News : North Devon Insight

Your local area has one Police Officer and one Police Community Support Officer PC Glyn Clark & PCSO Hannah Denton. The team work alongside other agencies to help resolve any issues & improve the communities’ quality of life.

Over the months of October, November & December 2009 the numbers of incidents involving Anti Social Behaviour decreased by 19% on the previous year. The main difference being that the calls to the Police the previous year were mainly being received by members of the public in Landkey. There was a group causing particular problems with anti social behaviour but this has now stopped. The reasons vary as to why the problems came to an end. Your local Police Team dealt with two offenders, young people from the group in question moved out of the area and others simply saw the error of their ways. By working with various agencies & the young peoples families PC Clark & PCSO Denton can help to solve this kind of community issue.

Thank you to members of the public for continuing to support their local Neighbourhood Beat Team & contacting them with incidents & issues.

YOUTH CLUBS

SWIMBRIDGE 6:30pm – 8:30pm Jubilee Hall, every Wednesday evening

WHIDDON VALLEY 6:30pm – 8:30pm at The
Forches & Whiddon Valley Community Hall, Barton Rd
WHIDDON VALLEY 6:15pm – 7:30PM (term time) at EVANGELIC CHURCH
BISHOPS TAWTON – nearest club is held at NEWPORT CHURCH EVERY Friday
6:00pm – 8:00pm

PACT MEETING FOR LANDKEY &
SWIMBRIDGE

SATURDAY MARCH 6TH 10AM-1PM AT THE JUBILEE HALL SWIMBRIDGE

PACT (Partners & Communities Together) meetings are held for the local community. Various agencies attend the meeting they are available to answer any questions & offer advice. Please come along and have your say. Your local Neighbourhood Police Team, Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service, Neighbourhood Watch are amongst those attending.

VARIOUS AGENCIES WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS

The Ask the Police website, an official policeresource, has been developed to reduce the number of non-emergency calls to police forces. Members of the public can access an extensive bank of police based frequently asked questions.
The database contains answers to a wide selection of nationally asked questions and the facility for forces to input local information.

PACT TEAM
(partners & communities together)

The PACT Team is made up of five police officers & one Sergeant. The team assists various police departments with any key issues.

So for example, you think your neighbour has a “dangerous dog” and you are not sure what agency deals with this. If you click on “D” at the top of the page you will be directed to a page that shows you a list of questions. Click on the relevant one & you are given your answer, in this case you must contact the police who will take details & liaise with the local Dog Warden at Devon County Council. If you have any questions about knives, speeding, fireworks, freedom of information, crime prevention and lots more take time to visit this website.

www.askthe.police.uk

Police seize two motor bikes in two days!

On the afternoon of Friday 22nd of January PC Clark stopped a moped in Speedwell Close as he suspected this was one of the motor vehicles that have been causing a problem in the area. When the moped was put through the police system it came back as not being insured & the rider was not the registered keeper. Police Traffic Officers then came to assist & the moped was subsequently seized & taken away to be crushed.
On the afternoon of Saturday 23rd January thanks to a call from a member of public, the Police seized another motor bike. The rider was caught on the path behind Woodland Close & Hawthorn road in Whiddon Valley, wearing no helmet, no number plate, insurance or MOT. Thus making it the second to be seized in two days!
Previous to this on Saturday 16th of Januarya Traffic Police Officer caught up with the owner of a moped who had been seen riding it on the pavements & tracks around Westacott. This rider will be served a section 59 warning. This warning means any time the moped is seen driving in an anti social manner it will be seized by the police & impounded until the registered keeper pays a hefty fine to get it back. To add to that cost they receive a bill for every night it spends at the compound.
Thank you to members of the public for their support & patience and contacting the local Neighbourhood Beat Team.

For further information please use our contact details or visit www.devon-cornwall.police.uk

email:
glyn.clark@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
email:
hannah.denton@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk

General Enquiries, to report a crime & for information & advice
08452 777444

Crime Stoppers
0800 555111
EMERGENCY 999

Hi Everyone

Firstly I would like to introduce to you, PC Richard Preston, our new Neighbourhood Beat Manager (NBM) for the Sticklepath, Roundswell, Lake & Tawstock area.

Richard has been kind enough to write a few words about himself.

I am PC Richard Preston. I have recently taken over as the Neighbourhood Beat Manager covering Sticklepath, Roundswell, Lake and Tawstock.
I have been a police officer for the past 6 years, initially beginning my career in Sheffield with South Yorkshire Police before transferring into Devon & CornwallConstabulary in May 2007. Since this time I have served in both Barnstaple and Ilfracombe as a uniform response officer.

I will be teaming up with PCSO Tony Charles and together we will be out and around these communities as often as possible addressing your concerns and the priorities identified through our ‘Partnerships and Communities Together’ (PACT) meetings.
If you have any queries or concerns, please feel free to contact either Tony or myself by sending us an email using the 'email your local team' link located in the information section. We also hold monthly police drop-in surgeries at our satellite station within Sticklepath Primary School and Roundswell community centre. No prior appointment is necessary and details of the forthcoming surgeries are listed below.
Thank you.

