Bid to bring crime-hit residents into closer touch with police

The proposals are part of a project the force is considering to prepare for the arrival of an elected police and crime commissioner next year, who would oversee the force instead of Humberside Police Authority.

Central to the initiative is the promotion of crime mapping, the controversial online resource launched in February that allows residents to find out what type of crimes have been committed in their neighbourhood, how many and where.

The system crashed within hours of its launch when it was receiving about 300,000 hits a minute, but despite more than 300 million hits nationally, it is considered to be an underused resource in the force area.

A report to the policing committee of the authority, which meets today, said: “In the recently published coalition document A New Approach to Fighting Crime, crime maps are described as the means by which the public can challenge police about crime in their area.

“Linked to crime maps is a mandatory requirement on forces to hold beat meetings and it is the Government’s expectation that the public will use these as their platform to challenge local police commanders on crime and disorder in their area.

“Crime maps are one of the main tools that police and crime commissioners (PCC) will have at their disposal to promote engagement with communities and to hold chief constables to account.”

The report said there had been 310 million hits nationally when crime mapping was launched, but only “limited” interest locally.

It continued: “In order to prepare for the arrival of the PCC there is a need to promote crime maps and encourage much more use of them by local communities.

“...Proposals are being considered for a pilot to promote crime mapping in selected locations within the Humberside Police area.

“This would involve the police authority combining data on confidence with crime and hence identifying those communities that might benefit the most from increased engagement.

“They would be encouraged to either attend beat meetings or log on for a ‘web chat’ where they could discuss crime and disorder issues with their beat manager.”

Police commanders in each of the four divisions within the force would be expected to attend the meetings or join the online discussion.

The first elections for police and crime commissioners are due to be held in May next year.

Concerns have been raised by MPs that the elections will come only two months before the Olympic Games are held in London, when the pressure on the resources of all forces is likely to be increased.

The national security budget for the games has been set at £600m, which the report described as “challenging”.

All forces are being asked to provide specialist officers for “mutual aid”, for example in search teams, mounted units, sniffer dogs, protection teams and firearms officers.

The Olympics could impact on the force’s performance in 2012, the report warns.

The crime maps offer the first detailed, street-by-street information on six types of offences, including burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, violence and anti-social behaviour, that have been available for an entire country anywhere in the world.

Despite the initial massive interest in viewing them, the maps have not been without their critics, with some areas claiming they paint an inaccurate and unfair picture of their neighbourhood.

The report said there were “some difficulties” with the system that could lead to “artificial” hot spots, and result in the fear of crime being raised unnecessarily.