Quarterly update August 2023
T/Insp 1367 Ian Cotton
The year is flying by, and we have again reviewed the priorities for The Wolds Neighbourhood Policing Team for the last quarter and set new priorities for the next review period.
The Wolds Neighbourhood Policing Team is going through a period of significant change at the moment. Many of you will know about the reduction in the number of PCSO’s in the area. This is now starting to take effect with PCSO’s being planned to move to different geographical areas and leaving for other work outside of the organisation. I have been so impressed and humbled by the efforts of the staff to serve the community to the absolute best of their ability whilst this process has been ongoing.
PC Ben Nuttell who has previously served the South Wolds community based at Horncastle has moved to North Wolds based at Louth. We have PC Gary Pindar-Jones covering at Horncastle until October when he retires (happy retirement Gary!). In October, we will be joined by PC Andy Beard. I know Andy is really looking forward to the challenge of working in Neighbourhood Policing and building a strong connection with residents and partners.
Pc Holly Loyd has been successful in the promotion process to Sergeant (well done Holly!) and is awaiting a posting which means we will be advertising internally for a new Community Beat Manager in Louth very soon.
At our recent neighbourhood priority setting meeting we discussed our current priorities and what to focus on for the next period. We had input from our local community (please look out for our questions and polls on Nextdoor). We contacted key individuals in our local community for their input. We considered current crime data and trends, the type and harm caused of the crime taking place, street-safe data, opinions gathered from our public engagements, current national and force campaigns and any particular ongoing crime series on our area.
There were lots of suggestions that have been added or had already been recently added to our patrol plans.
There were clear concerns from the community around youth ASB and some concerns about rural theft and burglary. Our data also indicated that compared with the rest of the county the Wolds area was having a higher number of rural thefts.
In order to standardise Priority Setting across the county the next meeting will likely be at the beginning of October meaning a short two month review period this time.
Previously we have had the following as our priorities….
Priority: Tackling anti-social behaviour in Louth Town and surrounding rural areas (North Wolds)
Priority set on 30/01/23
Action Taken (updated 02/08/23 previous review 02/05/23)
PCSO Drake has been leading this plan. The NPT have been attending and dealing with incidents involving youth ASB, gathering details of perpetrators, reassuring victims and addressing the issues raised. The team over this period has issued 19 Unacceptable Behaviour Warnings with 7 progressing to a second stage. All of these warnings are delivered in person with the young person’s parents or guardian present. One Acceptable Behaviour Agreement was made with one young person in Louth when her behaviour was highlighted as being a problem for the community. This has drastically reduced her ASB offending. The team uses its patrol plan to address concerns form the community in respect of youth ASB. Those areas include Louth tennis courts, Fotherby layby, Louth Bus Station and the Meridian Leisure Centre in Louth. The team operate with a strategy of tackling youth ASB early with the support of ELDC and parents to prevent an escalation in behaviour.
Priority: Scam prevention work (North Wolds)
Priority set 30/01/23
Action Taken (updated 02/08/23 previous review 02/05/23)
PCSO Luke Jacklin has been leading on the response for North Wolds. There have been fewer reports of the impersonation of a police officer offence, reported in the previous period, there is a recognition that one area tends to be targeted for a short period of time before the offenders move on. Luke has led events at Barclays Bank, has participated with a day of action with Trading Standards and East Midlands Special Operations Unit targeting rogue traders. The team visit vulnerable members of the community who have been victim of fraud and assessed as being a high risk of being a repeat victim to provide safeguarding from further offences, including call blockers and cocoon watch.
Priority: Tackling anti-social behaviour in South Wolds (South Wolds)
Priority Set: 30/01/23
Action Taken (updated 02/08/23 previous review 02/05/23)
PCSO Key has been leading on this plan. The NPT have been attending and dealing with incidents involving youth ASB, gathering details of perpetrators, reassuring victims and addressing the issues raised. The NPT have issued 22 Unacceptable Behaviour Warnings with 3 warnings progressing to stage 2. All warnings have been delivered face to face with parents or guardians present. The team deploy their patrol plan to take into account areas highlighted by members of the community including Horncastle High Street, Spilsby Town Centre (the bus shelter in particular), Wragby (re: mini-motos). The team operate with a strategy of tackling youth ASB early with the support of ELDC and parents to prevent an escalation in behaviour.
Priority: Scam Prevention Work (South Wolds)
Priority Set: 02/05/23
Action Taken:
PCSO Holly Grogan has been leading the response to this community issue. Events have been held using the EDDIE van (large video screen) raising awareness. The team have also been doing work in identifying and recognising vulnerable individuals and groups and have worked with partners (LIVES) to supply scam prevention literature to those most at risk of scams. The team also took part in a day of action with Trading Standards and the East Midlands Special Operations Unit in respect of rogue traders.
Having liaised with the NPT Teams, our community and public figures to ascertain current crime trends and areas of concern we have set the following priorities for the next review period. They are the same for both North and South Wolds:
ASB - Focussing on youth ASB issues in the community across the area (North/South Wolds)
Prevention work around theft from, and burglary of farms (North/South Wolds)