Page 4 - link magazine

4 The Link Magazine • June 200 2
Police bid for a safer town
Community beat officers are no more; policing based on geographical sectors of the town is now in place to tackle crime and utilise personnel
more effectively to make Swindon a safer place.
The reorganisation north, west, east dealt with 15,700 crimes and 80,300 Safety Teams (NeSTs) set up by
of the way Wiltshire and the rural area - calls to the division's control room. Swindon Council which bring to-
Constabulary police each led by a uni- "Community beat officers were car- gether councillors, council officers
the town took place in formed inspector, rying a huge workload dealing and residents to discuss commu-
mid-January and has , backed up by two with long term investigations, nity problems and solutions.
taken a few weeks to sergeants and be- whilst being expected to be seen "We still have to acknowledge
bed in; the jury is still - _ — tween 14 and 20 beat on patrol in their areas. With shifts, that there is still a lack of resources
out on whether the ' officers to investi- holidays, courses and other du- to provide enough police on the
new approach has the gate crime, develop ties, the system had become a less beat and we have to prioritise
desired outcomes. contacts with local efficient way of deploying consta- which jobs we deal with, but resi-
In the past police organisations, and bles. dents can be assured that all emer-
beats coincided with to workwith neigh- "Residents in each sector now gencies are dealt with rapidly by
Swindon electoral - bourhoods to help have a team of around 14 PCs avail- specialist officers," said Inspector
wards with officers them solve their able on foot, or bike or in a car Kellow. "Calls to the control room
developing close con- problems. during the core eighteen hours of are filtered to establish if an imme-
tacts with individuals and com- On hand as backup is a 24 hour the day when the main demand diate response is required or if the
munity organisations. But it meant response team to deal with 999 occurs. Each sector works as a team problem can be dealt with by a
that, with shift patterns, leave and calls and other emergencies, as well to consider the problems of the sector officer who will visit when
special duties, individual officers as specialist units such as the po- different areas and to work out a suitable to the caller. For example,
p
could sometimes be absent from lice helicopter. res onse to them in West Swindon
the patch for long periods. To- West sector inspector Steve This is done work- we know there is a
gether with changes in personnel Kellow, above, said the beat officer ingwithotheragen- problem with
and under-staffing, some wards system had placed an increasing cies to develop a re- young people caus-
were inadequately covered. strain on police deployment in the sponse to problems m ing nuisance riding
Now the town has been divided Swindon Division which covers a in a community, and noisy, sometimes
into five police sectors - central, population of 183,000 and last year also by confronting unlicenced motor-
those who are caus- cycles on open
West station plann e d ing a nuisance or space and public
committin crime a roads nd we're in
g
l ho
A t ugh sector police officers "The success of touch with people
are based at Swindon central sector policing will to find a solution."
station, Wiltshire Police is set- be based on gather- As well as street
ting up a network of satellite ing information and work, the sector po-
stations. sharing intelligence lice officers will also
One should open at the North amongst officers so North sector Inspector be on hand at big
Swindon district centre in the that they know Wendy Grant U is events i e
l k
1'
Autumn and another is pro- what's going on across the whole the Race for Life at Lydiard in June
posed for the Link surgery in patch. Over the last couple of and the Wiltshire Festival in Au-
West Swindon which closed months in the West sector team we gust. Whenever duties permit, they
last year following the sudden have been studying patterns of will be visiting schools and fetes
death of Dr Rod Houseman in complaints by residents, looking across their areas.
March 2001. at levels of crime and targeting • The West sector takes in the
Swindon Council planning constables at places where prob-
whole of West Swindon, Rod-
committee consider an appli- lems are occurring." bourne, Even Swindon and Cheney
cation for change of use on 28 I He added that the police work at Manor and has some 37,410 resi-
May ' d T local level is measured against per- dents. With the business parks in
formance and best value criteria the area as well as the shopping
.L.-.
s rre ons a u-
___________________________________________________ - set out rn W'1 r i h' C t b and leisure attractions, the num-
I' I lary police plan agreed with the bers grow considerably during
---- g Home Office. There are tar ets for peak hours.
1 sance issue, fromburglaries population, at last reckoning esti-
nui-
l n
dea g with every crime or
i
• The North sector has a growing
through to offences against thein-
heLink
drvrdual. mated at 38,520. It takes in Haydon
Wick, Woodhall Park, Moredon,
Published by As a result of the Crime and Pinehurst, Penhill, Taw Hill and
West Swindon Publications • • • • ' ' Disorder Act, the police also have Abbey Meads, as well as the yet to
Papermakers House, Westlea to work with Neighbourhood be occupied Priory Vale.
Swindon SN5 7BD
Tel: (01793) 872282 Where are they now?
Fax: (01793) 878189 "The Link was first published for the West West area biking beat officers
e: [email protected] Swindon community in December 1978. pictured in the August 2001
www.swindonlink.com It is completely independent of Link Centre Link. From left, PC Phil
and. in fact. won a competition to name the I Connorwho coveredToothill
Publisher/Editor: Roger Ogle leisure centre in 1984. Distribution in North is now based at Mabnsbury,
Editorial: Tel: (01793) 872282 Swindon commenced in January 1994." PC Rob Mortimer who
The contents of The Link are protected worked Freshbrook Grange
by copyright. Use of advertisements in' Park has now moved to the
printed or electronic form is forbidden, CID, WPC Pat Jones who
unless an advertiser or publisher has covered Shaw and Peatmoor
sought permission. Articles and photo- and PC Robin Weatherstone
graphs require similar authority who patrolled Rodbourne re-
Printed cp, Telford rnain in-the West sector team