London’s (TfL) Palestra House in Southwark. It is adjacent to the London Underground Control Centre (LUCC) and allows for effective interoperability; providing quick time communication and decision making to tackle crime incidents, while balancing the needs of keeping London moving. Additionally, B Division has access to other resources based within London who provide support to deal with crime on rail transport in London. These include: • Counter Terrorism Support Unit who take the lead on CT issues and support B Division with a visible armed capability • Specialist Response Unit who provide quick time response and assessment of suspect items/devices which assist in minimising disruption to the network • Police dogs that provide a general purpose capability as well as an explosive detection capability. • Crime reduction advisors who assist industry and other commercial bodies with protecting their assets on rail premises from crime and theft • A Major Investigation Team to assist with more serious crimes and offences • Scientific Support Unit that provides services around forensic submissions and crime scene management • Emergency Response Units which are crewed by police officers and TfL/rail staff to assist with disruption incidents, such as fatalities. 3 Whilst the rail and underground systems are a safe and low crime environment, any occurrence of antisocial behaviour can make for an unpleasant and stressful journey for those who are victim or witness to it, and can also increase fear for personal safety. For repeat victims, it can be particularly distressing. Success in tackling crime and antisocial behaviour relies upon successful partnership working with the transport infrastructure, stakeholders and policing partners. BTP has a history of strategic partnerships with TfL, Network Rail, London Underground Ltd (LUL), rail operators, passenger groups, Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and City of London Police (CoLP). An example of BTP’s partnership approach is Operation Stronghold, which was developed following an increase in antisocial and criminal behaviour occurring on late night trains, particularly on Fridays, where BTP works in conjunction with railway partners and LUL across locations in London. The focus of this operation is to target crime and antisocial behaviour on the railway, aiming to reduce violence and crimes, as well as staff assaults. This is critical in improving both passenger and staff confidence. The following paragraphs provide a response to the questions raised in your invitation to submit evidence. 1. To what extent is antisocial behaviour a concern to residents in your borough? What types of antisocial behaviour are of most concern? 1. BTP use a number of surveys to understand and address passenger, public and rail staff concerns. These are outlined below with specific references to findings that relate particularly to antisocial behaviour. It is worthy to note these reflect the position nationally across England, Scotland and Wales, and are not focused solely on London. National Rail Passenger Survey 1.1 The National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) is a bi-annual survey run by Transport Focus in spring and autumn each year. The NRPS asks respondents if they have had any “cause to worry about personal security in the last six months whilst making a train journey”. Over the last three years, between 8 - 9 % of respondents said they have had cause to worry about their personal security. Of these respondents, NRPS further asked what their reasons for worrying about personal security were. In the latest survey (Autumn 2016) around a third of respondents who had reasons to worry about their personal security cited antisocial behaviour by other people, either at the station or on the train, as one of their reasons. The following charts display the different reasons passengers said were causing them to worry about their personal security whilst making a train journey in 2016. 4 Reasons to worry about personal security (NRPS Autumn 2016) On train At station Rail Staff survey 1.2 The Rail Staff survey is an annual survey carried out by BTP to understand the issues affecting the rail staff community and what BTP can do to help improve their personal security whilst working on the railway. The survey usually runs for four to six weeks between March and June each year. The survey is made available to complete and return on paper as well as online. 1.3 The 2017 Rail Staff survey results are expected to be published in August. In the 2016 survey respondents were presented with a list of possible crime, disorder and security related concerns and were asked how much of a problem they considered these activities to be at their place of work. 1.4 In total 5,645 rail staff responded to the question, with nearly half of the respondents feeling antisocial behaviour was a moderate problem where they worked (2,391), 26% (1,468) felt it was a serious problem’ and 22.5% (1,268) felt it was a minor problem. 1.5 The free text comments in the survey indicated that ticketless travel, petty theft, vandalism and drunkenness were the main types of behaviour that led to concerns, with Friday and Saturday being the main days when this behaviour occurred. 5 Public Consultation 1.6 BTP conducts an annual public consultation towards the end of each year in order to inform policing priorities for the following year. The consultation provides the public with an opportunity to tell BTP what matters to them when travelling on the railway and what BTP can do to increase their confidence about their personal safety. 