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Cheshire Police "Have Your Say" meeting in Neston

The latest Cheshire Police Authority "Have Your Say" meeting took place in Neston last night.

Chaired by Police Authority member and Neston resident Michael Darby, the meeting was attended by around 20 members of the public who heard from a number of officers from various sections of Cheshire Police.

After welcoming everyone to the meeting, the Chairman invited Det.Chief Inspector Brian Roberts to talk about some innovations that the Authority has put in place to give people information about policing in the area:

Local Crime Information

A Crime Mapper website is now available where you can find out about local crime in your area. The site uses detailed Ordnance Survey maps and lets you see how many crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents have occurred in your area. It lists statistics for the past 12 months and actual crime numbers for the preceding 3 months. It also provides general information about policing in your neighbourhood, including who your local officer is, what their current priorities are, and even events and meetings.

Service Desk

Cheshire Police have introduced Service Desks in response to concerns raised by the public which indicated that victims and witnesses did not feel they had sufficient access to information concerning cases they were involved in. The aim is to keep people informed about the progress of any investigation without adding an extra administrative burden on officers who need to be out on the streets deterring crime, or on the detectives carrying out any investigation.

Staff employed on the Service Desks are specifically trained in tracking the investigation of a case and have specialist knowledge in investigation procedure. Their role requires them to monitor and progress enquiries on crimes that are reported and are under investigation or going through the court process.

All indications are that the introduction of Service Desks has been positively received by the public, with recent figures showing that since their introduction customer satisfaction for the overall service provided by Cheshire Police is rated at 91.5% - the highest of all the UK police.

HQ Crime and Operations Departments - how they support local policing

Det.Superintendent Phil Charlton and Superintendent Guy Hindle gave a presentation on some of the work of the Departments in supporting neighbourhood policing and tackling serious and organised crime.

They ran through some examples of recent, successful operations that tackled such diverse criminal activities as illegal money-lending involving blackmail, which resulted in prison sentences for two individuals involved, and a huge drugs operation that resulted in the seizure of cannabis with a street value in excess of £10m, which also saw nine individuals imprisoned for a total of 70 years.

Supt Hindle also talked about the activities of the North West Motorway Police Group, which involves the co-operation of Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside Police alongside the Highways Agency. The Group is responsible for the enforcement of driving laws, keeping the motorways moving and the prevention and investigation of collisions.

He also spoke about the Air Support that has been provided up until now by a fixed-wing plane. Within the year, the Constabulary will have access to a brand new helicopter which will provide more advanced technology and will be able to operate 24 hours a day.

Det.Supt Charlton also touched on the activities of the Force Major Investigation Team, who are responsible for the prevention and investigation of homicide, suspicious and unexplained deaths and other major crime investigations that require specialist support. He reported that between 2006 and 2009 there were 28 cases of homicide in Cheshire, and that murder or manslaughter charges have been brought in 100% of cases.

Policing in Western Area

Area Commander Chief Superintendent Tim Jackson opened by reporting that Inspector Simon Roberts of the local Neighbourhood policing unit has now moved on to be involved in pro-active CID.

He then touched on the changes ahead regarding how Cheshire Police will be structured to fit more closely with the new Area Partnership Boards that are coming in to play following the changes in local Council arrangements.

Currently the Ward structure is under review by Cheshire West and Cheshire East authorities. Once this has been decided, the Police will re-align local policing areas accordingly. Inevitably this will mean Neston will be separate from Ellesmere Port. However, local officers will remain in post. Changes will be at Inspector level and above.

Chief Supt Jackson then introduced local Inspector Richard Rees. Insp.Rees began with a reference to the recent and tragic death of Parkgate resident Alan Corney. Mr Corney was the victim of an assault in November 2008 which led to his death earlier this year. Insp Rees thanked Mr Corney's family for their support during the (ongoing) investigation, in particular his son Michael who took part in a press conference that opened up significant lines of enquiry leading to a suspect being charged with Manslaughter in March.

Insp.Rees went on to discuss how local police have recently increased their application of "Restorative Justice." This is where victims of crime are brought together with offenders to give the victims of crime the opportunity to ask questions and seek understanding of why crimes against them have been committed, and to give the offenders an understanding of the impact of their behaviour. He gave some examples of recent cases, and reported that this approach has proved to be extremely helpful both in raising the satisfaction levels of the victims and in re-educating the offenders.

He also reported that local officers have used Anti-Social Behaviour Discussions to deal with some local youths. The youths are brought in to a discussion with local police in the presence of their parents.

Local PCSO's James Simpson and Linda Conway have been very effective in the Neston area in providing a link between the police and the community to tackle anti-social behaviour and speeding.

