Safer Melbourn

cambridgeshire

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk/safermelbourn/

Report it to the Police… Why bother?

I often hear people tell me about problems in their village and ask what the police are doing about it. When I ask if they have reported it to us, the reply is often along the lines of “Why bother?” Well, here’s why…..

Many people don’t report things like a rowdy group of teenagers, or somebody revving their car or moped up and down their street, because they think these are minor things that the police won’t be interested in anyway. By no means would I want people to be calling the police every time a group of young people walk past their house shouting and laughing. However, when something which is a nuisance is happening repeatedly and you feel that a police presence would help to solve the problem, I would really encourage you to call us.

When you call the police about something like this, your call is logged on our computer system, and that will include any details you give. If the local officer or PCSOs are available, they may be just around the corner and come to attend. If you don’t report it, how will they know to come round the corner and deal with it?

I have spoken to people who find that this isn’t their experience; they don’t get anyone come to see them at all and then feel let down by the police. As I’m sure you are all aware we are not able to be everywhere at once, and we have to prioritise the calls that come in to us. Our resources are limited and will always be allocated to the more serious calls first. This may mean that if an assault or a burglary has happened somewhere else an officer won’t get out to you for quite a while, and by the time they do, the problem may have gone. However, that isn’t the end of the information you give to us.

The Neighbourhood team look at the reports to see what is happening on their beat. A report like this helps them to identify where the problems are and where they need to be patrolling. When you call us, you can ask for a visit from your local PCSO when they are next available if you want to discuss a problem with them, even if we don’t have the resources to deal with it there and then. You can also sign up to E-Cops through the Cambridgeshire Constabulary website. This is a free facility which gives you information, and allows you to contact us via email with information which you don’t feel you need to tell us immediately but which you would like to make us aware of.

By you telling us what is going on, we can be far more effective at dealing with it. The more information we have about what is going on in the area, the better picture we can build up, and as a result the better service we can give to your village. Sergeant Rebecca Williams

Melbourn Police Station

With the closure of Melbourn’s police station Cambridgeshire Constabulary, wishing to maintain a presence in the village have applied for, and received, planning consent to build a police base at the Melbourn Village College site.

You can see the full planning application on line at: http://scambs.jdiconsult.net/devcon/pa.php?paid=143791

The old police station was the base for our Neighbourhood policing team but with its closure last February the team is now based at Sawston. I have been told by our community police inspector that this will probably continue to be the case even when the new police “base” comes into service. The good news is that the police station volunteers, who ensured that the old station was open to the public, will re-establish this service at the new base.

Keeping this service going obviously relies on having enough volunteers, so if you are interested in becoming a police station volunteer and would like to know more please contact the volunteer coordinator, Val Barrett, on 261227.

A weekend with PCSO Lindsay Gardiner…

Saturday

Long day today; 11am until 10pm so a good day to catch up on paperwork and wash the police car so it was presentable to the public. At Meldreth pre-school summer fete, it was an opportunity for the children to meet the local Police Community Support Officer and have a look inside a police car. I also took police hats for the children to try, but the adults did take a shine to them!

Every few days we have new tasks in relation to crimes such as returning telephone calls for more information, knocking on doors to find out if anyone in the houses near an incident saw or heard anything, taking statements and updating victims.

Speaking with members of the public when I’m out and about is important as some let me know if someone is acting suspiciously or talk about people they think may have been involved in crimes. These people are not always arrested, but the information received is always recorded in case it is useful in the future. Although time consuming, it does make our job much easier. Keep the information coming, please.

Out on patrol at 8pm with PCSO Coppard, we patrolled around the Village College on foot due to recent anti-social behaviour with cars and mopeds. The patrol took us along the school field though Vicarage Close and down to the High Street. We returned to the car just after 9pm. We drove around Meldreth, Shepreth, Foxton and Fowlemere. The British weather helped us out and kept everything quiet, we made our way back to Sawston Police Station and booked off just after 10pm.

Sunday

Last day of my week working from 2pm until 10pm.

I booked on duty and went straight out to take a statement for criminal damage, which took around 45 minutes. I patrolled around the village on foot for about an hour. I then delivered a number of Speed Watch letters. These are given to drivers who have been caught speeding by the Speed Watch volunteers or the local PCSOs. They are not tickets; they are letters warning drivers to slow down! Six letters were delivered, three in Meldreth, one in Fowlemere and one in Royston. This took me to about 4.30pm. Just after 5pm I was sent to an incident in Meldreth where a possible stolen bike had been found. The condition of the bike was very tatty so the conclusion was that it was probably just abandoned. I was required to check reports for missing cycles when I returned to the station – just in case.

At 6pm I was called to a report of an attempted break in at Bassingbourn primary school, which turned out to be two young boys playing football. The ball had hit a door on the school property and set the alarms off! I knew who the boys were so I made a note of their names and removed them from the school grounds.

I returned to the station at 7pm for a quick bite to eat and then went back out on patrol with PCSO Coppard. We patrolled Great Chishall on foot for 30 minutes and then drove around Steeple Morden and Guilden Morden before going back to the car parks in Melbourn to check for noisy vehicles. We headed back to the police station to finish off our bits and pieces before going home at 10pm for a well-deserved night’s sleep.

Speedwatch

A number of villages in our area are members of the Speedwatch scheme. Speedwatch is operated by volunteers who are trained by the police to operate speed monitoring equipment to gather information on traffic movements in their villages. Speedwatch teams that record drivers exceeding the ACPO guidelines of 10% + 2 over the speed limit send the vehicle registrations to the police who then send advisory letters to the registered owners. Speedwatch data from three schemes in our area There were 3 checks in Wimpole on the A603 Cambridge Road with 29 were letters sent out to drivers. In Meldreth, there were 5 checks in Station Road, North End and Penny Lane,18 letters were sent out to drivers. In Whaddon, 3 checks in Church Street and Meldreth Road, 9 letters sent out to drivers.

Melbourn Neighbourhood trends

Total crime in the Bassingbourn/Melbourn Neighbourhood has decreased, when compared to the previous period and the same period last year. This decrease has been reflected mainly in the Melbourn ward.

ASB incidents have increased compared to the previous period and the same period last year. This increase is mainly due to an increase in Fowlmere and Foxton Ward.

Melbourn (January and February 2010) Total crime in Melbourn has decreased compared to the previous period (23 offences vs. 35 offences) and has almost halved compared to the same period last year (45 offences).

There were two ‘theft from a shop’ offences in this period compared to one in the previous period. Both offences occurred at Co-Operative Group, on the High Street and the same offender was arrested and charged for both offences.

There were 7 criminal damage offences in this period compared to 5 offences in the previous period. Two of the offences occurred on the same evening in January on the High Street in Melbourn. In both offences offenders have ripped off the driver’s side wing mirror causing damage.

There were 19 ASB incidents in Melbourn in this period compared to 16 incidents in the previous period and 25 incidents in the same period last year. There were no patterns or trends in the incidents during the period. Road Safety Speeding patrols conducted at various locations across the Neighbourhood, including Cambridge Road, Melbourn. Twenty eight letters were sent to motorists as a result of these.

Parking patrols conducted at various locations across the Neighbourhood, including Melbourn High St, Melbourn Primary School. Ten motorists were given ‘words of advice’ and Four tickets issued.