Dringhouses selected for community speed watch trial
The Community Speed Watch pilot programme will run at up to 50 sites across York, Harrogate, Selby and Harrogate “where local people have already registered a concern about speeding vehicles”.
The Police say that the sites are “mainly” residential areas with 30 and 40 mph speed limits.
In York the chosen sites are in Holgate, Strensall, Clifton Moor, Dringhouses and Rawcliffe
No consultation with local Councillors appears to have taken place.
In a media release the Police say, “Over the next six months, police volunteers, together with members of the community, will visit the sites with a hand-held radar gun and/or an LED speed sign. They will record vehicle speeds and anyone caught speeding will receive a letter from North Yorkshire Police informing them of their offence and the need to address driving behaviour.
The main purpose of Community Speed Watch is to draw drivers’ attention to speed limits in areas where communities say it is affecting their quality of life, and to educate them about the effects that anti-social road use can have on local people. However, North Yorkshire Police will also be keeping a close watch on the recorded data, and may take enforcement measures if a persistent or extreme offender is identified”.
Details of the community speed watch leaflet can be found by clicking here
Burglaries prompt police security advice in York
Secure your home and outbuildings – that’s the message from detectives after a number of burglaries in York.
Officers are investigating ten burglaries in the Tang Hall, Osbaldwick and Heworth areas of the city, all of which have occurred in the last week. In nine out of the ten incidents, entry was gained through insecure doors, windows or garages.
Details of local crime locations at street level in West York can be found by clicking here
Stolen property includes laptops, games consoles, smartphones and tablets, bottles of whiskey and bicycles. The offences all took place between 12 February and the early hours of this morning (19 February).
Extensive enquiries are ongoing into the burglaries.
Detectives are urging residents in the Tang Hall, Osbaldwick and Heworth areas to take extra precautions to protect their property. Crime prevention information is also being distributed via social media and display screens in student accommodation:
DC Rebecca Hughes, of York Police, said: “While York is a very safe city, there have recently been a number of burglaries targeting insecure homes and garages in the Tang Hall, Osbaldwick and Heworth areas. Please help us keep you safe by taking basic crime prevention measures to secure your property.”
DC Hughes urged residents to:
- Lock doors and windows (whether the property is occupied or not)
- Keep records and photographs of valuable and electrical items including serial numbers, IMEI numbers and descriptions including any unique features
- Install location software such as Find My iPhone to ensure that you can wipe your data and locate your devices if necessary
- Use our interactive home security self-assessment tool, BurglarProof, which you can access on a smartphone or other mobile device to ensure your property is a safe as possible:http://burglarproof.nyp.mobi/
In addition, if you see anyone acting suspiciously, contact the police on 101. If a crime is in progress, always dial 999.
If you have any information about any of the burglaries, please call 101, select option 2 and ask for York CID. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. No personal details are taken, information cannot be traced or recorded and you will not go to court.
Dringhouses library anti crime intiative
Want to keep your valuables safe? Bikes, phones, tablets – join us Mon 16th 5-6pm to get items registered online,with help from local PCSO.
— Dringhouses library (@dringlibrary) February 13, 2015
Police surgery taking place at Dringhouses library on 19th February
Following a suggestion made in a story last week the Police have now scheduled more surgeries in West York
- 12 Feb 15 – Chapelfields Police & Housing joint drop-in advice session – Sanderson Community House, Bramham Road, York (from 10:00am for 2 hours)
- 19 Feb 15 – Woodthorpe/Dringhouses Surgery – Dringhouses Library, York (from 16:30 for 1 hour)
- 21 Feb 15 – Rural West surgery – York Rural West villages (please check local notice boards for times) (from 10:00 for 5 hours)
- 26 Feb 15 – Westfield – Police / Housing Advice Session – Sanderson Community House, Bramham Road, York (from 10:00 for 2 hours)
In addition a PCSO is in attendance at the Foxwood Community Centre each month to provide “drop in” advice. The next sessions are on Wednesday 4th March and Wednesday 11th March (10:00am – 12:00 noon on both days)
Decsions still being taken in secret by York Council
It seems that the newly “balanced” York City Council still has a lot to do to lift the curtain of secrecy that descended in 2011.
