Rural Taskforce Newsletter May 2016 The North Yorkshire Police Rural Taskforce has got off to a flying start – engaging with communities, disrupting criminals and arresting suspects. Australian police, Scottish police, combined Irish police and Welsh police and will be competing next year for a Four Nations trophy. Taskforce officers and PCSOs have now been appointed [email protected] and are already busy working in rural communities across North Yorkshire. From attending auction marts and marking equine tack, PCSO Sally Breen – to tackling fish poachers and supporting cross-border crime clampdowns, the team have already achieved a Craven huge amount in a very short period of time. Sally is a dyed-in-the-wool In this newsletter, we will introduce you to the Taskforce Dales girl. She was born and team. In the next issue, we will keep you up to date with brought up, and spent her all the activity and successes so far. whole working life, in Skipton. She comes from farming stock – her mother was Meet the team born in a farmhouse at Halton Gill, and one of her earliest memories is “helping” dip sheep at Foxup. In the previous newsletter we introduced Inspector Jon Sally has no fear of being out in the elements having Grainge and Sergeant Kevin Kelly. This issue, we meet worked as a “postie” for the Royal Mail before joining the officers and PCSOs that make up the Rural the police as a PCSO in 2006. She is looking forward to Taskforce: getting out and about to better understand the issues faced by farms, businesses and residents in rural areas. PC Michael Carr – Craven [email protected] Michael joined North Yorkshire Police in June PC Arfan Rahouf – 1997, working in Malton. Hambleton In 2001 he moved back to the Craven area where he Arfan started his career as a has lived for most of his life, PCSO initially in Greater and covered Skipton Town Manchester Police in the before moving to the Fallowfield and Moss Side Craven Rural area, covering areas. He re-joined as Settle and Ingleton. apolice officer on response covering the same areas, He comes from a police background, with his father and and then worked as a mother both being police officers and has followed in Neighbourhood Beat Manager for the Whalley Range their footsteps to try to make a difference to the area area, tackling local issues including drug dealing and where he lives. prostitution. His main hobby is rugby – Michael plays for North Arfan then moved into the Neighbourhood Proactive Ribblesdale Rugby Club in Yorkshire League 1, travelling Team, targeting offenders committing serious acquisitive the whole of Yorkshire. He has played tests against crime as well as drug-related offences. In 2014 Arfan transferred to North Yorkshire Police in that North Yorkshire is a county with a large rural order to live closer to his family and experience a community and he believes that the experience and different style of policing – from urban to rural. Arfan skills he has acquired can now be used to benefit the was posted to the Scarborough district, working rural community both in his district of Harrogate and predominantly in the Whitby area within the response across the county. team. Arfan will cover the Hambleton district on the [email protected] Rural Taskforce. [email protected] PCSO Bryan Tongue – Harrogate PCSO Iain McNeill – Hambleton Bryan started his career Iain started working for the with North Yorkshire Police police in the Force Control as a Traffic Warden in 1996, Room in 2003, working in working out of Ripon, and the crime recording unit. He became a PCSO in 2006 became a PCSO in 2006 working at Bedale. working in Thirsk as part of the Neighbourhood patrol He has spent a number of team, dealing with anti- years working the rural beats of Bedale and has visited a social behaviour and working number of farms where he managed the “Lock it or Lose with local youth groups. it” campaign. During this he came into contact with former members of Bedale Mobile Watch (BMW). In Iain then transferred to Northallerton Safer 2014 Bryan co-ordinated the BMW scheme which meets Neighbourhood Team and has been involved in various with volunteers two nights a month patrolling Bedale's projects over the years, including Games Fest. He then rural areas. worked on a more rural role for the last five years, working with local farmers, introducing property Bryan enjoys meeting and chatting with people and has a marking, increasing Farm Watch members and building passion to protect our rural communities. up local links within the community. [email protected] He enjoys this side of the role and is looking to build upon that knowledge throughout the Hambleton PC Rob Davies – community. Richmondshire [email