Agenda item

Update by Inspector Hodges.

4.1     Inspector Hodges advised that the transfer of the Community Sergeant role from Galashiels to Peebles had boasted the Community Team based in Tweeddale.  T/Sergeant Ali Bruce had taken up a post at Peebles last month and would have line management for the Community Officers and an overview of matters in Tweeddale.  He had started attending Community Council meetings in the area to get to know the Councillors and get a feel for the local issues.  PC Mark Halliday who was the Community Officer for Tweeddale West left at the start of February to take up a new role at the Area Control Room in Bilston.  His post had been filled by PC Niki Craig who started last week.  Following a Public consultation survey carried out at the end of last year, Inspector Hodges advised that he had now completed revised MMW Plans for both Tweeddale East and Tweeddale West. These outlined the priorities for both MMWs for the coming year.  Both wards saw inconsiderate Driver Behaviour and Dishonesty as the main areas of concern with Drug Dealing and Misuse along with Bogus Workers and Callers featuring high on the agenda.  Once the plans had been approved he would ensure that elected Members and Community Council chairs were copied into them, as soon they were ready for publication.  Elected members present at last month’s Scrutiny Board would have noted that whilst the Scottish Borders had welcomed a continued decrease in crime this year to date, detection rates had seen an unwelcomed drop.  Tweeddale saw a decrease YTD of just under 13% in recorded crime.  In particular in respect of Common Assaults,which had decreased by nearly one third, detection rate for these crimes was a very credible 77%.  Anti-Social Behaviour calls were also showing a slight decrease YTD from 542 to 497.  Community Officers worked closely with the Council’s ASBU and Registered Social Landlords in one of the strongest aspects of current partnership working in the area.  Of concern, was the current level of acquisition crimes including, housebreaking domestic and business, thefts from property and rural crime such as sheep rustling and thefts of quad bikes from farms.  As Tweeddale bordered with Dumfries and Galloway, Strathclyde and Midlothian, travelling criminals were often responsible for this type of crime in the area.  Police Officers in Tweeddale worked closely with other Divisions/Departments in Police Scotland when making enquiries into these crimes but often given the complexity of such enquiries, positive results took time and were often part of larger criminal networks.  In the interim the Police were working closely with the NFU, Scottish Borders Council and local media to ensure good advice and guidance was relayed into the community in respect of crime prevention and notable crime trends.  SB Alert had proven to be a useful tool and CBO’s would be encouraging individual Community Councils to sign up to allow for local Crime updates to be provided regularly to Members as opposed to waiting for monthly Community Council Meetings.  Parking issues continued to be raised at Community Councils and Police Scotland would continue to respond to calls regarding dangerous and inconsiderate parking.  Police Scotland position in retrospective of Traffic Wardens was a financial one and Inspector Hodges was aware that elected Members and Council Officials were working towards potential decriminalisation of parking in the coming years.  Local Police Officers would continue, other duties permitting, to carry out proactive parking patrols issuing both warning notices and fixed penalty notices as appropriate.

4.2     Community Councillor Raine advised that a police speed van had been in Carlops measuring speeds and advised that the Police Officers on duty  were unaware that the Community Council had been working on speeding issues with PC Halliday.   Community Councillor Raine and Inspector Hodges would liaise to ensure those Officers working in speed vans were kept informed on matters which the Community Police Officer(s) had been involved in.

DECISION

NOTED the update.