Two meetings took place last week for which no notice had been given. Supporting papers, and the decision taken, were published on the Councils web site within minutes of each other.
Although not of concern to large numbers of residents, those who are affected did deserve the opportunity to make representations
We can see no reason why the agenda and supporting paper for any formal delegated decision cannot be published on the Council’s web site 7 days before the matter is considered. We would expect that written representations would be welcomed with the formal decision then being published with a link to any written comments.
The Councils governance committee will consider the issue of transparency at its meeting on Wednesday.
It includes a list of demands, by opposition Councillors who now hold a Council majority, on transparency issues together with a response by the Labour Leader
The first item on the list covers decisions delegated to Councillors
An end to Cabinet Member behind-closed-doors decision sessions – all reports to be published in advance, a date set for meetings (not a one month window) and residents should be able to feed into the decision process.
Although the Council Leader has apparently supported this proposal, it seems that delegation to officers is now being substituted. No notice of pending decisions of this type is being given.
The two decisions taken in private this week were:
- Closure of an alley between Stanley Street and Warwick Street because of complaints about anti social behaviour
- Allocation of “free” days for the use of the Barbican. Here the report fails even to mention the criteria used to determine that the days should be allocated to the “York Irish Association” and the “Prima Vocal” ensemble. It is also unclear how or even if the Council advertised the availability of these days.
Mansion nightclub to open until 6:00am
NB. The decision of the licensing committee to allow the Mansion club on Micklegate to stay open until 6:00am will raise eyebrows. Given the increasing problems with public order in the city centre, and an objection of the Police to the proposal, most would have expected the application to fail. The owner of the club is the Tory candidate for Heworth Without in the forthcoming Council elections. The three members who sat in judgement were all Labour Councillors (surprisingly no LibDem, Green or Independents were asked to take a view). The proposal was apparently aimed at accommodating the needs of “racegoers” although, so far, only a local student magazine has welcomed the decision. Strangely the Council chose not the “web cast” this controversial meeting.
Police Commissioner orders 2% increase in Council Tax
Nick Love seeks meeting to discuss crime concerns and IT failures
The Police Commissioner Julia Mulligan has announced a 2% increase in the element of Council Tax which funds Policing in North Yorkshire and York.
The announcement comes only a few days after it was revealed that the levels of, some types of, crime were continuing to increase in the City.
Anyone looking to find a working link to the Commissioners web site (from the police site) will be disappointed Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire Anyone trying to follow a link to the Safer York partnership http://www.saferyork.org.uk/ will find similar frustrations. Even worse, a link to the equivalent site in Selby directs residents to a mortgage company.
And that is part of the emerging problem with local policing. Communications with the public are haphazard in some areas.
Until 3 years ago we all knew how our allocated local “bobby” was”. There were dedicated Police officers and PCSOs for each ward.
There was a local web site which, as well as containing details of the local officers, also set out surgery dates and contact channels as well as crime prevention information.
This has largely disappeared.
While the web site still includes a – user friendly – map showing the distribution of crime reports it currently fails most other tests.
Some wards seem to have suffered particularly badly from the decision to centralise some police officers into an “anti social behaviour” hub located in the York Councils’ West Offices. There has been no report on the effectiveness of this unit although the York council is budgeting to throw a further £300,000 into it next year.
In fairness there has been some progress on some aspects of “social media”.
The twitter feeds for various parts of the force are appreciated by many residents. The daily news updates are also a positive approach
But little performance information is routinely published across the whole county – and what is available is broad brush. It is particularly difficult to find information on detection rates – one of the key tests for any police force.
Even the supposed independent police and crime panel receives little useful information and has a profile which can most kindly be described as subterranean
As a minimum these changes need to be made:
- Safer neighbourhood web sites need to be updated and refined
- Local communities should know who their dedicated police officers and PCSOs are
- They should have an idea about the level of patrolling frequency that they can expect to see.
