REPORT FROM POLICE – LOCAL PRIORITIES – JULY 2017 – OCTOBER 2017 AGENDA ITEM NO 5(A)

Dear All

The community policing department based in the South Central area of Bedfordshire covering , and strives for excellence in its performance and delivery.

In July 2017, (11th, 12th and 13th) I held three evening meetings to enable representatives of the public within these three large policing areas (and the 41 villages around them) in order to provide an outline of all of the changes to policing in the area and also to identify what they considered were their local priorities. During the meetings, I made a commitment to report back on these priorities after three months hence I would like to invite all of the Councillors, MPs, street watch, pub watch, shop watch, home watch representatives of the Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard (and surrounding areas) councils to another set of three separate engagement evenings.

The attendees for each meeting will be geographically determined and they will be as follows: • Houghton Regis (, , Toddington, Chalton, , Barton le Clay) representatives at 18:30hrs, 18th October 2017 at Dunstable Police Station, West Street, Dunstable, LU6 1TA • Leighton Buzzard (Billington, , , , , Hockcliffe, , Stanbridge) representatives at 18:30hrs, 19th October 2017 at Dunstable Police Station, West Street, Dunstable, LU6 1TA • Dunstable (, , , , , , ) representatives at 18:30hrs, 20th October 2017 at Dunstable Police Station, West Street, Dunstable, LU6 1TA

The purpose of the meetings will be as below:

• Discuss the local priorities which were identified by those representatives who attended the previous meetings in July 2017 • To ensure that the priorities for the next three months (October 2017 – January 2018) is decided upon. This could be an extension of the time provision to complete the original problems or an alteration of the priorities as other issues have taken precedence in the local area.

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REPORT FROM – LOCAL PRIORITIES – JULY 2017 – OCTOBER 2017 AGENDA ITEM NO 5(A)

The priorities identified in July 2017 were:

OIC and Partners Area Priority Actions, Progress and Outcome Safety net Ref Involved social PCSO services, Toland Actio Housing, n Plan Youth 11/8 (action plan aims) - need to establish where the drugs are being dealt from, who the dealers are, what drugs are Drugs written Offending, involved, any additional criminality involved Safety Probation, net ref 2557 Education, Welfare Criminal PCSO social Damage of Geary. services, 11/8 (action plan aims) - consider use of deployable Public Action plan Housing, cameras. Establish through intelligence, who is Property written Youth causing the damage, true level of criminal activity, any inclusion of YOS for those identified? Anyone eligible for CPN? Is Benn Saf Offending, this linked to a wider problem. etts Rec - ety net ref Education, Dunstable Splash Park 2533 Welfare area 1

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REPORT FROM BEDFORDSHIRE POLICE – LOCAL PRIORITIES – JULY 2017 – OCTOBER 2017 AGENDA ITEM NO 5(A)

PCSO social Lewinton A services, ction plan Housing, written 11/8 (action plan aims) - who do the vehicles belong to, who are the riders, where are the locations, are there any other Op Meteor Youth Saf offences being committed, publish successes to reassure and deter, signposting, provide education. Offending, ety net Education, ref 2532 Welfare

3/8 Street Drinkers meeting PSG. The signs in the town centre are faded and it has been confirmed that they are not enforceable as there is no exclusion zone. The signs themselves create a lot of confusion and frustration as there is an expectation that officers and councillors should do more but there is no power to remove alcohol - powers only exist if there are other offences present. Need to concentrate on the vulnerability of the street drinkers and look at safeguarding them. Maggie Hinton said that she would look at establishing Public Place Protection Order although this PCSO Town council could take a couple of years but this could include an alcohol exclusion zone. A resident explained that the licensed Lewinton and members premises are selling alcohol out of licensing hours and to underage people. Trading standards together with licensing PS Maggie (CBC and Police) will run test purchases to establish if this is the case. The police action plan for Bedford Square was Street Gurr Hinton discussed and it was established that our plan includes: increased police visibility in the square, the use of plain clothes Houghton Drinkers - Community and uniformed officers to deal with alcohol purchases by intoxicated people, utilise CCTV to provide intelligence to target Regis area Village Action plan Safety resources in terms of times and days, the officers will stop and speak to drinkers, seizing alcohol where there is a 2 Green and written CBC L necessity and a power. There was a discussion about the signage and it was agreed that it would be advisable to remove Bedford icensing CBC it. Some of the drinkers may not be homeless but may be residents of CBC property and subject to tenancy agreements Square Safety net & there is therefore a need to establish their identity to enable this to be ref Police checked. 2555 Alan 5/8 Operation Cloudy written by PS Gurr regarding a proactive police May ASB CBC response 11/8 (action plan aims) - Who are the drinkers, where is the alcohol being purchased from, is there an alcohol exclusion zone, are there any licensing contraventions, what support is being provided to these people and what support do they need/will accept?

Youth Off, PCSO Housing, Drug Sisson Action Education and Dealing in 11/8 (action plan aims) - who do the vehicles belong to, who are the couriers, where are the locations, what are the Plan Written Welfare, Parkside drugs , are there children involved, signposting and use of Op Hana resources Safety net Rehab and Drive ref 2536 support agencies

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REPORT FROM BEDFORDSHIRE POLICE – LOCAL PRIORITIES – JULY 2017 – OCTOBER 2017 AGENDA ITEM NO 5(A)

PCSO Op Dodford, Market Day Waters Action specials, 11/8 (action plan aims) - who is involved in ASB, where are they living (local authority housing?), are there links to any issues at Plan CCTV, Shop other criminality, increased overt police action in the town, decrease in number of calls regarding the ASB in the town. the barrier Safety net ref watch, market 2258 day security Shop watch, CCTV, Shops within the town, security employed by PCSO the shops, 11/8 (action plan aims) - who are the shoplifters, are they wanted for any offences, what shops are they frequenting, Setterfield youth Shoplifting what is the current level of offending, deployment of plain and HVP officers, establish which shops are being targeted, is Action Plan offending, in the town there security, any target hardening that could take place, specific goods being targeted, is there a reason or demand for Written probation, centre those goods, publish successes and work with shop watch to develop strong communication links between police and Safety net education, Leighton shops and between the shops themselves. ref 2354 IOM, drug and Buzzard alcohol (area 3) services, rural team, Op Dodford, Specials

Low level 11/8 (action plan aims) - who are the youths in the town centre and in the specific areas identified, are they involved in social services ASB with PCSO any other criminal activity, do they live in local accommodation property, how frequently are they riding in the town , youth kids on Carne centre , specific days, can they be identified by their school uniform - if so can the school be visited re-education offending, pushbikes. Action plan regarding the dangers of riding in the manner they are, what is the true extent of the problem or is this predominantly a education and Sandhills, Written lack of tolerance of youth, are other offences being committed, consider a safe cycling scheme, is there a cycle exclusion welfare, The Planets, Safety zone, are other riders tolerated, consider advertising cycling initiative and the crack down on social media and within CCTV, street Meadow, net ref 2535 schools and youth agencies with an invitation to a community engagement event targeting cycle safety (crime prevention watch, LLTC Brooklands and responsible riding), publish successes to reassure and deter.

I appreciate that the previous meetings were positioned at the commencement of the summer holiday season and potential attendees may have struggled to come as a result of previous commitments.

I am confident that those of you available to attend in October will do so as I am sure you will wish to represent the wishes and concerns of your residents. Attendance will also ensure that you have the information required to enable you to provide them with an update on the previously nominated priorities for your areas.

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