Our ref: NW/LS

15 April 2011

Dear Parish/District/County Councillor/MP/NHW Co-Ordinators

The end of the financial and statistical year is an opportune time to update you on policing in your local communities.

I am delighted to inform you that the hard work and dedication from staff on Somerset East policing area together with partners and communities has achieved some noteworthy best ever results.

Our customer satisfaction indicators continue to improve with the last 3 months being significantly improved when compared to our Police Authority targets.

Burglary, Robbery, Vehicle crime and Criminal Damage have all shown reductions of between 10 and 15% on average with the result that there have been 768 fewer victims of these types of crime this year. The incidence of ASB has also reduced this year with 5% (625) fewer complaints registered.

Violent crime has recorded an increase this year however this has been as a direct result of the Neighbourhood teams taking a zero tolerance approach to the low level, loutish, nuisance behaviour that affects our towns and villages on a daily basis. Beat Managers and PCSO’s working with their communities, have targeted individuals using offensive language and/or behaving in an unacceptable manner that would tend to alarm or distress members of the public witnessing such activities.

We achieved an overall detection rate of 34%. This is the best the district has ever recorded, is above the force average and represents an improvement of 5% compared to this time last year. The District also detected more burglaries than any other year and was best in the Force for this crime category.

Once again, and with the warmer weather hopefully on the way, I would like to reiterate that;

With this in mind we would ask for any help that you may be able to provide in getting people to think about the security of their property at all times.

The new crime year sees the formation of our Prisoner Handling Unit. This unit has been tasked with processing up to 80% of our prisoners once arrested meaning that our officers will spend much less time involved in bureaucracy and paperwork and enabling them to spend more proactive time in our communities. Together with our newly formed Integrated Offender Management Unit, - IMPACT launched in March, it is hoped we will be able to build on the notable results of this year.

You will be aware that alongside other public service organisations the police service is required to make substantial savings over the next four years. The Constabulary is seeking to minimise the impact on the front line and is exploring all options to ensure our service to communities remains intact. The first year’s savings have been identified and I am pleased to update you despite having to contribute to these savings I have been able to achieve this by making changes to our administrative back office functions. Plans are advanced to address the savings required for the final three years of the Comprehensive Spending Review and I will update you regarding any changes to local arrangements once the plans are finalised. Please be reassured that I am working towards improving the efficiency of some of our working practices to achieve the savings whilst protecting service delivery.

In March, the Police Authority held the Community Policing Awards where members of the public nominate staff for awards in relation to reducing crime and improving the quality of life for residents. The following staff were winners on our policing district:-

Neighbourhood Beat Manager PC Mark Pople (Glastonbury)

Neighbourhood Team of the Year St John’s (Street)

Outstanding Customer Service Award Margaret Brown (Shepton Mallet)

PCSO of the Year Mandy Forsey (Wincanton)

Response Officer of the Year PC Martin Childs (Wincanton)

Special Constable of the Year Gillian Stonard (Yeovil)

In addition to this, Margaret Brown and Mandy Forsey won the overall Force awards in their categories which is a tremendous result.

Since I last wrote we held an Operation Relentless in March resulting in a number of warrants being executed and twelve arrests being made with a significant quantity of drugs and stolen property being recovered.

Our focus on offences related to the night time economy has continued and we have been working closely with licensing and trading standards authorities to grade all our licensed premises green, amber or red to dictate the amount of attention they receive and in particular the frequency of visits. Weekly patrol plans direct activity to the more high risk premises.

Our Neighbourhood staff have been running Operation Stay Safe placing our Community Contact vehicle in anti social behaviour hot spots and seizing alcohol from underage young people and calling their parents.

The Rural Crime Team initiative goes from strength to strength with more farms signing up membership to Farmwatch. Recent successes involve arrests for theft of lead from Stanchester School and garden gates from Yeovil. In the north of the area around Frome arrests have been made and stolen trailers and quad bikes recovered.

In January to address a slight rise in crime in the Frome area we held a month of intense policing activity targeting suspected offenders. Eight search warrants were conducted resulting in 30 arrests to bring crime levels back down.

The District has also seen the culmination of a lengthy enquiry into tax evasion and importation of cigarettes involving substantial amounts of money in the Mendip area. Several arrests have been made and the case is now progressing through the courts.

Thank you for reading this newsletter, which is intended to regularly keep you updated with what is happening in Somerset East District. If you have any feedback for me then you can contact me on nikki.watson@avonandsomerset.police.uk.

Yours sincerely

Nikki Watson

Chief Superintendent

District Commander – Somerset East District