Sector Inspector Pete Sparrow gave a presentation on
the new Community Policing model and showed a
DVD. To view the video click on the link:
here.
Pilot
areas had started in Sep last year. Mere and Tisbury already had
Community Policing Teams, however Wilton would start on 17 Oct,
from the South hub. Mere and Tisbury was already covered from the
Warminster hub.
Under the new model, Officers
would be able to take ownership of an entire case, working out in
their areas to complete reports using mobile technology, thus
saving them time.
The NHP team structure had been
a fundamental part of policing for past 10 years. PCSOs now had
greater responsibility and had the role of a Community Beat
officer, talking to people in the community.
Officers would still have the
beat responsibility, and would be allocated areas which when not
dealing with issues they would be back on beat in those areas and
expected to go to a public facility or space to write up their
reports using their 4G laptops or devices.
Special constables were still
in the community and there would be a recruitment drive to increase
their numbers.
It was recognised that there
was still a gap, however the Community Coordinators would act as a
central point of contract ensuring information was available when
needed.
A control strategy was in place
to try and assess what the greatest risk and threats to our
communities were.
The current planning permission
for Bourne Hill meant that the Police building could not operate
there 24/7, however this was coming up for review.
Inspector Sparrow invited
anyone interested in having a tour of the operational side of the
101 system to get in contact with him. He would arrange to take a
delegation of people there to see it in action and to see the
pressures they were under.
The Police had recently run an
operation to deal with rural crime issues. Cross border working
– PCC came out 50 members of staff including spotters (game
keepers) stopped 46 vehicles, ceased lamps and vehicles. It was
felt that this had been a successful operation
Comments and questions included:
-
Cllr Peter Edge had used the 101 service, but had
given up after 6 minutes. The Fire Service responded to calls in 3
seconds. He asked for an update on what would happen with Wilton
station, and whether it would be closed? Answer: All estate based
questions need to be directed to the PCC, Pete was not aware of
Alderbury or Wilton being sold. He agree that the 101 service
needed improvements but felt that it was not as bad as people made
out.
-
The Chairman noted that in the past when he had
complained about crime in rural areas he had been told that people
did not bother to report them. Policing was driven by statistics,
so he urged people to report any rural crime, to enable police to
build up a better database to provide better coverage. Answer: The
reporting is needed to gain a better picture of what is going on.
If we don’t know about it we cannot patrol that area as we
don’t know what is going on.
-
Cllr Jose Green had organised a meeting in the
Chalke Valley with poachers, where it
was explained that there was a lot of gambling with media. Mobile
phone coverage was not reliable in the rural areas. Was that
exercise you referred to as a result of that meeting? Answer: It
was not arranged as a direct result of that meeting, the Rural
Crime team had regular meetings set up for Wiltshire and Dorset.
Answer: Yes there was an issue with poor mobile signals especially
in the Chalke Valley, the Police could
not deal with lack of broadband or mobile services, so urge you to
report issues via the 101 service.
-
Cllr George Jeans could not accept the hour travel
in the morning and end of the day to and from Warminster, he felt
that Officers should start shift in their areas and not from the
hub. A lot of the farmers now had CCTV, could that be used in
incidents to assist the Police? Answer: If there were issues like
blood left at the scene, then the CCTV was used. A PC or PCSO would
be sent to the scene to deal with that.
Each case was dealt with on its own merits. The new model will
enable Officers to be monitored at the start and end of their
shifts to pick up on any signs of stress or mental health issues
arising.
-
PC Matt Holland was in attendance, he reported that
PCSO Nicola Clarke had organised the rural operation, which was
very well organised. It was important to have rural colleagues on
the same radio channels talking to each other during operations
such as these. That was the biggest and most successful operations
in the last 4 year.
-
You currently operate out of Salisbury, were you
only doing the poaching operations in the Chalke Valley because you were based in Salisbury.
Or were there similar operations this side of the community area?
Answer: I will pass on to the other coordinators for Warminster
hub.
-
Cllr Jose Green asked whether the operation was
still called the Midas project, and what were peek times for
poaching, as often late at night, when travelling across the downs,
we see torches across the fields? Answer: Operation Midas was a
name we gave to our tri force operations. We don’t use that
term any more but essentially it was the same operation. The
operation starts at about 11pm and goes on to about 3.00 to 4.00am
in the morning for poaching, but burglaries go on later than
that.
-
Would Community safety partnerships continue as
parishes felt that they were useful?
Answer: Things were done differently in different areas, I
don’t know anything specifically for this community area so I
will check for you.