protected] Rob started his career working as a response PC David Mackay – Harrogate officer at Richmond, also covering Catterick, Leyburn David started his career in and the Dales. Harrogate in 2003, as a response officer initially In 2014, Rob joined the working in Harrogate town Safer Neighbourhood Team and then moving to cover at Northallerton to take up the post of Rural Beat Knaresborough and the Manager. Since then Rob has started regular Country wider rural area. Watch patrols, working alongside both volunteers and colleagues from other forces focusing on rural crimes David later returned to work and cross-border criminality, which has also led to in Harrogate and as well as increased community engagement with farmers and being a response officer has isolated rural communities. worked in the case building unit (now the Investigation Hub). He was involved in the creation and running of Rob has also taken up the role as a Wildlife Crime Officer Operation Wahoo, which aimed to reduce crime in for the district and works alongside partner agencies on Harrogate through proactive operations, targeting a regular basis including the RSPCA, targeting prolific priority offenders and crime prevention. David also wildlife crime offenders. worked on the Priority Crime Team where he was As part of the Rural Taskforce, Rob will have responsible for investigating crimes such as burglaries. responsibility for the Richmondshire area, and is based David wanted to join the Rural Taskforce as he recognises at Richmond Police Station. [email protected] PCSO Richard Braddick – Richmondshire PCSO Andrew Birkinshaw – Ryedale Richard has worked as a Andrew started his career PCSO in Leyburn for the past with North Yorkshire Police six years. In that time he has in December 2003, and was built up a good relationship based in Sherburn in Elmet, with local and wider rural near Selby, where he communities. worked closely with his He has worked with the community for five years. horse racing community in In December 2008, Andrew Middleham, and set up a moved to the Ryedale area Lower Dales mobile watch to be closer to family and scheme, which has successfully grown over the past took over the role as PCSO for South East Ryedale, where two years. he worked up until joining the Taskforce in April 2016. He has planned and assisted many road safety Andrew is a trained domestic violence coordinator and initiatives in the Dales, teaming up with colleagues has recently also taken on the role of as a schools from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the coordinator in a teaching and safeguarding role. 95 Alive road safety partnership to help reduce the Andrew is a rural PCSO and has decided to join the amount of road traffic accidents. He recently finished dedicated Taskforce so he can concentrate his efforts on an anti-bullying project with primary-school children, keeping rural communities safe. who after writing anti-bullying raps, were rewarded with having them professionally recorded at a music [email protected] studio, and then released to local communities, in an effort to stamp out bullying. PC Tom Rollinson – He is looking forward to expanding his role as a PCSO, Scarborough to assist and provide reassurance to all rural communities in the Richmondshire area. Tom began his career as a police officer in West [email protected] Yorkshire, policing from both Garforth and PC Neil Killingbeck police stations. Cholmondeley – During his time in West Ryedale Yorkshire, Tom was a Safer Neighbourhoods beat Neil has been a police manager and a response officer. Tom received a officer for 12 years. His first commendation for his work on a high-profile murder posting was Whitby where case in 2012 before transferring to North Yorkshire Police he policed both Town and in 2013. Rural beats. He then moved onto the Roads Policing Tom has lived in North Yorkshire his entire life and has Group and has spent the family who are arable farmers on the East Coast. Tom last nine years on traffic. has worked as a response officer at both Scarborough and Whitby police stations. The great opportunity to join the new Rural Taskforce has given him the chance to go back to rural policing, He has a passion for proactive policing targeting those which is something that he thoroughly enjoys and is causing harm to the most vulnerable communities, and passionate about. It also gives him the chance to help has had well-documented successes in operations such and give something back to our rural communities. as Shudder and Hawk. He now takes up the post on the rural crime team covering Scarborough and Whitby. He will be working in the Ryedale area and will be [email protected] based at Helmsley.