Shropshire Star

Keeping safe on those cold, dark nights

As the nights start to draw in, Shropshire's Chief Supt Kevin Purcell offers some timely advice

Published
Chief Supt Kevin Purcell

I think it’s fair to say autumn is now upon us and as such we do start to see some seasonal crime trends. In particular when the clocks go back and we see the onset of the darker nights.

It’s good advice all year round but as we see the nights start to draw in I want to remind people to make sure they take a few moments to consider some simple crime prevention advice and make sure their homes and vehicles are secure. The majority of burglaries and car break-ins happen by opportunist thieves taking advantage of an unlocked door or vehicle, it only takes a few moments to lock the door and double check it is locked but could potentially help stop you from becoming a victim of crime.

With Halloween and Bonfire Night coming up I know some people, in particular those who are elderly or vulnerable may be concerned about an increase in noise and anti-social behaviour and I would like to say that as we have done in previous years we will be working very closely with both our local authorities – Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council – and Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service to make sure it is a safe and enjoyable Halloween and Bonfire period for all.

You will have heard me talking previously about the challenges we face in modern day policing and how important it is we continue to adapt and be flexible to ensure we meet differing demands and I’m pleased to say that we have recently made a few changes that I hope will improve the service we deliver to you.

Firstly, we recognise that it is not always convenient, or you do not always want, us to attend in person when you contact us which is why we’ve introduced a new Resolution Team. The aim of this team is to resolve matters, where appropriate, by telephone or appointment at a police station. We hope this will provide you with more flexibility and improve the service we deliver. The team is led by an experienced Inspector and made up of experienced police officers who will deliver a high level of service to resolve matters in the most appropriate way. I would like to offer my reassurance though that this does not mean we will stop attending incidents, all calls are assessed and only those thought to be suitable will be passed to the resolution team who will then seek to resolve the incident in the most appropriate way. And, if there is an immediate threat, harm or risk or increased vulnerability police will still attend as a priority as normal. The Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner make me responsible for ensuring we get our response right to individual need and this is the best way to ensure I reflect that.

In addition I have also been supported in increasing the area of supervision with a Safer Neighbourhood Inspector for south Shropshire, an additional Detective Inspector to deal with vulnerability and serious crime and two additional sergeants, one to cover Shrewsbury town centre and one for Telford, all to assist in ensuring we are meeting expectations and is in keeping with my review of what is needed to ensure we offer the best available service.

Our absolute main priority is making sure we improve the service we deliver to our communities and ensuring we deliver a service the public have confidence in and after speaking with our local MPs, I really hope this does go some way in doing that.

The resolution team approach also means it frees up patrol officers meaning we have been able to introduce a local policing priority team (LPPT) to focus on our local policing priorities, providing a visible policing response to tackle the issues that matter locally. One of our priorities at the moment is serious and organised crime as part of our Protect campaign and the team, made up of uniformed officers, has already seen some great results with a number of warrants carried and significant arrests. The team has also been providing highly visible patrols, both on foot or in vehicles to not only offer reassurance but prevent crime. Our LPPTs will help us to manage demand even more effectively, allowing us to be more proactive in tackling issues we refer to as high harm – for example serious and organised crime including county lines drug dealing, violent crime, including domestic abuse or serious acquisitive crime. We’re confident the team will support the work our local teams already carry out.

We’re here to protect you, our local communities, from harm and tackling those who cause the greatest harm in our communities is an absolute priority for us and we will continue to seek to reduce the threats posed by serious and organised crime by, together with our partners and local communities, preventing people becoming involved and disrupting those involved in this criminality.

Our county is a safe place to live, work and visit but we know there are threats and risks that exist from serious and organised crime and will continue to all we can to stop this.