November 2011
Dear Parish/ District /
County Councillor/MP/NBH Watch Co-Ordinators
With the festive season fast
approaching I wanted to update you on policing and community
safety issues in your local communities.
Despite the challenging economic
climate I am delighted to report that crime continues to reduce
and that the communities of Somerset East are experiencing less
overall crime than this time last year. I am firmly of the
belief that this is as a result of individuals taking measures
to secure their property and vehicles as well as communities
working with my staff to keep on step ahead of our criminals to
frustrate their activities and bring them to justice.
The local detection rate for crime
remains strong and above our target set by the Police Authority.
As always, there are areas and
opportunities for improvement. The current high value of metal
has fuelled an increase in metal theft ranging from lead from
roofs through catalytic converters in cars to the copper in
underground BT cables. I am aware that these thefts have far
reaching impact and disruption to not only the victims but the
wider community and have a team of officers dedicated to working
with other agencies to reduce and combat this activity. I will
return to metal theft later in this update.
Vehicle crime including theft of and
from motor vehicles continues to be a problem this year. We have
achieved some notable successes in respect of arresting some of
our prolific vehicle criminals but the level of crime are still
higher than I would like. As you will be aware, most of this
crime is opportunist and occurs because valuables have been left
on view or the vehicle left insecure. Once again, I would ask
that you help spread the message that removing money, valuables
and coats from sight and locking your vehicles are an effective
deterrent against this sort of crime.
Since the last time I wrote we have
held a number of Operation Relentless days of action. The focus
of this activity has been on reducing anti-social behaviour
around the Halloween and Bonfire Night period. This year’s
activity was an outstanding success. Staff and community
representatives delivered personal safety inputs to schools and
were very visible in communities on these key dates and the
number of calls from the public to report anti-social behaviour
or disturbances was the lowest ever.
We have also conducted a number of
action days focusing on metal theft. Since September we have
formally visited every scrap metal dealer in the area twice to
ensure they are complying with registration and licensing
conditions which helps to reduce the likelihood of these
premises being used as outlets for stolen metal. We have also
given our officers enhanced training regarding developing their
skills in metal theft investigation. I am pleased to announce
that in the past month several arrests have been made in respect
of theft of industrial cable in the Langport area, manhole
covers in Glastonbury, metal gates in Frome and an aluminum
disabled ramp in Street.
Our rural crime reduction initiative
continues to grow from strength to strength. Farms are
continuing to sign up to our Farm Watch scheme and we now have
900 farms taking part. We have conducted joint cross border
operations with partners and neighbouring police forces tackling
agricultural, plant and quad bike theft, livestock theft and
fuel theft.
Other successes involve the capture of
a prolific dwelling house burglar who had been active in the
Bruton, Wincanton and Yeovil areas. The criminal made the
mistake of using a credit card stolen in one of the burglaries
in a cashpoint machine covered by a CCTV camera. We retrieved
the footage for the relevant time, identified the offender and
arrested him within twelve hours. The offender admitted to
committing twenty one burglaries.
In respect of anti-social behaviour and
nuisance, a family living in Yeovil were making the lives of
other residents in their road unbearable by their loud, rowdy
and anti-social behaviour. Working with local residents the
District Council and local housing organisation we were able to
gather enough information and evidence to take the occupant to
court under new Premises Closure Order legislation which has not
previously been used in the Avon and Somerset force area. The
Magistrates determined that the case was upheld and the family
were forced to move out to the relief of other residents.
We continue to receive valuable support
and assistance from our thriving Special Constabulary and a
growing number of police volunteers. The variety of police
volunteer roles is continuing to expand and offers exciting
opportunities for community minded individuals. If you know of
anyone who would be interested in exploring the opportunity of
becoming a volunteer do please ask them to make contact with me.
Many councilors and members of the
public have taken up the opportunity to come out on patrol with
my officers to get personal experience of the operational world
of a police officer. I would like to promote the fact that this
opportunity is open to all on our “Ride Along Scheme”. If you or
anyone you know wishes to take part there are details on our
website or by all means contact me directly.
As Christmas approaches I ask that you
pass on the below community safety messages to the wider
community:-
