Working in partnership to determine policing priorities and monitor police performance
Impacting on local Policing
A lot of work has been put in by members since the DPP’s inception (March 03), to make a positive contribution to policing in the District. One of the major milestones was the development of the local policing plan for 04/05. Workshop sessions, involving DPP Members and key DCU Personnel, helped to determine the targets for the plan, which resulted from lengthy discussion around the main priorities for policing in Moyle.
Public and planning meetings of the DPP also contributed to the policing process, by ensuring that the police were focused on the main areas of concern to the wider community. Indeed, significant strides have been made to ensure that there is a multi-agency approach to deal with the issues of most affecting local people.
In the lifetime of the DPP there have been a number of events initiated by the Community Safety Forum (CSF), supported by the DPP, focusing on domestic burglary and nuisance crimes associated with anti-social behaviour, drugs and alcohol misuse. This is an area of activity that Members are keen to support and encourage particularly in the context of implementing their strategy for gaining the co-operation of the community in preventing crime.
At a sector level the DPP has continued to support the network of Community and Police Liaison Committees (CPLCs) by providing grant aid to facilitate their meetings and by encouraging local communities to participate in these forums. The PSNI in Moyle view CPLCs as being a valuable asset because they ensure that there is continuous dialogue between the police and community representatives at a micro level.
Monitoring Police Performance
In accordance with the DPP Code of Practice the DPP is required to hold a minimum of 6 meetings in public per year. In respect of this requirement the DPP holds public meetings in various venues throughout the District, in the policing sectors of Bushmills, Ballycastle and Cushendall. Every effort is made to ensure that local people are informed of the meetings and that they are given the opportunity to raise a query, or concern, in person or in writing.
Moyle DPP has attempts to consult with a wide variety of groups and organisations in the district by inviting them to meetings and proactively seeking their views and opinions. The DPP has also seeks the views of the wider community by distributing information leaflets, with a freepost detachment slip, welcoming comments on the policing of the District, or on matters relating to the functions and responsibilities of the DPP.
During the meetings in public, as part of the overall monitoring process, the DCU Commander provides an update on the performance of the DCU in respect of the targets set in the local policing plan for the year in question. He also answers queries from members and addressed written questions from the public on matters concerning the policing of the District.
The issues that feature prominently in written questions mainly concern youths causing annoyance, underage drinking, vandalism, criminal damage, speeding and domestic burglary. Indeed, the same issues were amongst the main concerns highlighted by the respondents to the public consultation survey undertaken by the Northern Ireland Research and Statistics Agency (NISRA).
Summary of Recorded Crime
1005 crimes in the year. This can be broken down as follows:-
The DCU saw a reduction in Vehicle Crime from 84 to 74 incidents (down 1.9%), and a reduction in Burglaries of non-dwellings from 91 to 71 (down 15.4%), achieving a detection rate for Violent Crimes of 61.6%. The Policing Board objective was a detection rate of 55%.
The Commander was particularly pleased to see fatalities and serious injuries resulting from road traffic collisions fall from 32 to 20. Indeed, total casualties, which includes those slightly injured, fell from 101 to 93. There were no reported racial or homophobic incidents within the District in the past year.
In line with the Policing Board objective to increase the number of seizures of illicit drugs, Moyle increased seizures from 6 to 11.
There was a slight rise in Domestic Burglary from 81 - based on the previous year’s figures - to 85 this year. There was a similar rise in respect of Criminal Damage, from 274 to 278. Therefore, in respect of these crimes, the DCU failed to meet its target, which was to reduce the number of incidents by 5%.
The DPP also holds a series of planning meetings and other subgroup interventions throughout the year to help progress the work of the partnership and deal with general the day-to-day business requirements.