OLD COLWYN EAST RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
Open meeting 13 th April 2005
Minute of an address by
Sergeant David Roome
Safer Communities Team
Central Division, North Wales Police
Sergeant David Roome
Safer Communities Team
Central Division, North Wales Police
Sgt Roome began his talk by thanking the group for the invitation to speak. H e gave a short account of his police experience of seventeen years starting in London . The past nine years, he has spent in North Wales mostly on community based policing issues
He started his talk with a personal account of some experiences which he had had including a burglary at his home on the Wirral. He had also been targeted by a group of young people for taking action in defence of the property of a neighbour and he was abused as a result. He said that the antisocial behaviour had bothered him more than the burglary.
Using a number of PowerPoint slides he began his talk, the first slide was entitled “ Antisocial behaviour, getting serious”. We heard that since world war two crime levels have risen a great deal. T his is due to a variety of causes including the drugs market and acquisitive crime of TV' s and videos amongst other things.
Since 1995 there has been a steady decline in the levels of crime we were told, to a low point in 2003. This was not claimed by a police survey but as a result of research carried out by the British Crime Survey. Sergeant Roome pointed out that according to the survey the perception of crime from those people on the receiving end is that it does not feel safer.
He told us that over the last three years crimes in North Wales have steadily reduced. Detection rates he told us are amongst the best in the country. The western division of the force is first in England and Wales , with the central and eastern divisions in the sixth and seventh place respectively. The performance of the police force is monitored by the Audit Commission every year and is the only force in the country to have a green star awarded for excellence.
H e introduced the broken windows concept into the talk, of a simple concept and one which we as residents association to have mentioned ourselves in our dealings with the police. Deal with the lower level crimes and offences and put a stop to them and that has an impact overall. ‘Restore order and crime reduction follows' said Sergeant Roome.
To help in this respect there were lots of policies and legislation. There are new powers under antisocial behaviour legislation. CBMs are back in communities. There is an interagency approach to problems and of course the force policy of ‘Dyna Ddigon', translated as ‘That's enough'.
The objective of this policy is to harness public opinion against the so called ‘y ob culture'.
To make petty crime and antisocial behaviour, unacceptable .
To make public areas welcoming and safe at all times of the day and night .
To support local authorities and voluntary groups in promoting civic pride and to help young people make better use of their time.
And finally an element of problem solving, using three interrelated headings always associated together when talking of a crime . T he headings are Victim, Offender and Location. Problem solving entails dealing with the three separate aspects in order to reduce crime.
The Chair interjected at this point to speak about last year's five a side football competition which in his opinion was a missed opportunity . Pictures of the winners were not pushed into the press and it was a good story .
Sergeant Roome then spoke about the cost to the public of antisocial behaviour. A one day count i n September 2003 revealed that there were 66,103 Reports of antisocial behaviour a cost of £13,500 per day w hich equates to £3.375 billion per year.
There was then a discussion about what affects people's feeling of wellbeing the most, the results of surveys indicate that people a most affected by litter and rubbish, on-street drinking and rowdy behaviour and all types of nuisance behaviour.
The Chair interjected to say that he thanked the police for the way they had dealt with graffiti in Old Colwyn in partnership.
Sergeant Roome then spoke of the policing methods used in North Wales , it was intended that policing should be personal and local. The local policing style of North Wales is a lead to all the other Forces in Wales who must follow the same route.
There are full time additionally funded Schools Liaison officers.
CBMs
PCSO's
Accredited Wardens
Wardens
A resident asked “ What powers do they all have?” The answer was that they have powers to give fixed penalty notices for dog fouling, antisocial behaviour, and deal with nuisance vehicles and in certain areas, to detain people for up to half an hour for offences.
There was a discussion about what Council Neighbourhood Wardens do. They come under the Community Safety Dept of the Council.
Sgt Kelly said that there had been council resistance to them becoming part of policing teams.
There are 22 Dyna Ddigon areas in North Wales often dealing with different problematic antisocial behaviour issues of the particular areas. In Pentrefoelas, because of fast cars on the A5 in a 40mph area a community Speedwatch was set up allowing trained members of the public to report speeding drivers who would then be warned by letter.
Sergeant Roome hazarded a thought that the police officers had gone into cars rushing everywhere and needed to come back to the local officer working long term on the problems of an area.
He spoke of the yellow card scheme where a person is committing an offence but where it is inappropriate to arrest but still needing action. The yellow card is issued echoing the football concept to let the person know they are on record for a few months. Parents are informed and the idea is deterrence.
He then spoke about the water bowser concept of dealing with public street urination. People are given a warning, yellow card or fixed penalty but given the opportunity to clean it up. 3 had been arrested but 91 had cleaned up their mess.
There was a question from the floor about a recent television program about the Rhyl Police where an offender escaped an £80 fixed penalty because an officer stood using a hose while the man waved a brush at the road three times. Sgt Roome said that that was not the way it was supposed to happen. It was down to the offender to clean up. There was also an element of humiliation supposed to take place. The questioner continued saying that the person should be hit in the pocket not by cleaning the street. Sgt Roome said that it was used to clamp down on bad behaviour early in the evening.
Many fixed penalty notices have been issued for a whole range of offences. The objective is to prevent the officer having to spend time going to the police station to book someone into custody and interview them and prepare a prosecution file. Once a person's identity is established, a fixed penalty can be issued.
Penalty notices for disorder since 2003
Western div 683 : Central div 602 : Eastern div 977
He then spoke of the environmental impact of burned out wrecks and graffiti. There are various ways in which the Local Authority can take action in an interagency action with these issues.
Sergeant Roome touched on the power to give warnings for antisocial driving. Drivers who are otherwise complying with the law, licensed, insured and taxed but drive like an idiot can be warned and if they repeat their conduct within 12 months the vehicle can be seized. In the last 12 months 864 people have been warned and 72 cars have been confiscated.
51 anti social behaviour orders have been granted
70 acceptable behaviour contracts 90% successful.
548 letters written
1553 yellow cards
Dispersal orders can be issued in agreement with the local authority and they are effective.
Premises involved in drug misuse can be closed down. There are problems for the Local Authority in re-housing the people involved. Not used many times in North Wales .
Graffiti busters are effective in clearing the damage to prevent copycat offences.
Sergeant Roome then closed by saying that the priorities of the police in working with the Local Authorities and identify what peoples priorities are and come back to the public meetings and tell the public what the police are doing about their requirements. The intent is that people should feel safe to walk their streets in the evening. Confidence needs to be won back.
There was a round of applause and the Chair thanked Sergeant Roome for his interesting talk.
