No safer place to live in England - Dorset Police

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CJD/Operations Operations Division The Operations division of Dorset Police serves all communities within Dorset. We are a diverse division, with over 500 members of staff providing excellent policing and policing support throughout the county. What do we do? Our division carries out a whole range of specialist policing. Here are just a few examples of the areas we are responsible for: ●●● Air Operations, through the use of Oscar 99, the force helicopter which can reach the furthest ends of the county in just 12 minutes ●●● The Marine Section, working in partnership to police in harbours and along the coast ●●● Planning for events, such as the Labour Party Conference later this year in Bournemouth and the Games 2012, for which the sailing events are taking place in Weymouth and Portland ●●● Road policing and road safety initiatives to make our roads safer for drivers and pedestrians ●●● The force control room and police enquiry centre, which answer all the calls that come into Dorset Police. On average between 800 and 900 calls are received daily ●●● Armed response It’s been another busy year for the Operations division, with some fantastic work carried out across the county and, as policing in your neighbourhoods continues to improve, we will be very much involved. Our priorities to help our Safer Neighbourhood Teams include the provision of: ●●● Reassurance ●●● Enforcement ●●● Specific targeted policing Education for All Dorset Police is seeing exciting developments in its commitment to provide education for road users in Dorset. A number of different schemes are in operation to target drivers most at risk of collisions and help them improve their driving skills and make the roads safer for everyone. The Dying to Drive initiative is about to be concluded for this academic year following another successful year, reaching over 2000 students across Dorset. The project includes an interactive presentation that visits schools across the county, with the aim of educating young drivers under the age of 25 who are the highest risk group for being involved in road collisions. Representatives from the Dorset Safety Camera Partnership, Dorset Police and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service give information and interesting advice about how to avoid the dangers on the roads. Hard hitting DVDs, produced by the Dorset Safety Camera Partnership, have added to the impact of the presentation and are now also used in the Dorset Police Driver Awareness Scheme. A BikeSafe course in action BikeSafe is a nationwide initiative where advanced police motorcyclists work with riders with the aim of lowering the number of motorcycle casualties. In 2006, 86 motorcyclists were killed or seriously injured on Dorset’s roads. Addressing this problem, the BikeSafe Dorset project is an important initiative in making our roads safer for everyone. For a fee of £60, riders are offered a three hour course with advanced Dorset Police motorcyclists and members of the Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists where they 14 Tracking Down the Criminals The Dorset Police Dog Section has had a terrific year in support of policing in Dorset. The highly trained handlers work extremely hard with their assigned dogs and are a hugely valuable asset to the force. Officers from the section are paired up with a canine companion at an early stage and they are able to teach the dog the skills of searching for people, drugs, money, firearms and a whole range of other things. Some recent successes for the Dog section include: PC Andy Walbridge and his police dog Thor tracked the scent of a man who had committed a large robbery. He was eventually found by the pair hiding underneath an upturned fibreglass pond and charged. PC Dave Campbell and police dog Guinness had similar success when a drugs search was carried out in a house. The pair uncovered a haul of cocaine and heroin with a minimum street value of £25,000. The suspect was subsequently arrested at the scene. Inspector Matt Butler with some of the children at Julia’s House Operations Visit to Julia’s House Officers made a special visit to Julia’s House Children’s Hospice in Poole, earlier this year and spent the morning with the children and their families. The children took part in lots of fun activities, including having their fingerprints taken and meeting police dogs and their handlers. They were also shown police radios in a communications vehicle and a traffic patrol car. The children enjoyed the opportunity to try on police uniform and equipment and were even dressed up in body armour, shields and helmets to protect themselves from the wet sponges thrown by their brothers and sisters! Inspector Matt Butler co-ordinated the visit and said, “It was great to meet these very special children and give them an insight into the work of the Dorset Police. We are grateful to Julia’s House for allowing us to do so.” are given tips and guidance on safer riding. By sharing knowledge, skills and experience, police motorcyclists can help people to become safer and more competent riders. each course lasts for three hours and compromises a classroom-based exercise, followed by a two-hour ride, assessment and feedback to each individual rider. The Driver Awareness Scheme has been developed to educate drivers about the dangers of driving at both excessive and inappropriate speeds and is about to reach its two year anniversary. It is offered to motorists, who are detected speeding in Dorset as an alternative to receiving a fixed penalty notice, provided the offence has met the set criteria. The course is classroom based and is taught by trained professionals, including Advanced Driving Instructors and ex-police officers. