Report of community meeting with local police
from Cllr Lesley Jones
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
The regular 6 weekly local Police Ward meeting took place last night at the Police Station. Although it was disappointing to see only a couple of members of our community there it was a good meeting with a number of topics usefully discussed .
Starting with statistics, 33 crimes were reported over the 6 week period which remains much the same as the previous 6 weeks. Domestic incidents accounted for a third of these and a couple of arrests have been made in this respect. Two rural burglaries have taken place with high value vehicles being the target. In one of these an alarm being raised resulted in the offenders leaving empty handed. It is thought that both these offences were carried out by people from outside the area.
Other crimes reported included burglary at two commercial premises and three thefts from motor vehicles and enquiries are continuing in all of these. In addition a number of arrests have been made for various other offences including graffiti, possession of drugs and criminal damage although reports of criminal damage have reduced over the period.
Work is ongoing to address issues with anti social behaviour of a number of youths at Dodnaze.
In summary, crime in our area remains very low at less than 1 report per day which is very encouraging and demonstrates the effectiveness of the various initiatives carried out by local officers.
The priorities for the previous period were reviewed with updates on progress as follows:
- To reduce incidents of anti social behaviour in and around Paradise takeaway - Officers have paid regular visits and no further problems have been reported during the period.
- To reduce vehicle speed on Burnley Road through the town centre - The smiley face camera has been deployed with a view to reminding motorists of the 20mph speed limit. Traffic Officers have been deployed in the area and a number of fixed penalty tickets have been issued.
- To reduce anti social behaviour around the Trades Club at weekends - Officers have carried out licencing visits and conducted re-assurance patrols and there have been no further reports of any problems in this area.
The question was raised about the effectiveness of the ASBO process which takes some time to put in place. However, the gathering of evidence is necessary which does take time. This is then reviewed by a panel comprising a partnership of various agencies which all contributes to the length of the process. Parental involvement opportunities are unfortunately limited. There was a suggestion that some consequences for actions would be helpful and the meeting was informed about the Local Early Intervention Scheme which has been developed as a working tool to complement existing procedures within the Criminal Justice System. This involves reparation between the victim and the offender in certain circumstances and more details can be obtained from the Police.
It was suggested that a leaflet drop at Dodnaze where problems are currently being experienced could be helpful. The aim would be to raise awareness as to what constitutes anti social behaviour and to highlight potential consequences, both short and long term, and the officers agreed to take this forward.
The three priorities agreed for the next 6 week period are:
- Continue work to reduce vehicle speeds on Burnley Road through the town centre
- Continue the work to reduce the anti social behaviour at Dodnaze and deal with off road motor cycling at Old Town
- To maintain patrols in the town centre and the park and to monitor need for increased focus with the warmer weather and Easter holiday period approaching.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 12th May at 6:30 pm in the Police Station. Please put this date in your diary and come along and take the opportunity to hear what local officers are doing to maintain the encouragingly low crime levels. You will get the opportunity to personally help shape priorities for the coming 6 weeks and also be able to raise with officers any individual concens you may have. With thanks to Sergeant Norbury for continuing to provide these oportunities for discussion and to PCSO Webb who hosted yesterday's meeting.
See also:
HB neighbourhood police page
Hebweb News: Sharp fall in Hebden Bridge crime rate (Jan 09)
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