- They should have access to surgeries where they can talk to (at least) a PCSO. (Only one surgery for the whole of February is currently advertised on the local York Police web site)
- The positive engagement policy should be reintroduced with the police attending events at community centres, libraries etc possibly when another event is taking place. (unfortunately, with the demise of the Ward committee, one formal link with local communities was lost)
- Residents should be clear how to make contact. If police desks like the one at Acomb are manned what the opening hours are and who will be manning the desks (currently volunteers)?
- Local Councillors, neighbourhood watch and the media should be routinely told about local crime trends and prevention advice. All should agree to pass on information to local residents. Use could be made of notice boards and Council newsletters.
- Crime stats should be routinely published at least for safer neighbourhood areas. These should include detection rates.
- The Police Commissioner should ensure that all meeting agendas and supporting papers are readily available – including links to them from local Council web sites. She should trial webcasting and public access sessions.
- There should be a review of the location of senior officers. Given crime trends, there may be a case for the DCC to be headquartered in York.
Those at the top of the local Police force need to get a grip on these issues quickly.
Nick Love the LibDem MP candidate for York Central says,
“I will be seeking a meeting with the Police to see how we can best address areas where crime has increased in York and to explore the possibility of a more senior officer being permanently based in the City such as the Deputy Chief Constable.”
Robbery in Askham Richard
Detectives are appealing for witnesses and information following an aggravated burglary in Askham Richard near York on the night of Monday 26 January 2015.
At around 7.50pm, three men wearing balaclavas and brandishing hammers and knives, broke into a house in the village and threatened the householders.
The offenders searched their home before leaving with jewellery, an amount of cash and the keys to their white, Mercedes E-Class convertible.
The suspects then left the scene in the Mercedes which was later found abandoned on Haggs Lane near the village of Colton.
Police are appealing to anyone who was in the village of Askham Richard on Monday night between 6.30pm and 8.30pm and saw any suspicious people, vehicles or activity, including the white Mercedes leaving the village, to contact them.
They are also appealing to anyone who was in the area of Askham Richard, Bilborough, the A64 and Colton, who saw a white Mercedes convertible, the occupants of the vehicle or saw anyone parking the vehicle or abandoning it and getting into another, to contact them.
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Drug possession, public order and theft offences up in York
Overall crime numbers stable in year to the end of September 2014.
The latest crime figures produced by ONS show an increase in some types of crime in York. (See table left)
Crime numbers in York
The biggest concerns will probably be over public order and “theft from a person” offences both of which have risen for the fifth consecutive quarter.
Drug related crime is also on the increase as are (reported) sexual offenses and shoplifting.
The violence figures remain high.
The Police are right to point out that North Yorkshire is a safe place to live and enjoys the second lowest crime rate in the country.
But there is work to do in York and the figures are likely to reopen the debate about whether the County’s Deputy Chief Constable should be relocated and headquartered in the City.
The York Council may also need to review its policies.
It has a role to play in reducing crime in general and public order problems in particular.
A statement from North Yorkshire Police is reproduced below
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Police recruiting more Special Constables
North Yorkshire Police are on the hunt for people with that “Special” quality, as the force launches its campaign to recruit a new intake of Special Constables.
Special Constables are volunteers, who commit at least four hours of their time per week to keeping communities safe. “Specials” go through a rigorous training programme before they qualify to go out on the beat, where they work alongside regular police officers covering a wide range of different duties – anything from policing public events, to tackling anti-social behaviour or attending emergency incidents.
North Yorkshire Police currently has more than 160 Special Constable volunteers, who come from a wide range of backgrounds and professions, including teachers, airline cabin crew, office workers and archaeologists.
The force is hoping to recruit a further 100 Specials as part of a wider programme to boost the number of citizens involved in policing, and enhance links with all parts of the community in North Yorkshire.