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive since the scheme was launched. New Technology Arrives in the Criminal Justice Division The Criminal Justice Division is now operating a new Case Preparation system. It will allow Dorset Police to electronically capture case information and share it with other agencies. It is being introduced to improve the way cases are processed from custody to court and will streamline the preparation, submission and presentation of case files. This will result in less duplication of information, as well as better offender management and improved victim and witness care. Youth Justice Inspector Lou Pope hands over the bikes to young people at Harbour House On Your Bike! The Bournemouth division of Dorset Police, supported by the Criminal Justice Division, has donated 11 bicycles, in need of repair, to the young people at Harbour House, Westbourne. Harbour House is part of HyPed 21C which is the Young People Service for Bournemouth Churches Housing Association. The House accommodates young people aged 16 - 18 years old who require accommodation for a variety of reasons and provides residents with a safe environment in which to live. The donation has been made with the aim of giving the young people a project to work on. They will be given time and encouragement to make the necessary repairs to the bikes and, when fixed, they can use them as a means of transport to get around. This will be particularly helpful as the young people attend compulsory training sessions at the weekend and experience difficulty maintaining attendance because of their lack of transport. The bikes were handed over to the residents by Youth Justice Inspector Lou Pope, at Harbour House, who said: “I hope that the time and effort residents will have put into fixing the bikes will instil the young people with a sense of achievement and pride.” Napoli Landing In January of this year the MCS Napoli - a British owned container vessel - began breaking up and was run aground off Branscombe, Devon, some 14 kilometres from the border with Dorset. The ongoing salvage operation was a huge task for all those involved, particularly the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, local authorities and Devon Police. We were able to assist along the way and provide help and support when needed. The Road Policing unit played a key role in transporting cranes to the stricken ship - all the way from Bere Regis through the busy centre of Weymouth! The Road Policing Unit assist the delivery of a crane to the Napoli salvage operation
Eastern Crime isn’t HALF what it used to be! In this modern world of 24-hour media, tabloid journalism and stories of ‘yob culture’ it is easy to believe that crime is on the up and up - that we have more reason to fear becoming a victim of crime than ever before. Eastern Division ran a publicity campaign at the end of 2006 showing how crime in all areas has decreased dramatically since 1998. The campaign’s newspaper advertisements were paid for by the Proceeds of Crime. Perhaps that is true of some areas of the UK but it is certainly NOT the case in Eastern Division of Dorset Police. In Christchurch, East Dorset, North Dorset and Purbeck crime has fallen dramatically since 1998, the year that Eastern Division in its current geography was formed and also the year that the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) was created. Comparing last year’s crime figures with those recorded in 1998 reveals an unprecedented fall in levels of property crime. In 2006 in Eastern Division: ●●● 470 fewer homes were burgled than in 1998 ●●● 1,000 fewer cars were broken into; and ●●● 200 fewer cars were stolen. That’s an overall reduction of 55 per cent on 1998 figures. So why has burglary and vehicle crime reduced so dramatically? Detective Chief Inspector Garrick Smith, Eastern Division’s Crime and Performance Manager, has some ideas: Public awareness People are far more aware of crime prevention than they were 10 years ago. This has meant that we are less likely to leave our homes and cars insecure or to leave valuables in an unattended vehicle. An important part of crime prevention is reducing the opportunities for thieves to steal, and home and car owners are increasingly aware of this. Technology There is little doubt that technological developments have contributed to the fall in crime. Home security, for example, has improved and many new homes are now built with advanced security systems. Improvements in the design of replacement windows and doors make break-ins more difficult - we are recording an increasing number of incidents where the ‘would-be’ burglar has had to give up after trying unsuccessfully to force several windows and doors. Advances in technology have also had a huge effect