At the recent Action Against Business Crime Partnership (ABCP) National Awards Brighton and Hove won in the category of Managing the Night Time Economy; and gained a highly commended citation for Promoting Community Safety.
ABCP is the body that accredits and oversees the operation of over 300 business crime reduction partnerships (BCRPs) nationally.
Night-time award
In the night-time economy category the BCRP were asked how the partnership responded to the challenge of the new licensing act and how it contributed to better management and reduced crime and disorder. The Brighton and Hove BCRP NightSafe Scheme achieved this by working on behalf of late night economy businesses in Brighton and Hove, and developing an intelligence gathering scheme that enables BCRP members to fulfil the licensing objective of the prevention of crime and disorder (according to the Licensing Act 2003). This is done by facilitating the reporting of low level anti-social behaviour to the relevant bodies within Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council ASB team via the use of the yellow card scheme and the BCRP secure password protected website.
The Brighton and Hove Yellow Card Scheme and BCRP Secure Password Protected Website has been running successfully for over three years and has seen the banning of over 150 offenders from licensed premises throughout Brighton and Hove. The scheme has also produced intelligence specific to the successful application of ASBO’s on at least 12 individuals. There were 500 yellow card issued to offenders in the first year of the scheme; in 2009 1500 cards were issued and in 2010 1850 cards โ there are over 100 offenders who have been issued with exclusion notices in this period.
The Yellow Card report forms used by the BCRP NightSafe scheme have been designed with police officers and door staff in mind, the BCRP says; the card has a simple report form to enable quick and efficient reporting at the point of contact in the busy night-time economy (NTE). The nature of the night economy is such that incidents (especially on the door of a premises) have to be dealt with quickly as there is not the time that there may be in say a shoplifting incident where details can be taken in an office while waiting for a police officer. The BCRP website has enabled the โreal timeโ distribution of photos to over 400 member premises. The tolerance for exclusion is two yellow cards and as soon as an exclusion is issued all members are immediately notified via the BCRP website. Both door staff and police find that having given one yellow card to an offender that this is sufficient to prevent further offences. The BCRP website also ensures that all offenders are visible to the membership. The website also enables all photos to be printed off in a printable gallery page.
All yellow card report forms are copied to the Brighton and Hove City Anti-Social Behaviour Team and both RUOK and the NHS Alcohol Intervention Service โ all these agencies then contact the individual to offer support or guidance as to further behaviour. The BCRP reports that there has been a year on year reduction of assaults in licensed premises in the city. With the issuing of banning orders and the threat of exclusion after one yellow card there has been a major benefit of โsetting the toneโ that places limits on behaviour in the NTE. All prolific offenders in the NTE are now โvisibleโ to all BCRP member, agencies security staff and police via the BCRP website. The Yellow Card scheme and BCRP website brings together door staff and police in a productive and constructive way โ enabling both parties to work in partnership to control crime and disorder in a preventative manner. The Yellow Card Scheme and BCRP website is say organisers a โreal timeโ tool which has become essential to effectively policing and managing the NTE in Brighton and Hove.
Nigel Liddell the BCRP NightSafe Manager says: โAs NightSafe manager for the BCRP I have personally had over 15 visits from partnerships nationally who are keen to use the Yellow Card model designed and created for Brighton and Hove โ the scheme is being rolled out in partnerships as far apart as Southampton and Barrow-in-Furness. The scheme was recently commended as part of Brighton and Hove City Council successful application and award for Beacon Status for partnership working in the Night-time Economy. I personally assisted in the development of the BCRP website with Charlie Newman of Littoralis Ltd โ he says โWhen we set out to develop BCRP intranet we worked closely with Brighton and Hove BCRP – and especially with Nigel. He understood the benefits that a secure intranet could offer in terms of data sharing, not only for members but of course in terms of greater administrative efficiency. He gave us invaluable input, and the success of BCRP intranet and the fact that it has been adopted as a model of Best Practice nationally is due in no small part to Nigel’s invaluable input in those early days.โ Again in 2009 NightSafe was commended in the Public Service Awards for Brighton and Hove. The Yellow Card Scheme has gone from strength to strength and has been developed into a highly effective tool in the prevention of crime and disorder in the night-time economy.
