Agenda item

Police

Inspector Andy Noble gave some feedback following a question received at the last meeting in October relating to the differences in the Crime Detection Rate across the three community areas in the South West.

Detection means when a crime is resolved. This can be by:

• Local Resolution
• Charge
• Summons
• Caution
• Final warning
• Reprimand
• Fixed penalty

It would be difficult to compare the crime detection rates (CDR) in the South West community area to those of the larger towns, as there are several different factors present which set them apart.

The CDR in the larger towns is usually around 20 – 30%, but in rural areas it is usually no higher than 10%, across Wiltshire. The most similar area to the South West is Pewsey and their CDR is similar, however there is some risk in comparing them directly because the South West Wiltshire Area is unique in having two areas which have very small areas of crime, Wilton and Mere & Tisbury. The issue is that in terms of crime volume the differences between the areas are simply not visible anywhere else, because nowhere else in Wiltshire has such low figures.

Rural areas do not tend to have CCTV in operation and tend to be blighted more from travelling criminals, rather than local criminals in the more built up areas.

When we talk about percentages, we should remember that the sample size is not really significant enough to give a real steer on the end percentage for the area, with resolved crimes only totalling 5 or 6.

The CDR figures for rural areas have nearly always been in single figures, with 10% being a high figure.

The Chairman thanked Andy for his update on crime detection rates and noted that the Pewsey figures could be viewed on the Pewsey Area Board webpage online, should anyone wish to view them.

Phil Matthews, Wilton Town Councillor asked Inspector Noble if PC Rachel Jennings would be returning following the commencement of her maternity leave? Answer: Rachel was expected to return to the wider Salisbury Police team after July 2013. The aim would be to fill the vacancy in Wilton in the new year and the details of Rachel’s placement would be considered once she had returned.

Fire & Rescue Service

Mike Franklin noted that there had only been 3 accidental fires reported for the period.

There had been a recent incident in the Salisbury Plain area where a family of 5 had been admitted to hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning, Mike advised anyone without a carbon monoxide detector in their home to get one fitted.