Implementing Neighbourhood Policing in Oxford (March 2006)

Introduction

The Neighbourhood Policing Programme is to be rolled-out across the Thames Valley Police Force area by April 2008.  In Oxford, the Blackbird Leys area is currently operating as a pilot project with Barton identified as the next area.

Neighbourhoods and Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs)

Neighbourhoods are the building blocks of the Neighbourhood Policing Programme. Neighbourhoods are identified using a number of different indicators.  In Oxford we have considered:

• deprivation indicators

• geographic factors

• police beat areas

• area committee boundaries

• local knowledge

Each Neighbourhood or cluster of Neighbourhoods requires a Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG).  The group is comprised of officers from the statutory and voluntary sectors, business representation and local residents.  Each NAG will determine its own membership but it should comprise those people who can actively participate in the process.

The NAG is required to consult with local communities and prioritise the feedback they receive.  In general the top three priorities are those that are problem-solved first, depending on the scale of the problem.

Each NAG must have fulfilled three criteria before they can “go-live”.  They must:

• have a dedicated team – Community Police Officers, PCSOs, Street Wardens

• be multi-agency

• adhere to the police National Intelligence Model

Each Neighbourhood is categorised into one of the following:

• Priority – high levels of deprivation

• Intermediate – moderate levels of deprivation

• Capable – low levels of deprivation

Resource allocation is based on the categories of the neighbourhood.  In Oxford a NAG may be responsible for a cluster of Neighbourhoods that contains a mix of Neighbourhood categories.  It will be incumbent of the NAG to allocate its resources to the areas of highest need but maintain the flexibility to resources other parts of the NAG area when issues arise.  This provides the opportunity for communities to get involved in the tasking process through community-led patrolling where the resources are allocated to areas based on feedback from the community.

The resolutions of NAG priorities may require a financial contribution.  OSCP has identified a £25k budget to support the work of the NAGs.  It is envisaged that where possible these funds will be matched to Area Committee funds as has been the practice for the last few years. 

Implementation in Oxford 

There are a number of key products that need to be in place before the programme can start in Oxford city.  These are:

• Definition of the Neighbourhoods

• Definition of the NAGs

• Demographic and crime assessments of NAGs

• Resource profiling the NAGs

• Training completed for NAG members

• Reporting structure agreed

• Tasking structure agreed

• Area Casework Groups established

• Community Intelligence Police Officer post recruited

• Communication post recruited

Defining the Neighbourhoods

During January 2006 there were two, two-day training courses to train Neighbourhood Sergeants, Inspectors, key police support staff and middle managers within the City Council, County Council, Primary Care Trust, Fire Service and RSL managers. A consultation process was incorporated into this training. Delegates worked within syndicates and defined on maps their thoughts on neighbourhood boundaries.  The delegates were also asked to identify clusters of neighbourhoods that could be serviced by one NAG, where appropriate.  A precondition was that the Neighbourhoods had to lie within existing Area Committee boundaries.  As from April 2006, Inspector and police team boundaries will be coterminous with Area Committees.

In a small number of cases the Neighbourhoods have been adjusted to fit police beat code areas.  Beat codes are the lowest geography that the police can supply their crime statistics; hence the need for Neighbourhood boundaries not to dissect high crime beat codes.

The map below shows the proposed Neighbourhood boundaries and levels of deprivation by Super Output Area.

Defining the NAG areas

The NAG areas lie within Area Committee boundaries and service one or more Neighbourhoods.  This is in response to the need to recognise the limited capacity of NAG members to regularly attend and respond to numerous NAGs.  Consultation feedback identified the lack of capacity as a major risk to the successful implementation of the programme.  Furthermore NAGs need a dedicated team before they can “go live”.  If the Neighbourhoods were too small, it is likely that some of the smaller Capable Neighbourhoods would not have a dedicated team.  Clustering Neighbourhoods in some areas within one NAG enables the NAG team to respond across Neighbourhoods in response to community intelligence, therefore enabling the smaller Capable Neighbourhoods to access the NAG team.

Below is a map showing the proposed NAG areas with each Neighbourhood graded as Capable, Intermediate or Priority:

Demographic and crime assessments of NAGs

Key crime includes:

The figures in the table are a preliminary set of crime data.  The complete NAG assessment will be completed on the Thames Valley Police “Demographic and Social Trends Analysis Of LPA” template.

The table illustrates the importance of not using crime data alone to define Neighbourhoods and NAGs.  For example, an area with a significant number of retail outlets is likely to have higher “All crime” totals.  Neighbourhood policing is most likely to impact upon public reassurance and lower level anti-social behaviour and hence deprivation levels have been used to determine Neighbourhoods.

Resource profile of NAGs

The map below gives an approximate assessment of resources currently available in NAG areas:

As can be seen the number of resources vary across the NAGs.  OSCP needs to assess the correct levels of required resources, based on the Neighbourhood grades, and allocate accordingly.

This will be a staged process as more PCSOs and Street Wardens become available in 2006-07 and 2007-08. 

Consideration needs to be given to the opportunity for other organisations to contribute funding towards PCSOs and ring-fence their patrol areas.

Oxford City Council supported resources could amount to 17 Street Wardens and 20 PCSOs by 2008.

Training for NAG members

Correct identification of potential NAG members is imperative.  Area Co-ordinators have a key role in identify the major stakeholders in the NAG area and recommending them for training.