No safer place to live in England - Dorset Police

Christchurch
Winning the anti-social
behaviour battle
Christchurch currently
has the best record of
sustained anti-social
behaviour reduction -
11.5 per cent - in the whole of Dorset.
The team, which includes police officers, police
community support officers (PCSOs) and partner
agencies, puts this down to the success of the
‘traffic light system’ in place to deal with
anti-social behaviour (ASB).
‘Green’ is the first time someone comes to
notice. Their details and those of the incident are
logged and a letter is sent to the offender’s
home. If the offender is under 18 years of age
the letter is addressed to the parent or guardian.
‘Amber’ is the second time someone comes to
notice, where a second stage letter is hand
delivered by a community beat officer or a
PCSO and a discussion is held with regards to
the ongoing ASB. These meetings aim to
consider what can be done to prevent the
behaviour from escalating and services from
other multi-agency partners are offered.
Information on Acceptable Behaviour Contracts
(ABC) - which are entered into voluntarily - and
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO) - which
are enforceable - is given.
‘Red’ is the third time someone comes to notice.
The incident details are again logged and data is
collated into a file of all involvement with ASB.
A case conference is arranged with multi-agency
partners ensuring that everyone that can be of
assistance to offer help and support to the
offender is invited to attend.The case is then
reviewed and a decision is made as to whether
an ABC or ASBO is pursued or to just monitor
the situation before intervening further.
All the incidents in the traffic light system are
reviewed on a weekly basis. All new anti-social
offenders are added and existing ones are
updated. As soon as an offender reaches the
third stage, information collation automatically
starts should there be a need to pursue an
application for an ASBO.
Christchurch Inspector, Andy Earley, said: “This
system has enabled us to intervene in the early
stages before criminal offences escalate. In
many cases we have assisted offenders with
help and support from multi-agencies and
allowed them to have a new start in life. We are
also able to assist their families with support and
help and prevent anti-social behaviour being
passed onto siblings or children.”
Police were grateful for the
co-operation of residents in the
600m exclusion zone.
East
Parley
Hurn Forest
Bournemouth
International
Airport
Partners pull together to diffuse
bomb incident
Back in May of last year, more than 110
Police Officers and Police Community
Support Officer’s were involved in a major
operation to evacuate around 1,200 homes
in a 600-metre exclusion zone, following the
discovery of a Second World War bomb in a
garden in Mudeford, Christchurch.
This huge, multi-agency operation - which
ended with the bomb being removed and
destroyed by Army experts - also involved
other police staff, local authority staff, the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency; district
nursing and community hospital staff; and
Hurn
Winkton
Throop
Burton
Jumpers
Common
CHRISTCHURCH
Somerford
PS
Highcliffe
Stanpit
Mudeford
volunteers, including Special Constables, the
Salvation Army and the Women’s Royal
Voluntary Service. All in all, 250 people were
involved.
Superintendent Lynn Hart, who led the
operation, said: “This was a fantastic effort
from everyone and has demonstrated the
incredible partnership working we have here
in Dorset and we are extremely grateful for
the co-operation we received from the
Mudeford residents during what must have
been a trying time for them.”
Town crier, Keith Jackman, Inspector Andy Earley and
Katherine Dew, former Christchurch Community Safety Officer,
extol the virtues of emptying your car of valuables.
Shouting about crime prevention
Last December Dorset Police and the Crime and Disorder Reduction
Partnership (CDRP) turned to a traditional method of communication
to shout about a modern crime - satellite navigation system theft.
Christchurch Town Crier, Keith Jackman, attended the town’s
Christmas Festival to broadcast the CDRP’s Christmas messages to
the townsfolk.
Inspector Andy Earley, Eastern Dorset CDRP’s lead on vehicle crime,
and Christchurch Section Commander said: “As always, the simple
message is, if you don’t leave anything in your car, it won’t get stolen.
We would like people to get into the habit of taking their sat nav
equipment - including the cradles - out of their cars and wanted to find
a memorable way of getting the message across. We are grateful to
Keith Jackman for offering his services and to the town council for
allowing us to take part in the festivities.”
Keith Jackman was not only advising people on how to prevent crime,
but he also gave a shout about how safe a place Christchurch is to live,
where vehicle crime, for example, has gone down by 57 per cent in the
last eight years.
The bomb discovered in a
Mudeford garden.
Get in touch:
Inspector Andy Earley
At the beginning of last year significant
progress had been made in reducing
dwelling burglary in the Christchurch
section. However, theft from unattended
motor cars was identified as an
emerging problem. This problem has
been tackled head-on and there has
been a 46 per cent reduction in this type
of crime. Dwelling burglary has been
reduced by a further 23 per cent and
violence against the person offences by
19 per cent. Overall a very successful
year.
●
●
●
Kyle Butler from the Purewell area of
Christchurch, kicked a stranger in the
face causing serious injuries, and was
subsequently convicted of Grievous
Bodily Harm (GBH) and was sentenced
to nine months imprisonment in October
of last year.
Following an argument with a fellow dog
walker, Ron Smallshire from Highcliffe,
stabbed the male upwards of 19 times
with a steak knife. Smallshire was
convicted in September 2006 of causing
Grievous Bodily Harm with intent and
sentenced to six and a half years
imprisonment.
A 17-year-old persistent burglar was
jailed after he was caught on camera
leaving the scene of the crime in
Christchurch.
Joe Porter was photographed leaving the
house that he had burgled moments earlier,
last October.
Porter, who was on licence after being
released from jail three weeks earlier, later
pleaded guilty to burglary and he was
sentenced to 24 months in prison at
Bournemouth Crown Court.
Detective Constable Neil Montrose of
Eastern CID said: “Porter was a persistent
offender and stole small valuable items of
personal property from the house.
“He was identified following a witness
coming forward with a picture he had taken
showing the offender leaving the scene of
the crime. This action by the witness is an
excellent example of how the public can
help bring offenders to justice.”
Call 01202 22 22 22* and ask
for:
Christchurch Section Commander:
Inspector Andy Earley (pictured)
Neighbourhood Station Sergeant:
Sergeant Malcolm Warriner
Christchurch Police Station
Barrack Road, Christchurch
Open 0800 - 2000 Monday - Sunday
Christchurch@dorset.pnn.police.uk
Highcliffe Police Station
409 Lymington Road, Highcliffe
Open 0900 - 1300 Monday to Saturday
Highcliffe@dorset.pnn.police.uk
*Only call 999 if a crime is in progress or
lives are in danger.
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