on vehicle crime. Ten years ago engine immobilisers were only fitted to luxury cars whereas now they are a standard fitting to most new cars, making them more difficult to steal. If they are stolen, many cars now have tracking systems fitted so that the police can locate them wherever they are in the country. Entertainment systems are now integrated into car dashboards, making them almost impossible to steal. Car parks are better designed and more secure than they were previously and the widespread use of CCTV has made it increasingly harder for thieves to operate without being detected. Cost of ‘luxury’ goods The retail cost of home electrical goods - TVs and DVD players, for example - has reduced dramatically in recent years. Many of the items that burglars used to steal from our homes now have such little second hand value that they are considered by thieves as ‘not worth stealing’. Many criminals have decided that, in terms of financial reward, domestic burglary is no longer worth the risk. Neighbourhood Watch The growth of Neighbourhood and Home Watch schemes means that many communities have become ‘no-go’ areas for burglars. Once a burglar has been caught as a result of a phone call from a Neighbourhood Watch they feel more vulnerable in that area and are not prepared to take the risk of getting caught again. Tougher sentences Sentencing policy has also changed, with the introduction of mandatory sentences for persistent offenders. Two decades ago the average sentence for a career burglar was 18 months to two years. Nowadays it is not unusual to see persistent offenders receiving prison sentences of five years and more. Improvements in policing Our intelligence-led approach is about directing our resources towards catching those criminals who are committing the greatest volume of crime so that we can maximise the impact of their arrest. Catching and convicting prolific and persistent offenders is central to our crime reduction strategy and we are getting better at it all the time. We are also making greater use of technology in the fight to reduce crime. One recent innovation has been the introduction of ‘capture cars’. These are ordinary cars fitted inside with tiny video cameras that automatically start recording when the car is broken into. At the same time they send a text message to the police phone network, alerting officers. These capture cars have led to the arrest and conviction of numerous persistent car thieves. The use of the Automated Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR) is also increasing. These cameras, sited at the side of the road or in unmarked police vehicles, automatically record and instantly check car registration numbers against the Police National Database, as vehicles pass by. The system will instantly identify stolen vehicles and vehicles known to be used by active criminals and is an important tool in identifying and disrupting criminals who travel through the Eastern Division committing crime. ANPR is now deployed regularly on all the main arterial routes across the Dorset Police area. What is the Crime and Disorder Reduction partnership (CDRP)? The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 made it a statutory requirement for councils, the Police, Primary Care Trusts, the Fire and Rescue Service, other key agencies and the community to work together at borough/district level to develop and implement plans for reducing crime and disorder. In Eastern Dorset (Christchurch, East Dorset, North Dorset and Purbeck), the requirements of the Act were met through the formation of the Eastern Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP), which sees the area’s four borough/district authorities, Dorset County Council, Eastern Division of Dorset Police, Dorset Fire and Rescue Service, Primary Care Trusts, Probation and Housing working together to address crime issues across the Eastern policing division, and on a local level by working with local action and community groups. The 1998 Act also requires local authorities to consider the impact of all of their functions on crime and disorder issues. As part of their commitment to doing so, each of the four Eastern Dorset authorities has a full-time officer dedicated to tackling Community Safety who works closely with the police and other partners. They are: ●●● Christchurch: Natalie Murray (01202 495111) ●●● East Dorset: Martha Perry (01202 639032) ●●● North Dorset: John Bartlett (01258 484368) ●●● Purbeck: Karen Jaggs (01929 557387) The Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership has recently launch a new website, offering the latest news and information on the good work the partnership is involved in. For any further information on the partnership, please visit www.dorsetworkingtogether.org Two of Eastern Dorset CDRP’s four full-time Community Safety Officers are Martha Perry (East Dorset) and Karen Jaggs (Purbeck). 15
Page 1 and 2: Integrity Professionalism Fairness
Page 3 and 4: Making Dorset Safer and Making Dors
Page 5 and 6: Christchurch Winning the anti-socia
Page 7 and 8: Your Force in Your Community Commit
Page 9 and 10: Bringing Information to the Communi
Page 11 and 12: North Dorset Everybody needs good n
Page 13: CID/CJD Hitting the Criminals Where

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