Agenda item

·       Police – Sergeant Josef Sadowski, Warminster NPT

·       Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership – Perry Payne

The Board noted the written updates attached to the agenda and received the following verbal updates:

Wiltshire Police - Sergeant Josef Sadowski, Warminster Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT)

The Sergeant explained that he was standing in for Inspector Louise Oakley and highlighted that there were written reports in the agenda pack from the 3 NPT’s which covered the South West Wiltshire (SWW) community area, these were Warminster NPT, Salisbury NPT and Amesbury NPT.

The Sergeant’s patch covered Warminster, Westbury, Mere and Tisbury. It was the largest NPT by geographical area and contained over 50 parish councils. The Sergeant had been in post since 5 July 2024 and since then had been trying to engage with as many people as possible and would continue to do so over time. The staff within his NPT were listed and it was noted that the NPT team were not the team that would respond if you called 999, that would be the response team. It was also noted that that not all the staff listed were on duty at the same time, there were usually 2-3 Police Constable’s (PC’s) patrolling at any one time and the same for the Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s). So, the team was spread quite thinly in a large area with a number of competing problems. The team liaised with partner agencies in order to increase leverage, enact change and respond to issues.

The team’s priorities were:

·       Engaging Communities – this was the team’s primary priority. The team wanted to be visible and tried to engage via meetings such as the Area Board, school visits, coffee morning, church visits and the like.

·       Solving Problems – the Sergeant wanted to highlight burglaries and rural crime and stated that there was a rural crime team working with local farmers to try to prevent crimes such as hare coursing. There had been a high value burglary at the Co-Op in Tisbury, that had been led by a national gang which had hit a few places on the same night. The Sergeant had led a highly visible operation recently with 10 mobile units and the tasking team, to deter crime. Speeding and enforcement were discussed as an issue and the Sergeant would pick this up with some of the Cllrs outside of the meeting. Particular concerns raised were the A30 in Tisbury and the A350 from East Knoyle to Shaftesbury. The Sergeant would look to see where enforcement could be conducted safely.

·       Targeting Activity – the supply of drugs was an ongoing issue, this was related to high level criminality, and modern slavery. It was known that there were 2 organised criminal gangs working in the area and there was ongoing monitoring and intelligence gathering taking place so that enforcement could take place. An update could be given at the next meeting.

An attendee from Donhead St Mary stated that there had been an issue in Donhead St Mary for about 10 years which had now been resolved.

The Sergeant stated that there was a mobile police station van which would be visiting towns and villages around the area week commencing 30 September 2024. The police would publicise the locations where the van would be, likely via all social media channels.

The Sergeant stated that a Parish Council forum had been set up by Chief Inspector Brain which would meet quarterly and encouraged parishes to get involved so that they could hold the police to account. Cllr Wayman requested that South West Wiltshire Area Board Cllrs be able to attend those as well.

Cllr Geroge Jeans queried response times, and if these had slowed since the response teams had moved to Trowbridge, and why the response teams had been relocated. The Sergeant stated that this had happened in conjunction with a change in shift patterns for officers and that they usually had a car ready in Warminster and that improved response times.  

Wiltshire and Swindon Road Safety Partnership – Perry Payne

Mr Payne stated that he had worked for the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) for 30 years as part of an Emergency Support Unit that responded Road Traffic Collisions. That was why he was passionate about road safety. Mr Payne also highlighted the written road safety update in the agenda (pages 89-99).

Mr Payne gave a presentation which is appended to these minutes.

Cllr Wayman thanked Mr Payne for his presentation and stated that the Board appreciates everything that they do. A discussion took place where Cllrs highlighted that speeding was one of the biggest concerns in the South West Wiltshire area. Not all areas could have a Community Speed Watch (CSW), as roads with a 60mph limit were deemed unsafe for volunteers to undertake CSW. An example of this was the A350 and enforcement was requested on the East Knoyle to Shaftesbury stretch. A traffic survey was due to take place there. Chilmark was also highlighted as an issue, the speed limit through Chilmark was 30mph, and a traffic survey many years ago showed speeds far in excess of that and it was deemed unsafe for CSW. Chilmark Parish Council were looking to purchase a Speed Indicator Device (SID) and it was queried whether the police would accept the data if they did and carry out enforcement there.

An attendee from Dinton stated that they had had a CSW in place for approximately 15 years and that speeds had reduced by about half over that time. They queried whether when they got excessive speeders, whether they were visited by the police. Sergeant Sadowski responded that they did.

Mr Payne stated that those with concerns about a particular vehicle could report it, and upload pictures and video via the police website. It was stressed that people should try to do this as quickly as possible following the event.

A resident from Donhead St Mary stated that My Payne had visited them at their house, and they showed him issues on the A30. People had been going over 100mph there. The traffic survey that had taken place there stated that they did not hit the 85^th percentile, however residents disagreed. Thousands of people speeded on that stretch. 14 people in a month had been clocked in excess of over 100mph.  

Mr Payne requested more data, for example time of day, vehicle registration plates and whether it was an emergency vehicle.

Residents of Donhead St Mary stated that they had purchased an Auto Speed Watch (ASW) camera, which automatically records vehicles speeding as an aid to CSW, and queried whether police would accept this data. Concerns were also raised regarding the 85^th percentile method used to determine if there were speeding issues.

Sergeant Sadowski stated that they could upload any evidence to the police website.

Mr Payne stated that whilst they were keeping the 85^th percentile method under review, there were no current plans to change this, and whilst some may not agree with the method, it was highlighted that this was a national standard that everyone had to adhere to. The police could not currently accept raw data directly from ASW cameras, but particular concerns could up reported via the police website.

Cllrs also raised concerns regarding Tisbury’s CSW as this had lapsed and the community were seeking to re-establish it. Their SID data showed that they had met the 85^th percentile. However, they had to undergo another traffic survey and the team be re-trained ahead of re-establishing the CSW. It was queried why they could not just re-establish the CSW.

Mr Payne explained that there was a process to be followed, they had to ensure that there still was a problem, and if there was whether it was safe for a CSW to operate there. It should take approximately 6-12 weeks to get a traffic survey. It was also highlighted that NPTs could not enforce at speeds of over 40mph, only the Roads Policing Unit (RPU) could do that.

Cllrs thanked Mr Payne for attending but some stated that whilst they felt the presentations were positive, they felt that the problems were not being acknowledged. Road safety was a real issue in South West Wiltshire, however this was not always reflected in cluster analysis, so maybe the parameters for analysis needed to be adjusted. It was also started that whilst it may take 6-12 weeks for a traffic survey to take place, these had to be requested via the LHFIG which only took place 4 times a year. Details on traffic incidents should be shared by the police with Cllrs.

Mr Payne stated that he attended many meetings such as this all over the county and all reported similar issues with speeding. The aim was to try to ensure that people did not speed and that is why education was a large part of their remit.

Cllr Wayman requested that Mr Payne provide written responses to the questions submitted to him ahead of the meeting from Cllrs.