City Guardians – Victoria – December 2006 - Westminster City Council

City Guardians – Victoria – December 2006Community Work Intervention HoursAudits - Business 45 8.27Community Work 32 4.98Crime Prevention Advice 4 0.68Education / Schools Related 31 10.34Locking Gates 18 2.33Special Events 11 12Youth Work 2 0.34Month Total 143 38.94Crime & Anti-SocialAnti-Social Behaviour 81 13.49ASBO / ABC Related 2 0.16Criminal Damage 1 0.17Drug Use or Drug Paraphernalia 19 2.22Prostitute Cards 74 15.8Rough Sleepers 43 7.7Street Drinkers 42 5.44Tasking (CivicWatch etc) 1 1.25Month Total 263 46.23EnvironmentAudits - Environmental 25 2.9Audits - Highways Defects 2 0.34Dog Nuisance (off leads) 24 4.02Month Total 51 7.26Other IncidentsComplaints About CG Service 2 0.5Month Total 2 0.5Total Reported Incidents 459 92.93New Year’s Eve OperationThe Street Licensing Enforcement Teamexperience one of their busiest nights of the yearin the West End on New Year’s Eve. This yearthey asked the City Guardian Mobile Team toassist them in a joint operation.A briefing was held in the early evening with boththe Street Licensing Enforcement Team and theGuardians joining the police to discuss theevening’s operation. Each Guardian worked withone Street Licensing Officer and two PoliceOfficers. The main focus of the operation was toprevent unlicensed street traders taking advantageof the huge crowds.During the initial course of the operation, hugequantities of illegally traded goods wereconfiscated and the traders cautioned. A lot ofthese items were poor quality novelty lights andhats, which were worth far less than people werebeing asked to pay.As the evening wore on, the illegal hot dog stallsbegan to appear, which present a health andsafety risk to the public. The challenge was tolocate the stalls as quickly as possible before theymoved on to new locations. The teams had toobserve the traders making a sale and then beginthe task of questioning the trader and clearing thestall of stock to make it ready for confiscation.Without the help of the City Guardians, the StreetLicensing Officers would not have been able towork as quickly and this would have meant manyof the stalls would have been operating throughoutthe night, selling their poor quality food to NewYear’s Eve revellers.The Guardians were also able to provide traveladvice and general directions to numerous gratefulvisitors.Victoria Guardians – 07738 029 339Rough Sleeping Telephone Helpline – 020 7641 3841A dedicated helpline for members of the public who are concernedabout people sleeping rough in their area. The number is available 24hours a day to members of the public who notice new people sleepingrough in their neighbourhood or are concerned about the deterioratinghealth and well being of existing rough sleepers.Environmental Action and Noise Complaints – 020 7641 2000http://www.westminster.gov.uk/cityguardians

City Guardians – Victoria – December 2006Unruly YouthsWhilst on patrol on Churchill Gardens Estate,the Guardians were approached by a residenton Claverton Street who complained aboutyouths riding their bicycles and kickingfootballs against the walls late on Fridaynights. This was causing a nuisance for all theresidents as the youths were uncontrollableand intimidating. The Guardians advised theresident of the times of their late shift but sheacknowledged that the nuisance wasoccurring later than the finishing time. TheGuardians advised the resident to call thepolice of there was a reoccurrence of theincidents.Homeless CountCity Guardians took part in the homelessnesscount organised by Building Based Servicesand the Safer Streets Homeless Unit. Thenumber of people sleeping rough in theVictoria area has decreased by about 20people within the last two months. TheGuardians signpost rough sleepers to BuildingBased Services almost on a daily basis, thuskeeping them off the street and getting themthe care that they need.Polish TranslationA Polish City Guardian translated the‘Passage Booklet’ into Polish. The bookletcovers various topics including: conditions ofemployment, local authority benefits andhousing, general accommodation advice andhealth information. There is a large Polishcommunity in the area and this booklet will beextremely useful for referring and providinginformation to Polish speaking rough sleepers.The Metropolitan Police asked the same CityGuardian to translate the dispersal zonenotice into Polish. These translations will nodoubt go a long way to bridging thecommunication gap between these agenciesand the majority of the people that engagewith their services in our local area.Westminster Winter FestivalCity Guardians participated in the WestminsterWinter festival. The objectives of the festivalwere met by promoting the diversity within thecommunity members including electedcouncillors in the community. The Guardiansparticipated in the planning and organisationof the festival, assisted in setting up the venueand the stalls allocated to the SaferNeighbourhoods Team and the CityGuardians. The Guardians received a lot ofpraise from the local community and localcouncillors regarding their involvement inreducing youth anti-social behaviour in PageStreet, especially Bennett House, and indealing with rough sleepers and streetdrinkers. It was a very eventful day andprovided a great opportunity for the Guardiansto increase their profile in the area.StatisticsIn the month of December City Guardiansremoved a total of 5,528 prostitute cards fromtelephone boxes in the area. These cards aresent to the BT security team who assessesthe numbers to have them disconnected.