Partners and Communities Together (PACT)
Every 3 months the Police and their Partner Agencies, which includes The Local Parish Council, Local Councillors, Housing Associations, Local Schools, Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators & The Highways Agency meet to discuss and deal with any issues that have been raised by either a member of the public or via other agencies during the previous quarter.

On the 17th March 2010 between 7 & 9pm in the Beechfield Centre, Beechfield Road, Fremington we shall be holding a Partners and Communities Together (PACT) Public Meeting.
The meeting is open to any local resident who would like to come and discuss any issues that they may have with the agency concerned.

Another Partners and Communities Together public meeting is scheduled to be held in the Roundswell area, so as to accommodate those residents who are not able to attend this one.

Please find below details of an article that was recently published in the local media.

Crime across Devon and Cornwall has fallen by almost 8,000 incidents, latest Home Office figures released show.

Detail from 1 October 2008 to 30 September 2009 (the latest quarter) recorded crime has fallen by 7 per cent, a reduction of 7,920 crimes.

Devon and Cornwall is now the fourth safest place in the country with an average of 59 crimes per 1,000 population – the national average being 83.

Vehicle crime has decreased by 16 per cent, burglary by 13 per cent, and theft and robbery by 8 per cent each, with violence against the person also down by 5 per cent.

The number of recorded crimes involving drugs has increased by 13 per cent, but this is due to more pro-activity from police in apprehending those involved in drugs offences. Investigations like Operation Glendale in Plymouth have had significant impact on improving the well being of local communities by reducing drugs use and supply.

Deputy Chief Constable Debbie Simpson welcomed the news, but maintained work to make Devon and Cornwall even safer will continue.

DCC Debbie Simpson said: “These latest statistics show that we are winning the battle against the criminal and reducing crime across the board – meaning many thousands less victims.

“We know that crimes such as burglary and violence against a person have a real impact on people’s lives and I’m pleased to see substantial reductions.

Working with partner agencies and our communities we will continue to build on this good work and I hope to see crime reducing further as the year progresses.”

In the last year the Government has changed the way it scrutinises performance of police forces.

Previously forces had a number of targets, on which they were judged. There is now one national target. A joint target with local councils, it is about to what extent people agree the police and local council are dealing with anti-social behaviour and crime that matters in their area; these surveys are carried out by an independent body through the British Crime Survey.

Despite Devon and Cornwall remaining such a safe place, the British Crime Survey, released on Thursday 21 January by the Home Office, has shown that the perception in the level of crime in the region remains disproportionately high.

DCC Simpson said: “We aim to work closer with our communities so that local people have confidence in the police and how we work with local authorities and other agencies to solve community problems.

Public confidence is absolutely key to successful neighbourhood policing and we are taking action to show people how we are making their towns and villages safer.

We know from listening to our communities that our biggest area for improvement is actually telling people what we are doing.

Recent research carried out by the Force shows that the satisfaction levels of those that have contact with us is very high sitting at 84.9% overall, with victims of anti-social behaviour at 80.5%. This shows that we are doing what the public wants us to do when they become a victim of crime, but we need to tell our communities about outcomes”.

She added: “We have missed opportunities in the past to communicate with our communities and became aware that as a result of this their confidence would reduce.

We have now put actions in place to communicate more frequently and effectively with our local communities. For example, 89.9 per cent of local people asked have said they would prefer to be updated on local crime, news and initiatives via a newsletter. This increase in communication began late November 2009 and will  continue; our own recent data has already shown that this is having an impact.

The Force has invested heavily in neighbourhood policing over the last three years and it is pleasing to see that over 50% of the population have met a member of their neighbourhood policing team. Over a third of our communities now tell us they see us on foot patrol once a fortnight compared with 12% three years ago.

We are also significantly increasing the use of our community messaging system and continuing with the Partners and Communities Together (PACT), meetings that give residents a real opportunity to have their say on how their neighbourhood is policed.

And by using initiatives like Court and Convicted on our force website, we want to arm communities with the information they need to give a true reflection on the safety of their area and the action their police are taking."

LOCAL POLICE SURGERIES:

Roundswell: The last Tuesday of each month and is held in the Roundswell Community Centre (around the corner from the main entrance) from 10.30 –11.30am

Regards
Tony

PC 11010 Richard Preston
PCSO 30093 Tony Charles
Contact Telephone Number: 08452 777 444
Barnstaple Neighbourhood Beat Office
Email addresses:
Richard. PRESTON@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
Terry.HODGSON@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
Anthony.CHARLES2@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk
Jessica.MEAKER@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk

'If you have been a victim of crime and would like assistance, please contact Victim Support on
0845 676 10 20.

General Enquiries, to report a crime & for information & advice 08452 777444

Crime Stoppers 0800 555111
EMERGENCY 999