Key Findings

1. Sussex Street CommunityStrategic Assessment Garry Seville. Intelligence Analyst  garry.seville@sussex.pnn.police.uk 101 (Sussex Police) ext 50118 John St Police Station, Brighton, Sussex BN2 0LA Download this poster to your mobile device as PDF or Powerpoint Introduction Key Findings Seasonality • What is the ‘Street Community’ • Usually homeless or living in a vulnerable situation • Typically have a drink/drug problem • Chaotic offenders • There is no national definition. Home Office • and Local Authority statistics relate to council • housing and other measures not directly linked to quantifying the street community Crime There are marked differences between the types of offences targeted toward the street community and those committed by them. Theft and handling offences are a major issue. 81% of theft offences committed by the street community are shoplifting – most often alcohol. Drug and drink related offending is predictably high amongst the street community. It is often unclear whether drug use led to the homelessness or if homelessness led to drug taking, the reality is likely to be somewhere between the two. Brighton recorded 3 murders Involving the community in 6 months Pull and Push Factors Analysis of the street community hotspots, and the areas in between the hotspots, has identified a number of key factors which affect begging and street drinking activity. These can be split into two headings, ‘Pull Factors’ and ‘Push Factors’. Pull Factors are environmental issues which attract the street community to a particular area. Push Factors are environmental issues which discourage the street community from a particular area. • Levels of Homelessness • Home Office homeless figures are a reasonable indicator of street community movement, • The steady decrease in numbers has reversed in recent years: • Links to increasing unemployment • Links to family breakdown • Links to immigration • Links to the economic/banking crisis • Links to government spending cuts Homelessness is increasing as a result of the ongoing recession Geography The vast majority of the Sussex street community reside in the major conurbations. Brighton & Hove accounts for about a third of the Sussex total. “Coastal towns, such as those in Sussex, are believed to be places where the homeless gravitate - especially for those originating from London.” Bill Randall, Leader of Brighton & Hove Council Homelessness related incidents in central Brighton (25m stacking) • Operation Street • This is a long running operation which aims to better engage with the street community. Working together with local volunteer organisations and the council, it aims to increase trust and confidence within the community and open a communication channel whereby safety advice can be disseminated and intelligence can be gleaned. • Research conducted by the Operation Street team into the previous convictions of known street drinkers found that 435 high profile members of the street community were responsible for 14,935 offences – an average of 34 convictions per person. • In response to a perceived increase in street community offending, and to further progress the objectives of the operation, a strategic profile was requested. It was to be shared and acted on with partners. All incidents of begging, street drinking and rough sleeping were mapped to identify hotspot areas. This led onto the identification of push and pull factors which was supported by questionnaire findings. Immigration Impact A8/A2 refers to new EU accession states. Immigrants from these countries have more restrictions on them than other EU citizens. The vast majority of migrants from EU Accession States successfully find employment in the UK, however, A8/A2 migrants have to legitimately work for a year before they have recourse to public funds. A8/A2 migrants who have lost their job or who have not been able to find work are therefore at high risk of becoming homeless. Unsurprisingly then, there is a significant minority of A8/A2 migrants in the street community population • Key Objectives • Identify the causes and drivers of the street community increase. • Identify criminality linked to the street community (as both offender and victim). • Identify locations most frequented by the street community and any seasonality issues. • Identify specific threats and vulnerabilities faced by the street community. • Reduce the stigma and fear associated with the street community. Repeat the exercise next year with partners Outcomes • Ownership of specific problem areas across partnerships - reduces duplication. • Improved sharing of information, including health data. • Improved understanding of the community, their vulnerabilities, numbers, and offending behaviour. • A communication strategy to engage with the affected groups and remove the stigma and fear. • Sharing of best practice and the aligning of priorities across partner agencies. • Management of push and pull factors to manage where the street community spend their time. • Liaison with UKBA to remove members of the street community that shouldn’t be here. • Improved recording and detection due to improved communication with the street community. Methodology Medical Issues Reasons for Homelessness Substance misuse, mental Illness and homelessness are closely linked • Recording Issues • No way to readily extract data related to the street community • Reliance on incident types: begging, street drinking, etc • Use of crime data where offender is recorded as ‘No Fixed Abode’ – Only a very rough indicator • No addressable locations for many street community incidents Some within the street community enjoy the freedom of the life style Internally, the police are to consider improving recording practices by creating a street community flag. Further scoping exercises are to be commissioned annually to measure progress against objectives. It is hoped that by working together with a common strategy that money will be saved across partner members whilst also resolving a lot of the key issues. • The Operation Street Scoping Exercise • A terms of reference was agreed • A Pro-forma was devised to collect necessary information • Local officers and volunteer organisations collected data • Some issues of trust, especially in responses to criminality • Results compiled onto a single spreadsheet by Researcher • Both quantitative and qualitative information gained and analysed • Findings set against partnership data and open source findings • Strategic Assessment compiled by Strategic Intelligence Analyst • Recommendation to repeat the exercise annually to assess progress and new threats • 130 questionnaires were received back of varying quality. An unavoidable issue was the intoxication level of the respondents which hindered data collection. No readily available data relating to the street community Temporal Factors Acknowledgements 8pm - 8am Fewer incidents and crimes linked to the street community but they are more vulnerable to crime • Ch.Insp Jane Derrick, Neighbourhood Specialist Team, Arun District • PS Richard Siggs, Street Community NPT. Brighton • Kayleigh Kehoe, Researcher, Force Intelligence Bureau • Markie Barrett, Homeless Services Manager, Sussex St John Ambulance • Fiona Paterson, Principal Analyst, Sussex Police • The 130 members of the street community who took part in the scoping exercise 8am - 8pm More incidents and crimes linked to the street community but they are less vulnerable to crime