Page 6 - link magazine

6 The Link Magazine • March 2006
Where are the police on the beat? Officer knife threat
Wiltshire is one of the safest areas in Britain, according to official statistics, but Keith Williams, Police are out on patrol on the
chair of Shaw Residents' Association, questions whether the constabulary is delivering the goods streets and putting their lives on
the line.
In the last few months I have had a I have woken on a Sunday morn- On the evening of 6 February,
friend beaten up so badly when ing to find cars in my street with Freshbrook and Grange Park area
walking home that he was unable rocks through rear windows, and
officer PC Paul Matthews, below,
to work for weeks, and have passed wing mirrors smashed off. asked three teenagers in Godol-
more bus shelters and telephone In light of all this, when was the
phin Close to disperse.
boxes sitting in pools of their own last time that you saw a police car They surrounded him and be-
shattered glass than I can remem- driving through the housing es- came abusive. It is alleged one
ber. tates or village centres, let alone a pulled a knife and threatened PC
police officer walking the beat?
Forum to discuss These were always a rare sight, Matthews whilst the others con-
tinued with taunts. When the of-
policing the West and are all the more rare now that ficer called for assistance the group
the police station at Westlea has
Inspector Willie Glasgow will be closed. You are more likely to see made off. He gave chase and lo-
attending the West Swindon Fo- an officer parked on the Thames- cated one of the group who be-
rum on Monday 13 March, down Drive trying to catch people came violent and pushed Paul to
7.30pm, in the Link Centre to exceeding the 40mph speed limit. the ground, injuring his elbow.
discuss policing the community. When one does have any con- The assailant R^sv
The forum is a meeting point tact with the police they are both Keith Williams in one of Shaw bus was arrested and
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for the public and the seven Swin- polite and professional, but their shelters smashed up in early February the other twore- NflNtlll -=° ^INiNlllll
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don councillors representing the profile as a deterrent to crime is far guardians of the law, side-step- sented them- IpNIlN
three wards in the area. All resi- from adequate. A visible police ping awkward questions and giv- selves for ques- IIII ^^
dents are welcome to attend and presence is required to make crimi- ing non-commital responses to tinning at Gable- ,
contribute to the discussion. nals think twice before commit- concerned residents. cross Police Sta-
ting a crime. Crime detection rates within tion the next day.
They were arrested on a variety of
Taking two hours to turn up Swindon are now average com- charges, including suspicion of in-
when a member of the public re- pared to prior years, but police
Is your PC ports a break in at a West Swindon statistics show that total crime is citement to commit grievous bod-
church demonstrates an inability rising year-on-year despite both ily harm, threatening to kill and
gg g yam? to respond effectively let alone be the number of domestic burglaries
bu public order offences.

in
Call Practical Applications Ltd. for perceived as a deterrent. and vehicle crimes dropping. They were later released on bail
a friendly service The Inspector in charge of West It is vital that we play our part pending further inquiries.
• Upgrades Repairs Swindon recognises there is a too: the mother who told me her Insp Willie Glasgow, said: "it is
• Networking & the internet shortage and has applied for son was not part of the problem rare that officers are put into cir-
• Home visits, collection twenty Police Community Support when I asked if she knew he was cumstances like the one PC Paul
Matthews was in. But one incident
& delivery Officers. Unfortunately we will be riding his unlicenced mini-motor-
1 is one too many. We will not toler-
9 Or for help getting started, lucky to see them on our streets bike in the road, the dogwalker
call us days, evenings or before 2008. that doesn't clean up after their ate any incident where the safety
of a police officer or any other per-
weekends on If you take these concerns to the pet, and the dropper of litter in the son is put at risk.
01793 321361 Swindon Area Police Consultative streets and public parks all con- "I want to send a clear message
Group, which now only meets tribute in a small way to deteriora-
Mobile 07919 263072 that we will robustly pursue those
three times a year, you will find tion of the community we live in.
E: [email protected] responsible for such actions."
senior police officers appearing to
www.practicalappliccitions.co.uk
behave more like politicians than
What did this manhunt cost?
27 January: two white men go into the Co-op at Roughmoor Village
Centre and steal bottles of scotch, tea, coffee and sugar. A customer
/Ae/ CtIJJ L/l9 C1(^ chases them, the goods are dropped. One man dives into Peatmoor
Lagoon, his mate disappears on a bicycle.
A major operation
London trained mobile hair stylist
ensues involving:
For a visit call Sue on 07796 432 700
• the police helicopter
or email [email protected] with its aerial spotlight;
• fire fighters from
Westlea;
Have you got an Endowment policy? • the aerial platform
from Central Fire Station
Do you have a policy shortfall? If so, did you know with thermal imaging kit
you may be entitled to compensation? searching for a heat
source in the lake;
• half a dozen police-
men beating about the
bushes on the banks
• the fire services wa-
ter rescue team from Melksham The emergency services will ar-
searching the pagoda island. gue that they had a duty to search
Our success rate is over 85%
After an hour it was concluded for a human at risk, but many will
No win, no fee and no hidden charges from wet footprints that the thief wonder if shoplifters warrant such
It s important you act now as many product providers are had found the water too chilly and attention.
starting to ti me bar complaints, which may mean you had legged it towards Sparcells. What cost in fire and police time
The police have been studying were used up in the search and
won't be able to claim in the future
CCTV images from the shop to try which communities were not cov-
Friendly personal servic
and identify the two men. ered that evening?