Farewell

Today we bid farewell to Abbey Police Community Support Officer Nicola Abbott. We all wish her the best of luck in the future, and thank her for the support and help she has given the last couple of years.

June Update

This month’s neighbourhood update for Abbey and Ryemead is given by PC Andrew Gilbert:

Anti-Social Behaviour
This is always a time of year to be weary as school children finish their exams and find they have more time to play outside. So far this month we have had no significant increase in anti-social behaviour within Ryemead. In Abbey I am really pleased to report that we are getting far fewer calls relating to anti-social behaviour along West End Road area due to the hard work from PCSOs Nik Abbott and Criona Riordan. However there seems to be a sudden increase in reports of children on mini-motos around the Poet’s Corner area of Abbey. This is a relatively new problem and we shall attempt to target resources up there straight away to nip the problem in the bud. They can be a terrible nuisance to residents and potentially very dangerous.

Speeding
We will be carrying out a major speeding operation along with the Roads Policing team on 30 June and hopefully I will be able to update you with the results next month. This will concentrate on Coronation Road in Abbey and Kingsmead Road in Ryemead where we get the most complaints.

Parking
We have had no new complaints about parking this month. I am still waiting to hear the results of the fire brigade attempting to run their vehicles down Freer Crescent and Ludlow Mews following last months updates.

Good news
The best bit of news this month was the arrest and charge of a young girl from our area who has been causing a nuisance for months by knocking on doors and asking people for small amounts of money on false pretences. After much work collating evidence we arrested her and charged her with eight counts of fraud. At the moment she is on bail pending pre-sentence reports, but she has conditions not to knock on doors and has also signed an Acceptable Behaviour Contract not to do so, which means we need a lot less evidence to arrest her in future.

Offenders brought to justice
A well known Wycombe man has been charged with possession of drugs with intent to supply from the London Road.
A man was given a fine for disorder on Station Road and another on Keep Hill. Another man was given a PND for possession of drugs in Fennells Road
One man was given a caution for possession of drugs in Alexandra Road and another on London Road. Another man was cautioned for possession of a knife on London Road.
One man was given a PND for shoplifting in B&Q, London Road
One man was given a caution for Theft from a Motor Vehicle in Kingsmead Park.
One man was given a caution for theft of a phone in the Rye.

Crime Prevention
On our patrols we notice more and more windows left open in the hot weather. Please remember an open window is an open invitation to a burglar so ensure you never leave doors and windows open unless you are in the house.

Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG)
The next NAG is on 7 July 2010 at the cricket club. As mentioned last month we are looking to use the Community Payback scheme as much as possible so if you have any ideas of where it can be used please contact us.

I would like to publicise our Wellbeing Day which is being held on 9 July between 10am and 3pm. It is a joint venture between the police and Wycombe District Council held in the Town Hall, Queen Victoria Road, High Wycombe and will include bingo, a raffle and refreshments. It will also include information on crime prevention and we will be giving out free smoke detectors and offering a free mini health check. Please come and join us.

The next ‘Have Your Say’ meeting will be held on Monday 12 July at 2pm behind the Wendover Arms. This is your opportunity to meet your neighbourhood team and pass on any concerns you have in your area. Please come and find us.

Farewell

Today we bid farewell to Ryemead Police Community Support Officer Daniel Panteny. We all wish him the best of luck in the future, and thank him for the support and help he has given the last couple of years.

Operation Rye Safe sees 73% fall in crime

The Wycombe Community Safety Partnership launched an operation to keep residents safe across Wycombe town centre during the May half-term holiday and as a result saw a 73.9 per cent fall in crime.

Operation Rye Safe ran between Saturday 29 May and Sunday 6 June and despite its name, the operation was also aimed at reducing crime in Desborough Road, the area around the bus station as well as on The Rye.

Officers decided to run the operation after analysis showed the school holidays to be a time of higher risk of robbery across Wycombe Local Police Area (LPA).

Officers from the Mounted Section joined officers and Police Community Support Officers on foot to patrol the hotspot areas and representatives from the Community Safety Partnership were on The Rye talking to people and gave advice and information.

During the operation, no crime was reported on the Rye and in Totteridge South crime was significantly lower compared to the same period last year with only six crimes reported. In comparison there were 23 crimes reported for the same period last year and crime overall is down 73.9 per cent.

During the operation a marquee was set up were people could go and get their property security marked, focussing on bicycles and electronic goods such as mobile phones and iPods. In total 85 items were security marked by officers which will protect the goods from being stolen and can be traced back to the owner if they are lost or stolen and recovered.

