To receive an update from the Police & Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson OBE, with Inspector Tina Osborn in attendance.
Followed by an opportunity for questions.
Minutes:
The Police & Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson OBE provided an overview of current work and priorities, the main points included:
· An inspection on the strategic processes had been graded as outstanding.
· There was a planning processes to deliver what was needed.
· Antisocial Behaviour was down 16%, Domestic abuse was down 13%, and Violence in crime was down 13%
· The Salisbury Community area had more speed awareness tickets and speeding fines issued than the whole of Swindon and Wiltshire for 2022.
· SID data collated from parish councils was used to target hot areas.
· The force was the second lowest in terms of funding per population. Philip had been working to change the national Police funding formular.
· An increase in funding was required to cover NI contributions and there was a degree of uncertainty regarding long term funding.
· The Police & Crime Plan had been approved by the Police & Crime Panel.
· Two main areas for focus were Retail crime and Rural crime.
· Hare coursing in rural areas had become big business, with sessions livestreamed to other countries for betting purposes.
· An increase in van break ins and tool theft around Salisbury had occurred over the last 2 months.
· There had been improvements on call centre 999 & 101 response times.
· Large investment in a new IT system.
· Much greater reinforced NHPT with more officers on the beat.
· The NPT had established partnerships with local retailers, to be more effective in stopping retail crime.
· Working to replicate the Salisbury BID model in Swindon town centre.
Inspector Tina Osborn from the Neighbourhood Policing Team and Perry Payne from the Wiltshire & Swindon Road Safety Partnership were also in attendance to respond to any questions.
Questions and comments included:
Thanks were given to the Officers who had worked to support the recent Novichok enquiry.
Answer: There had been weekly cyberattacks during the investigation, with attempts to penetrate police systems.
Would there be another round of the Safer Street’s funding?
Answer: Whilst in London last week, Philip had an opportunity to ask the question on future funding. if there was no more funding then there would be a problem.
Could you provide an update on the plans for a new police station?
Answer: The whole process was frustrating and there had been many delays and hurdles to contend with. Out of the two options currently on the table, Old Sarum, had been progressing, however there was now a new level of planning which needed a biodiversity inspection, leading to a restart on negotiations. The Highpost site was refused by Planning.
Regarding a feeling of safety – if you had dealings with National Highways, could you ask them to progress the repairs in the underpasses.
Answer: Perry Payne was introduced, as he was currently liaising with National Highways to devise a more comprehensive solution where necessary.
There was an ongoing issue in Lower Bemerton, with professional drivers of HGV’s who regularly broke the law. Contact had been made to the companies of the repeat offenders, but the reply was often that the drivers were agency. Residents would continue to log evidence and report issues, but would like to see prosecutions, as it was believed that some stronger action would solve the issue.
Answer: For any particular issues like that contact my office and if possible, the NPT may be able to apply some measures.
On the A360 between Fugglestone Red and St Peters Place, we were trying to get that stretch of road reduced to 40mph, did you have any stats on speeding along there?
Answer: Contact the office directly and we could check. It was now also possible to use vehicle/mobile camera data for prosecutions if the quality was good enough. Clips could be sent in via the Operation Snap report system or via the website.
There had been resident reports of bogus gardeners etc. knocking on people’s doors. What could be done about this?
Answer: (TO) All incidents need to be reported to us, if we don’t know, we are not able to fix the issues. We often work with Trading Standards who deal with issues of this nature.