1.7 The most recent Public Consultation entitled Railway Policing: What matters to you? ran between November 2016 and January 2017. Respondents were asked to select what they think should be the top three policing priorities for BTP from a list of 17 priorities. Similar to results from previous consultations in 2014 and 2015, antisocial behaviour was the respondents top policing priority – 40.1% of respondents chose this option. The table below lists the priorities identified by the survey. Public Consultation 2016-17: Policing Priorities Priorities Respondents % 1 Antisocial behaviour (e.g. begging or drunkenness) 785 40.1% 2 Greater police presence in the evening and at night 779 39.8% 3 Increased general visibility of uniformed officers 771 39.4% 4 Terrorism 570 29.1% 5 Violent crime 393 20.1% 6 Crime-related disruption on the railway (e.g. trespassing or cable theft) 373 19.0% 7 Sexual offences 346 17.7% 8 Staff abuse / assault 317 16.2% 9 Ticket fraud 266 13.6% 10 Hate crime 221 11.3% 11 Drug dealing and using 196 10.0% 12 Criminal damage, vandalism and / or graffiti 184 9.4% 13 Theft of personal property (e.g. pickpocketing) 183 9.3% 14 Football-related disorder 151 7.7% 15 Robbery 127 6.5% 16 Cycle theft 120 6.1% 17 Other priority (please specify) 55 2.8% 18 Other sporting events (e.g. rugby, horse racing) 40 2.0% Total Respondents 1959 London TravelWatch 1.8 London TravelWatch is the independent, statutory watchdog for transport users in and around London. They conduct surveys and publish reports for all London transport users on all modes of transport. One of the reports published is the Transport users’ priorities for the 2016-20 mayoral term. London TravelWatch has identified 10 key policies to help keep Londoners, commuters and visitors moving1. Within this, a key policy is for everyone to be able to travel without fear of crime or antisocial behaviour. 1 http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/documents/get_lob?id=4130&field=file 6 2015 TfL Safety and Security survey 1.9 TfL produces annual reports on respondents feelings of safety and security. The report describes Londoners’ feelings of safety when travelling on the Underground, buses and trains, and how their experience of events on and around the transport system impacts on their use of public transport. 1.10 The 2015 report showed that almost all Londoners have witnessed some form of antisocial behaviour on public transport in London during the three months prior to the survey. Noise from people speaking loudly on mobile phones (84 per cent), listening to loud music (71 per cent), eating hot food (69 per cent), pushing and shoving (66 per cent) and littering (66 per cent) are the most prevalent antisocial behaviours on public transport witnessed by at least two thirds of Londoners on public transport in the October 2015 study. These were also the most prevalent in October 2014 and October 2013. The next most common behaviours in 2015 were people taking up more than one seat (61 per cent), drunkenness (59 per cent) and begging (59 per cent). Summary 1.11 Tackling antisocial behaviour is clearly an area that stakeholders view as a priority and BTP uses the feedback from these surveys and reports to inform its policing priorities nationally and at a Divisional level. Specific recommendations from these surveys are built into actions plans for implementation by relevant departments and overseen by BTP’s Confidence and Satisfaction Board, which is chaired by the Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Territorial Policing. 1.12 An example of how BTP responds to feedback is the launch of the joint alcohol awareness campaign ‘Keep a clear head’ in conjunction with Network Rail and the Rail Safety and Standards Board in November 2016 - January 2017. Taking into account concerns from both rail staff and passengers, this campaign highlighted to the public the risks and consequences associated with excessive drinking on or near the railway. A key part of this campaign was also to encourage local policing teams to work together with Network Rail colleagues to hold engagement events. 1.13 Results from the public consultations also indicated increasing public concerns over certain crime types – including sexual offences and hate crime. In response to these concerns, and in addition to Divisional and Subdivisional action plans, BTP launched specific campaigns targeting these areas. This included a hate crime campaign ‘We stand together’, which focused on community engagement activities and a refreshed ‘Report it to stop it’ campaign, in partnership with TfL, MPS and CoLP. This campaign targeted sexual offences by encouraging passengers to report unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport. 7 1.14 Feedback from the community is also used to shape policing priorities and the focus of BTP’s performance management processes. BTP has seven ‘pillars’ within its performance framework, which are: • Counter terrorism • Preventing crime • Protecting vulnerable people • Supporting the railway • Supporting and valuing our workforce • Building confidence and satisfaction; and • Improving effectiveness and efficiency 1.15 A range of indicators under each pillar are reported upon and reviewed at monthly Force performance meetings. This includes levels of antisocial behaviour under the preventing crime and protecting the public pillar as well as rail staff and public confidence, both of which are linked to antisocial behaviour incidences. 1.16 Within B Division’s Policing Plan there are a range of commitments linked to these survey outcomes and focused on improving the confidence of passengers and staff. These include ensuring that officers are visible late in the evening and through the night to provide a reassuring presence, responding swiftly to emerging incidents, improving deployment patterns so officers are deployed more at the times and places where they are most needed, and through the use of an array of tactics and techniques such as intelligence led deployments, problem solving action plans and media engagement. 