May Update

Here is the latest Ryemead and Abbey neighbourhood update from PC Andrew Gilbert.

Anti-social Behaviour: May has seen the continuation of the good British weather, and two Bank Holidays. May has also given us a chance to put the enforcement of the new “no-drinking zones” into use. The no-drinking zone gives police the power to seize drink from anyone who may be causing anti-social behaviour. We will not be spoiling anyone’s picnics but we will be disrupting anyone who is making life unpleasant for those around them.
At the start of the month we put a lot of effort into increasing visible officers onto The Rye during the Bank Holiday weekend and this had the desired effect of zero robberies reported that weekend (in previous years the good weather has lead to an increase in robberies on The Rye). We also had an operation in place for the last Bank Holiday in May which included the schools’ half term. This saw more police and a mobile police station on The Rye, which ensured that people can enjoy themselves safely.

Parking: There are some new parking issues around Freer Crescent, Appletree Close and Ludlow Mews. PCSOs have been made aware and will issue tickets accordingly. We also work alongside the fire brigade who can assist. They will attempt to drive their fire engines down these narrow roads and if they are unable to do so due to inconsiderate parking they can issue educational letters. Unfortunately in a real emergency there will be no such niceties and the cars will be forcibly removed.

Speeding: No new surprises on speeding. An operation took place on Desborough Avenue which issued 17 seat belt offences and 3 mobile phone tickets in two hours. Speed indication device work continues to take place on Coronation Road and Kingsmead Road.

Good News: Last month we had several phone calls from people on The Rye complaining about a gentleman with a dangerous dog attacking people. After speaking to several witnesses we managed to identify that man and after arresting him, have persuaded him to give the dog up to an organisation more capable of controlling it. Since then we have received no phone calls about this.

Crime Prevention: I have mentioned this before in the monthly update, but there is still one young girl causing a nuisance to the community by continually begging. If anyone knocks on your door asking for money please refuse their request. Call the police immediately on 08458 505505 and tell your neighbours.

Offenders brought to justice:
A man received a caution for a public order offence and another man was charged with assault, both incidents happened in The Rye.
A man was cautioned and female charged separately for shoplifting at B&Q and another man was charged for a public order offence at the same location.
A man was issued with a fixed penalty notice for a public order offence in Queen’s Road and another man received a cannabis warning in the Wye Industrial Estate and another in Kingsmead Road. Finally, a man was cautioned for criminal damage in Beech Road.

Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG)
The NAG met as usual and it was decided that one area of success has been the parking problems around Fennels Road. Along with the council we have done a lot of work in trying to clean up the parking problems which has been achieved. A recent leaflet drop asking residents to let us know if problems were still occurring has lead to no replies.
We are trying to find schemes where the Community Payback Team could be used. If you have any ideas for areas that need clearing up please let us know.
The next NAG is on the 7th July 2010 at the cricket club.

Have Your Say
This month’s ‘Have Your Say’ meeting didn’t bring up any surprising questions, with most queries being about parking. The next ‘Have Your Say’ meeting will be on Monday 14th June at 2pm in The Rye.

Distraction!

POLICE are warning of a ‘con’ involving a ‘well spoken’ young woman knocking on doors in High Wycombe and asking for money.

They say she tells householders she has lost her purse and ‘needs money to get somewhere to visit a relative, has no money for her gas or electric, etc’.

Police said: “This is a con - please do not give her money.”

She is described as white, ‘well spoken and polite’, in her early 20s, slim and with her hair pulled back into a pony tail. She has a tattoo on the inside of her left wrist.

Anyone with information should call Thames Valley Police on 0845 8 505 505 or Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Operation Rye Safe

The Wycombe Community Safety Partnership has launched an operation to keep you and your belongings safe across Wycombe town centre this half-term holiday.

Rye Safe started on Saturday (29/5) and will run until the end of the half-term holiday on Sunday (6/6). Despite its name, the operation is also aimed at reducing crime in Desborough Road and the area around the bus station as well as on The Rye.

Officers decided to run the operation after analysis showed the school holidays to be a time of higher risk of robbery across Wycombe Local Police Area (LPA).

Officers on horseback will join those on foot to patrol the hotspot areas and representatives from the Community Safety Partnership will be on The Rye to talk to people and give advice and information.

Sgt Matt Myers is running the operation. He said: “We ran a similar operation over the summer holidays last year which had some great results and showed what a difference can be made by taking a pre-emptive strike against crime.

“Street robbery is down by 40 per cent in Wycombe this year and it’s a trend we are determined to maintain.”