Your Safer Community Teams

What is Neighbourhood Watch?

This is best illustrated by the following real example. A lady living in Wappenham saw a suspicious car parked in the village. She wisely wrote down the registration number and make of vehicle and phoned the police. Unknown to the lady there had been a burglary in the village. The police identified that the car belonged to a known burglar and went to his house in Northampton and arrested him. THIS IS NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH IN ACTION!!

Our Village Neighbourhood Watch (NW) Committee currently has 7 members including myself (Pam Burrell) spread across the village. All the team keep and eye out for anything unusual or suspicious. Committee Members are: Chris Millington, Jo Foden, Margaret Bradshaw, Eileen Robbins, Anne Wright, Roger Downing, Pam Burrell.

Our NW Community Beat Officer is PC473 Horner. A message can be left for him by telephoning 01327 303059.

Members receive up-to-date local crime information from the police which is sent by email or a voice mail message. Clive Watt also receives this information and he rapidly transfers this onto WIZ. Any relevant information is put on the village notice boards and this is also available by clicking on the logo above. The benefits of having a NW scheme in our village not only include the obvious possibility of reducing crime but also lowering home insurance premiums. The number to quote is 34ND/40/09/01/NHW.  Newcomers are welcome to join the NW. At the moment we are unsure if there are any meetings and who is the person to contact in the village regarding the scheme. Once we have the information we will post it on this page.

HOW THE POLICE HANDLE YOUR CALLS

“Northamptonshire Police – how can we help you?” Northamptonshire Police receives more than a million phone calls every year, from homes, businesses, phone boxes, motorway boxes and mobile phones, among others. More than 120,000 of these are emergency 999 calls requesting immediate police attention. All calls made to Northamptonshire Police come into the Force Communications Centre, which is based out our Headquarters at Wootton Hall in Northampton.

Call Grading Of the million phone calls we receive every year, emergency 999 calls are one of our priorities. We aim to answer them within ten seconds. Our target time to reach an emergency incident in an urban area is 10 minutes and for rural areas, we aim to get an officer there within 17 minutes.

There is an increasing demand on the Force and we are always looking for ways to improve our service. That is one of the reasons we have a Call Grading System, which helps our call operatives in the Communications Centre identify more readily those calls which need an emergency response and those which are less urgent.

We know that it can be very frustrating when you call us and ask for a police officer to come to see you, only to find that the officer takes longer than expected to arrive.

Everyone's needs are different and sometimes officers may be diverted to a more urgent call before they reach you. Sometimes it might be more appropriate for an officer from one of our Community Action Teams to come to see you at a later date to give you advice or deal with your problem.

Remember: We do need your help in fighting crime. So if you see a crime that is in the process of being committed, do not hesitate to call 999. But if you have a non-urgent minor crime to report or want help or advice, then please call the Communications Centre through your local Area telephone number, 01327 300300.

Grade one – Emergency response Where there is a threat to life or serious injury to any person Where there is a crime in progress or offender/s are still in the area A serious traffic incident where someone is injured or vehicles are likely to cause serious danger
Grade two – Urgent/Prompt response Incidents that need an urgent or prompt attendance but are not an emergency. For example, a burglary, robbery or other incident where the individual circumstances or the vulnerability of the victim or caller necessitates a prompt response.
Grade three – Deferred response Incidents where police attendance is required or desirable, but does not need an officer to be sent immediately.
Grade four – Advice Incidents that can either be resolved with advice given over the phone. They require no deployment but are recorded for information purposes.

New Burglary Helpline Self Help Approach for householders

In order to make crime prevention advice widely available in our area, a dedicated phone line where residents can request a burglary pack has been set up. The pack comprises of leaflets giving advice on measures to make your home more secure, how to deal with distraction burglars, property marking, an ultra violet marker pen and advice on choosing a burglar alarm. A self-help approach may be adopted by fitting better locks and bolts or changing the habit of a lifetime, such as locking the front door when you are working in the garden! By following the advice contained in the pack, you will considerably reduce the chances of becoming a victim of this distressing crime.

THIS PACK IS AVAILABLE FREE TO RESIDENTS either by telephoning 01327 303189 the dedicated helpline and leave your name, address (including postcode) and phone number or by emailing: crimereduction-western@northants.police.uk And leave the same information.

Source: Mike Scragg Crime Reduction Officer

TACKLING ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

Anti-social behaviour can be anything that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons. It is a negative behaviour covering a whole complex of selfish and unacceptable activity that can blight the quality of life of the individual or community. Under no circumstances should this behaviour be tolerated.

