Agenda item

To receive updates from the following, with a chance to give feedback or ask questions:

·       Wiltshire Police Chief Constable – Catherine Roper

·       Devizes Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) – Inspector Simon Garrett

The Chairman highlighted that Chief Constable Catherine Roper had sent apologies for the meeting.

The Chairman invited Inspector Simon Garret of the Devizes Neighbourhood Policing Team to give an update. The inspector announced that it was his first ever Area Board meeting and that he was the new inspector for Devizes, Marlborough and Pewsey. Sergeant Chris Wickham was also in attendance.

The inspector detailed some of the crime statistics in his presentation (available in the agenda pack) crime rates were fairly stable, with a modest increase of 6 crimes. There had been a drop in theft, which could possibly be attributed to some of the known, frequent shoplifters being in prison. There had been 11 sexual offences, for all bar one, the suspect was known to the victim. For the other, enquiries were ongoing to identify the suspect.

There had been a rise in burglary compared to the same period last year. FAT rates (percentage of crimes solved) were detailed, Wiltshire was above average when compared to similar forces. There had been a crime series where 5 properties were burgled in one series. 2 juveniles had been arrested in relation to this, 1 had been remanded into custody and the other was on bail. Burglary was a crime priority for the team.

In the community the team had been working on Safer Business action week, targeting shoplifting. There was a focus on rural crime, with officers providing prevention advice and targeting hare coursing. The team had been working on the Fatal 5 prevention to educate people to reduce Road Traffic Collisions.

The team had also been looking at the night time economy, undertaking licensing checks and targeting Anti Social Behaviour (ASB). Plenty of speeding enforcement had been undertaken, at locations including Caen Hill, Long Street, Victoria Road and Brickley Lane. Theft from vans was a priority, as organised criminals had been targeting work vans and stealing high value tools.

It was announced that the Devizes Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) went live on 15 November 2024, following a 2 year journey. It covered the town centre and surrounding areas, and police could confiscate open alcohol containers and disperse groups of 2 or more who were acting antisocially. Educational work and signposting with street drinkers was also being undertaken.

In relation to response times when calling 101, call rates were high, with 49,500 calls being received by the contact centre in October 2024. The call centre tried to deal with calls promptly and professionally and was in a much better place when compared to a year ago. Staff had been recruited, and training provided, however it took time for staff to gain experience, so things should keep improving.

In response to an earlier question regarding traffic in Devizes, it was highlighted that as a result of the fire and other roadworks there were a number of road closures in place, so traffic was being diverted. Members highlighted Whistley Road, where there was no formal diversion route, it was simply a short cut that people took which had been exacerbated by the fire road closures and wondered if anything could be done. The Inspector stated that he would take that away and look at it. Attendees highlighted Conscience Lane in Rowde as another road the police may want to look at. Cllr Kelvin Nash as Chairman of the LHFIG stated that there was a project in Devizes to address speeding issues, however, there were roads that were often congested, and when they were not congested there were speeding issues, such as London Road. This resulted in average speeds not hitting the required level for enforcement. It was stated that any speeding enforcement that could take place would be good. The Inspector highlighted that they had to balance work on traffic and speeding with all their other priorities, but again would look at this.

Congratulations were passed on to the Inspector and his team for catching some scrap metal thieves very quickly. In response to a question, it was confirmed that the police and the military police cooperated and worked together. Additionally, crimes within Salisbury Plain could be reported to 101.

Bike thefts were discussed, as some recent data had shown that this crime was quite high in Devizes. However, it transpired that the data may have been old, as this did not match police data which showed there had been a spike last summer, but numbers had dropped now. This could in part be due to the person thought to be responsible no longer being in the area. Noel Woolrych a regular attendee and CCTV operator in Devizes, confirmed that there had been a drop in bike thefts recently and that there was good CCTV coverage on most of the bike racks.

In response to a question on organised begging, usually from people outside of the area, it was stated that people should report this when they see it happening and it was a national issue.

Feedback from attendees was given on the online reporting system, which was found to be quite complicated, and it had taken 5 working days for contact to be made by the police following the report, However, once contact was made service was excellent and the issue was resolved.

In response to a question on staffing levels at the contact centre, it was confirmed that the police were now at full capacity. However, some training was still to be undertaken. Retention of staff was also very important.

The Chairman thanked the police for their update.