The
Wiltshire Police Chief Constable provided her update directly after
the Neighbourhood Policing Update.
The Area Board received an
update from Catherine Roper, Wiltshire Police Chief Constable. The
update included but was not limited to the following
points:
- It was outlined that
in the summer of 2022, Wiltshire Police had been placed into
“Engage” by the independent auditor after it had not
provided a satisfactory service. Since then, in May, the force had
recently been taken out of “Engage”, which demonstrated
that it was making process with investigations, protecting the
vulnerable and responding to crime.
- Wiltshire police had
since had a further PEEL inspection on 15 August, where significant
improvements had been made over the ten graded categories, with no
areas graded inadequate with all areas showing an increased
improvement, particularly in community engagement.
- Whilst some areas
were recognised as improving, some were recognised as not being
where they should be, therefore the Chief Constable aimed to
improve these areas.
- It was outlined that
regarding the Control Room, there was a statutory duty to respond
to 999 calls within 10 seconds and that previously Wiltshire had
been the worst performing force for this but had since improved to
rise 8 places and answer more calls within 10 seconds.
- The impact of the
re-establishment of dedicated Neighbourhood Teams was
discussed.
- It was outlined that
there had been a drive to increase the Police’s online
presence.
After the update, there was
time for the following questions and points to be
raised:
- Clarity was provided
that a “Right Care, Right Person” approach had been
implemented by Wiltshire Police at the end of 2023 with an aim of
recognising the right service for the right situation. This
approach had been implemented on three levels with partners invited
to attend group meetings. In the coming weeks a review was set to
take place to investigate whether the Police should always need to
attend 999 calls with it acknowledged that sometimes they
aren’t the right service for the emergency.
- A point was raised
regarding the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and
Crime Plan, with it suggested that there was a rural bias within
the document, though it had been suggested that the plan would be
data driven. It was also suggested that residents were unhappy with
spending £100million and £20million on police
facilities in Devizes and Salisbury. The Chief Constable suggested
that it would be inappropriate for her to respond to these points
as this would be within the remit of the Police and Crime
Commissioner, though she would be happy to pass the points that had
been made onto the Commissioner.
- The Chief Constable
provided assurance that rural crime was within the three priority
areas that she had identified for the policing approach, which was
aligned with data and demand.
- Gratitude was given
to the Neighbourhood Policing Team for their work on drug misuse
and selling, with there being a clear decline in the crime rate
once individuals are arrested.
- A suggestion was made
that the Police could use drug dogs to check people attending high
footfall places, with examples provided of work conducted in the
Taunton area. A response was provided that the Neighbourhood
Policing Teams had a proactive approach to drug seizure and
possession and that unfortunately the force only had a small number
of dogs which would generally be deployed to dynamic events. The
idea of using sniffer dogs was received as a positive suggestion
and that the Police would be implementing Stop and Search to
further increase results.
- A point was raised
regarding the parking within Oldfield Park as there had been issues
with obstruction, to which it was agreed that Sergeant Sadowski
would attend the area in the days after the meeting to assess the
situation.
- A further point was
made regarding youths gathering around the railway station, with it
hoped that the Neighbourhood Policing Team would work alongside the
British Transport Police to prevent crime. Assurance was provided
that the British Transport Police would be invited to local tasking
issues with an aim to resolve issues rather than displace
them.
- Detail was provided
that the Constabulary was now fully recruited to the budget that it
had been allocated and that reviews were set to take place to
ensure that people possessing skills were within the rights teams
to make the greatest impact. Reference was made to the quality of
the young people joining Wiltshire Police.
- Gratitude was placed
towards the Police for their work in rural areas.