Examples include:

• Nuisance neighbours;
• Yobbish behaviour and intimidating groups taking over public spaces;
• Vandalism, graffiti and fly-posting;
• People dealing and buying drugs on the street;
• People dumping rubbish and abandoned cars;
• Begging;
• Anti-social drinking;
• Noise nuisances caused by the misuse of fireworks;
• Threatening behaviour;
• Civil disputes;
• Racial Disputes;
• Verbal harassment;
• Lack of control over pets;
• Reckless driving of mini-motorbikes.

In some circumstance you calmly talking to the person responsible can resolve the issues. However, if it is unable to resolve then it is important that you tell someone, so measures can be implemented. Your assistance in recording and monitoring the behaviour will be crucial if any organisation is to take up the matter on your behalf. Therefore, when reporting incidents of anti-social behaviour, it is helpful if you have specific details about what happened, when an incident took place and, if more than once, how often: where the incident took place, who was involved and how you and others were affected by it.

There are a number of organisations who will be able to help resolve an issue if the behaviour persist.

• Anti-social Behaviour Unit –
  cases are referred to the unit if the person has been causing a persistent nuisance and all other avenues have been exhausted

• Borough Councils:
  
  Housing department- if the person who is causing the problem is a council tenant.
  
  Environmental health department – this is the organisation you need to contact for persistent noise nuisance, air pollution or public health issues.
  
  Community safety department – if you are unsure who to report a problem to contact your local community safety officer

• Housing Association or private tenant -
  likewise, if the person or property involved is private-rented accommodation, then contact the landlords direct.

• Local Police –
  if the matter is of a criminal nature, or if the behaviour is racial or homophobic then your local Hates Crime Unit should be the first point of call.

The action taken all depends on the seriousness of the complaint, but all options will be discussed with you at the time of your complaint.

Every complaint is taken seriously.

Your local Safer Community Team can also offer support and advice on anti-social behaviour. Working with other partner agencies they are able to take visible action to provide long-term solutions, addressing the issues behind the behaviour.

Remember that we want to help!

For more information on how you and your community can make a stand against anti-social behaviour visit www.respect.gov.uk or contact your local Safer Community Team on 08453 700700.

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Northamptonshire Police Monthly Article Scheme: February 2007

Your Safer Community Teams

Safer Community Teams (SCTs) provide communities with a dedicated team of officers who are visible, accessible and known to local people. They work closely with partner agencies and the local community to tackle the crime and disorder concerns and issues identified within the neighbourhood.

A Safer Community Team is made up of Police Officers, Police Community Support Officers, Special Constables and other police support, and may also include partner agency staff, such as neighbourhood wardens. The structure and staffing of individual SCTs will vary according to local need and available resources.

The Government has given a commitment that by 2008 every area in England and Wales will benefit from a dedicated, visible, accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing team that will work with the community to identify and respond to local concerns and priorities.

All 43 police forces are now implementing their Neighbourhood Policing programmes. In this county, these teams will be known as Safer Community Teams. They are being phased in gradually, with all teams due to be in place by the end of 2007. There will be 41 teams covering Northamptonshire, 23 of which are in Northamptonshire West, covering Daventry, South Northamptonshire and Northampton.

In Northamptonshire, the Local Area Agreement set up between Government and county partners, has also given additional impetus to the implementation of Safer Community Teams as part of the multi-agency Neighbourhood Renewal ambitions.

To be successful, Safer Community Teams cannot work in isolation and the Police, local authorities and other agencies must to work together with the community to help create a safer environment.

This is the key to this partnership approach. In some areas teams will work closely with those who deliver and are responsible for local services, including local authorities and other public bodies such as Primary Care Trusts, Social Services, the Fire Service, amongst others.

In some areas, Safer Community Teams will work with other agencies as a single neighbourhood management team, tackling crime and disorder and other quality of life issues in line with local priorities, policing targets and neighbourhood renewal requirements.

Please find a list of SCTs that have been established so far and the remaining beats and their dedicated officers. To get in touch with your local officers, contact 08453 700 700 or visit www.northants.police.uk for more information about SCTs.

TOWCESTER SECTOR/ BEATS
Sector Inspector	Inspector Stuart Hitchon (based at Towcester Station)
CAT Sergeant, Towcester Town, Towcester Rural	Sergeant 1119 Holford
Towcester Rural:
Roade Beat	PC 143 Roger Smith, PCSO 7012 Tara COOKSAMMY
Bugbrooke Beat	PC 473 Horner, PCSO 7010 Charlotte PEARSON
Deanshanger Beat	PC 552 Mick WALLACE, PCSO 7041 Jennifer HARRISON
Silverstone Beat	PC 473 Steve HORNER, PCSO 7112 Wooliscroft
Towcester Town Centre	PC 779 Simon REID, PC 752 Hawes, PCSO 7007 Michelle BAGWELL

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The Northamptonshire Police can be contacted on 08453 700700 *. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. All calls and information that identifies offenders will be treated with strictest confidence.