This award reflects all the hard work of the BCRP members and that of our partner agencies from police to door staff in contributing to a nationally recognised intelligence gathering scheme that has had a dramatic effects on reducing crime and disorder in Brighton & Hove. The scheme has now been brought to prominence nationally as a bench mark of good practice for all Business Crime Reduction Partnerships in the UK.โ
Chief Inspector Simon Nelson, Operations Team, Brighton and Hove Division, says: ‘Alcohol-related violence remains an ongoing challenge, particularly as a result of changing drinking routines. The BCRP are a integral part of the partnership that manages the night time economy and the intelligence we share allows us to direct our activities to the places and persons who present the highest risk. The support and direction we have offered to the trade has resulted in a 15% drop in assaults over the past year within licensed premises and I am confident that the partnership will drive this down further. Working with the venues to encourage responsible business will help to ensure they prosper during a challenging economic period, while our city centre remains safe and diverse.’ (see attached graphs below)
Promoting Community Safety
In this award Lisa Perretta BCRP Manager tried to promote community safety in the London Road area of Brighton โ an area which has seen an increase in recent years of anti-social behaviour with the particular problems of shoplifting, street drinking and begging. The role of the BCRP was to work closely with the police and the council to increase patrols in the area and to get them to communicate via the BCRP radio network. The role of the manager was to encourage businesses to work together and to report incidents of crime and ASB. The other aim of the project was to increase membership in the area and get businesses working in partnership with all relevant agencies.
The primary objective: to get the community working together, and taking responsibility to assist with the reduction of crime and disorder. It was about improving the relationship between businesses and police and promoting community safety, as historically there was a communication and sharing of intelligence gap between these agencies. Once the businesses were on board the BCRP then looked at identifying the most prolific in the area and raising their profiles with the business community. Identified were the โtop ten offendersโ. The BCRP worked with the businesses to ensure any incidents were reported and dealt with robustly as historically businesses were not calling the police. Also identified were young offenders and their details fed to the โTargeted Youth Supportโ scheme. These young people were then worked with by case workers and Lisa Perretta in the form of restorative justice. Street drinkers were also highlighted and referred to the relevant agency so they could target them.
Lisa Perretta says: โI felt that the project deserves its commendation as it has demonstrated that effective partnership working can promote and enhance community safety. Historically the area had been suffering and had not had much attention from the police. This then gets into a vicious circle where businesses donโt call anything into the police as they feel they donโt get support and then it looks to the police – according to their stats – there isnโt a problem. I went to a large meeting last year with the businesses, local authority and the police and all the businesses did complain of a lack of support. I at the time didnโt have any BCRP members in this area to make a difference so I took this as a project under my wing and was determined to make a difference and build up a sense of community with everyone working together doing their little bit to reduce crime and disorder. I needed the commitment from a dedicated officer (PCSO Sharon Birt) and I committed myself to one full day a week in London Road with the police, talking to businesses, gathering intelligence and then acting on it to show a difference.
โIt was initially an uphill battle but gradually we got the businesses onside and they started reporting. This in turn sent out a strong message that theft and anti-social behaviour in this area would not be tolerated and would be dealt with robustly even the low value thefts. The businesses are now talking to each other via the BCRP radio network and sharing intelligence. The PCSO remains dedicated to the area and all members in the London Road area are communicating via a BCRP radio network. The BCRP now has a record number of members in the London road area which has brought the business community together to make a tighter and safer community.โ
Chief Insp Simon Nelson Operations Team, Brighton and Hove Division adds: โThe city’s Business Crime Reduction Partnership has evolved into an effective information and intelligence sharing network which enables all its members and public agencies to make a real difference for residents, customers and visitors. Through regular contact across the radio network, briefings, weekly operational meetings with the police, as well as regular personal visits, all are better informed as to who is regularly committing crime or likely to hurt others in the city. There is clear evidence that some persons of particular interest to us have moved away from the city as a result of the close attention they received, and the awards appropriately recognise the efforts made by the BCRP management and all of the members, which have proved so effective.โ