More serious or persistent offenders are being dealt with by the allocation of a specific officer to make it clear to the offender and their family that a failure to change their behaviour will result in very close police scrutiny. They are also given advice on how to tap into local agencies involved in areas such as housing or drug and alcohol addiction in order to assist them in changing their behaviour.

Insp Rees also reported that an operation over the next few weeks will tackle the ongoing issue of the illegal use of motorcycles and mini-motos that has been a problem in the Neston area for some time. Bikes being used inappropriately will be seized and crushed. He made clear that the message needs to get through to people not to buy these vehicles for use in public spaces and without the necessary licence and insurances in place.

Local Crime Figures

As mentioned earlier, the Crime Mapping website can give specific information, but Insp Rees reported that overall, crime figures for the local area are down year-on-year, with the overall recorded crime number falling from 882 in the year to March 2008, to 815 in the year to March 2009.

Question Time

Meeting attendees were invited to put their questions to the panel.

Q. The new lay-by for police vehicles in the middle of the A540 near Badgers Rake Lane is confusing and potentially very dangerous. Why has it been put there?

A. This is a matter principally for the Highways Agency, but Supt Guy Hindle offered to look into it further and discuss it with the questioner separately.

Q. There is still a 40mph speed limit painted on Liverpool Road which is at odds with the actual speed limit of 30mph on that stretch. It means that local Speed Watch units cannot operate in that area. When will something be done about this?

A. Insp Rees has previously followed up on this and was told it was being dealt with. He will chase this up again.

Q. How can we set up more HomeWatch areas and recruit more co-ordinators?

A. Home Watch Officer Liz Biddle is keen to help with this and will provide more information for local people wishing to get involved.

Q. What is Cheshire Police's policy on Cautions?

A. It is a National policy, rather than a regional one and depends on the age of the individual, and whether they fit criteria laid out on a Gravity Scale. This scale may be open to differences of interpretation by different forces, but generally it applies to first time offenders. Persistent offenders would not be dealt with by a Caution.

Q. Will the re-structure of the local policing areas affect response times?

A. No, because the Targeted Patrol units are already deployed independently of neighbourhood police units and that will remain the case.

Future Meetings

The meeting closed with a reminder of future meeting dates:

1st September 2009 - Lifestyle Centre, the Drumber, Winsford
22nd September 2009 - Civic Hall, Civic Way, Ellesmere Port
19th January 2010 - Memorial Hall, Northwich
26th January 2010, St Mary's Centre, St Mary's Hill, off Castle Street, Chester.

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Comments

Youser

At 23:47 on 9th May 2009, Youser commented:

I read with interest that the Lay-By for Police Vehicles in the middle of the A540 near Craxton Wood was raised at the meeting and the police are not sure why it is there. I travel a lot and have never seen such a thing - a lay by in the middle of a dual carriageway.

Don't get me wrong I am not objecting to the police ensuring speed limits on that road are adhered to after all the signs (and flowers) tell me people have died there, but who the hell thought that the best place to put a police lay by was in the middle of the road - and then surrounded it with metal for people to crash into when distracted !

Whoever designed that needs to be called to book over it - I am just waiting for the day when the mere existance of the central lay by or police patrols entering or exiting actually cause another major accident.

Now am I right that local residents for years have asked for a Zebra Crossing across Liverpool Road by the Ringway estate - a place where children have died, yet they have been told for years that it would be too expensive - could the money used to create the lay-by on the A540 not have been used better in a residential area ?

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,

At 23:15 on 19th May 2009, , commented:

I agree with the previous comment - there is now a great big silver crash barrier in the middle of the road to add another obstacle & distraction to Chesher High Road...... lets say for example if a motorist was confused as to why there were police cars parked in the middle of the road !!!!

surely a bay on the left of the road rather than in the middle would have been much better if one was really needed !

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Rob Ward

At 20:43 on 20th May 2009, Rob Ward commented:

Youser is right: a child was killed on Liverpool Road several years ago. At a Community Action Meeting in May 2007, an employee of Cheshire County Council told us that a survey in Liverpool Road showed only 8 people crossed the road between 7 am and 7 pm, on a school day! When I asked where the survey was done, he didn't know, but I found from the grid reference it was at the junction with Clay Hill Industrial Estate! I suggested a survey should be done where people cross from the Ringway and Mayfields to Drake Road, but he has never responded to my email. Our County Councillor said that the Highways and Transportation Committee had agreed to to a survey in the right place, but I have never heard of it being done. So our money was wasted on a useless survey. I think Liverpool Road obviously needs a pedestrian refuge, so people can cross the road safely.

Another waste of our money was repainting the yellow zigzag lines outside Neston Primary School, a few inches from the old ones, which were a few inches from the ones before!

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