The Community Safety Partnership met on Thursday 25 January 2024 to discuss strategies for tackling serious violence, violence against women and girls, and to receive updates on various safety initiatives. Key decisions included the ratification of the Strategic Needs Assessment and Strategy for the Serious Violence Duty.

Serious Violence Duty

The Partnership formally noted the contents of the report detailing the new Serious Violence Duty, the Strategic Needs Assessment, and the associated Strategy. Crucially, the partners agreed to ratify the Strategic Needs Assessment and Strategy Documents. This duty, introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, requires responsible authorities to undertake evidence-based analysis of the causes of serious violence, develop a strategic needs assessment, and implement a strategy to prevent and reduce it. The definition of serious violence adopted by Haringey encompasses any violence and exploitation affecting young people under 25, domestic abuse, and sexual violence. The report highlighted that violent crime rates in Haringey are generally above the London average, with significant concentrations of violence in wards such as Noel Park, Northumberland Park, Tottenham Hale, Tottenham Central, and South Tottenham. Young people under 25 are identified as the largest victim and perpetrator group for most violence categories, with peak offending times occurring in the afternoon and early evening. The strategy will be delivered through the Community Safety Partnership and the North Area Violence Reduction Group (NAVRG).

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Updates

Two presentations were given on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). The first, from Haringey, highlighted work being done in response to online narratives and the correlation between consuming misogynistic content and accepting abusive behaviours. The presentation also mentioned upcoming work with the Victims Commissioner and a planned VAWG Planning meeting to examine hate crime consultation findings. The second presentation, from the Metropolitan Police, detailed plans for increased walk and talks with councillors and assured that crimes such as indecent exposure and sexual assault would now be investigated by specialist CID teams. A recap of how these issues would be dealt with was to be submitted to Councillor Lucia das Neves.

Joint Targeted Area Investigation

Beverley Hendricks presented on the Joint Targeted Area Investigation, which will affect all agencies operating in Haringey. The investigation will focus on four thematic areas: children's social care, education, police, youth offending, and health services; multi-agency intervention; data on crimes committed by children and young people outside the home; and the impact and comprehension of the causes of violence. The process involves agencies submitting documents, followed by inspector evaluations and feedback. Each agency is required to have a named single point of contact (SPOC) for the investigation.

Clear, Hold, Build Programme

Superintendent Ian Martin delivered a presentation on the Clear, Hold, Build programme, a national initiative supported by the Home Office and adopted by the Metropolitan Police. The programme aims to work with communities to improve safety and tackle serious and organised crime, which can encompass antisocial behaviour, domestic abuse, and violence against women and girls. The Clear phase involves police-led action against organised criminals, Hold aims to prevent power vacuums, and Build focuses on community engagement to create safer environments. The programme will operate in Finsbury Park and Northumberland Park, with staff from Children's Social Care offering support with communications to schools.

Other Business

The meeting also noted the filming of meetings and received apologies from Geoffrey Ocen. An exempt item regarding a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) was considered in private. The dates of future meetings were to be confirmed.