2. How do you record and monitor antisocial behaviour – please provide your antisocial behaviour data for the last three financial years? 2.1 Reported occurrences of antisocial behaviour are recorded on BTP’s incidents recording system (ControlWorks). They are classified into three headings – environmental, nuisance and personal, which are defined within The National Standard for Incident Recording (NSIR) counting rules. 2.2 ‘Personal’ is designed to identify ASB incidents deliberately targeted at a particular individual or specific group or are aimed at having an impact on a particular individual or specific group rather than the community at large. 2.3 ‘Nuisance’ captures those incidents where an individual or group causes trouble, annoyance, inconvenience, offence or suffering to people in the local community in general rather than being deliberately targeted at specific individuals or groups. 8 2.4 ‘Environmental’ deals with the interface between people and places. It includes incidents and inconsiderate actions which have an impact on the surroundings including the natural, built and social environments. 2.5 The table below shows the number of these incidents recorded by BTP within the MPS and CoLP boundaries for the last three years. There has been a 28% reduction in recorded incidents between 2015-16 and 2016-17. British Transport Police Antisocial Behaviour Incidents Within Borders of Metropolitan Police and City of London Police From 01/04/2014 to 31/03/2017 Financial Year Environmental Nuisance Personal Total 2014-15 344 13265 1352 14961 2015-16 498 15989 1458 17945 2016-17 381 11556 943 12880 3. Who leads the response to antisocial behaviour in your borough/organisation? 3.1 BTP’s ACC Territorial Policing is responsible for the national delivery of policing on the railway including tackling antisocial behaviour. Whilst the ACC owns the national strategy the responsibility for operationalising the strategy rests with Sub-Divisional Commanders. 3.2 Local leadership of neighbourhood policing and working with the local community to problem solve is the most critical element to tackling antisocial behaviour. BTP’s Station Commanders oversee this activity within their geographical area of responsibility. 4. How has spending on antisocial behaviour changed over the past few years? 4.1 BTP’s budget is not constructed in a way that is costed against particular crime or antisocial behaviour. However, where potential increases in demand related to crime or antisocial behaviour are identified, BTP works with railway operators, TfL and other partners to develop a proportionate response. 4.2 An example of this is Night Tube. In consultation with partners, it was agreed that BTP’s policing service to support Night Tube operations should predominantly be a highly visible presence to provide reassurance and to deter and prevent antisocial behaviour and crime occurring. A £3.4m investment was made by TfL to fund additional officers and ensure that members of the public and staff feel confident in using these services during night time hours. 9 5. How do you work with local policing teams and other local partners to tackle antisocial behaviour – what preventative and enforcement activities are undertaken? 5.1 BTP is committed to putting measures in place to reduce the chances of anyone being subject to antisocial behaviour or having their quality of life adversely affected when they travel or work on the rail network. 5.2 BTP’s focus is on improving the travelling experience of passengers and the working lives of rail staff and tenants. Key elements of the strategy include:- • Tackling antisocial behaviour through partnership working • Promoting confidence • Communicating effectively • Focusing on vulnerable and repeat victims • Focusing on offenders • Managing performance 5.3 A significant part of the BTP’s strategy is consultation - engaging with the local community, local agencies, railway operators, TfL and other agencies. Report It To Stop It Campaign 5.4 BTP has an on-going commitment to tackling unwanted sexual behaviour. As part of this commitment the Force is part of the London Transport Safeguarding Community Partnership (LTSCP), a sexual offences working group in partnership with the MPS, CoLP and TfL. This group focuses on a joint approach to tackling sex offences on all forms of public transport across London and delivers a range of operational activity such as focused ‘days of action’ to tackle this behaviour. 5.5 Significant emphasis has also been placed on encouraging people to report these types of offence. Project Guardian was set up to tackle sexual assault and unwanted sexual behaviour on London’s public transport systems. The project aims to create a transport environment free from sexual harassment – with specific objectives to increase confidence and awareness to report and challenge all unwanted sexual behaviour and to target offenders. 5.6 Project Guardian was originally developed in 2013 as a partnership between BTP, TfL, MPS and CoLP. The project was delivered with the support of key advisors which included the Everydaysexism project, Hollaback UK and End Violence Against Women. It focused on encouraging victims to report crimes, alongside more proactive police enforcement and engagement. 5.7 The project was further developed to become the ‘Report it to stop it’ campaign, which was launched across London in April 2015, and has since