Oveta McInnis and Paul Riddell had a second meeting with the Enfield and Haringey lead Police Officers Chris Jones Chief Inspector for Neighbourhood Policing and Chris Byrne Inspector for Partnerships and Youth of the Enfield and Haringey Police force. The meeting took place on 19 March and facilitated by Feryal Clark MP for Enfield North.
Overview of Crime 2020-2021
They were able to give an overview of crime in Enfield in the last 12 months. They also shared the work they are doing to engage with the community groups.
Crimes of prevalence:
- Drug crimes are up
- Burglaries down
- There have been 4 homicides in Tottenham since the start of this year.
Stop and Search
The discussion focused on Stop and Search data. There were 7,150 S&S in the period in Enfield. The officers gave overall numbers of stop and search from March 20 to February 2021, the ECA however requested the data to show the percentage of each population stopped and searched in the last year, so that we can compare the outcomes for each ethnic group fairly.
The age group facing the most Stop and Searches were in the 20-24 age groups. ECA requested data on Stop and Search by ethnicity. We are expecting that this data will be forthcoming at our next meeting.
We shared our concerns that overly stopping and searching black youths has been one of the factors that has led to poor community relations between the Police and the Black community.
Training for Officers
Officers expected to work in London are given historical training about legacy events and issues such as Stephen Lawrence, Brixton Riots, Broadwater Farm etc.
The officers informed us about the de-escalation training that their officers must undergo. We requested data on trends and how they measure the effect of the training on the outcomes.
We recommended that the MET officers receive regular training in Race Relations which would include an understanding of how racism and stereotypes may affect their practice.
We agreed to have further dialogue about the content of training at a future meeting.
Complaints
We requested data on the number of and outcomes of complaints and how complaints are processed. We requested that this information will be provided at our next meeting.
Panels that community members can get involved in:
Most of the scrutiny panels do not reflect the community. Black people are underrepresented on these panels.
- Ward Panels – discussing local issues
- Independent Advisory Group
- Stop and Search Advisory Group
If you are interested in joining one of these panels, please contact ECA for further details.
