Shrewsbury town centre police station not a necessity over anti-social behaviour, says boss

West Mercia PCC John Campion has responded to a series of suggestions by Daniel Kawczynski after the Shrewsbury MP claimed he had never had so many complaints about a single issue as he had of town centre policing.

The Shropshire Star recently joined officers on a regular operation to target prolific offenders, and several of those on the police's radar have been arrested and been in and out of custody and in front of magistrates on regular occasions since. Town rangers have also seized more than £14,000 in stolen goods and returned them to town centre shops.

But the problem of anti-social behaviour persists. This week Shrewsbury Town Council is holding the first meeting of a new taskforce which will aim to crack down on people shoplifting, taking drugs, fighting and committing other nuisance crimes.

Mr Kawczynski will meet Mr Campion this Friday to talk through his worries, and says that unless there is a significant improvement he will ask for a debate in the House of Commons.

One suggestion of Mr Kawczynski was to open a town centre police station. Officers moved out of the Riverside police base in Shrewsbury in November 2020.

In response, Mr Campion said: "Monkmoor police station is approx 1.5 miles from the town centre. Emergency and non-emergency police presence in the town centre is absolutely deliverable from current locations, including using such facilities as the mobile police stations. That said, if there is an offer from partners to host West Mercia Police (WMP) Safer neighbourhood Team then we would of course consider it."

Mr Kawczynski also called for officers to move rough sleepers and get them to tidy up their mess by 7am, but Mr Campion said: "This is not a matter for the police. Rough sleeping is not a crime."

A more visible police presence on foot was also requested by Mr Kawczynski to "reassure the public and properly exercise powers to those exhibiting drink/drug-fuelled anti-social behaviour".

Mr Campion said: "I am reassured that WMP are currently regularly in the town centre, including on foot. I concur that they can (and should) be more visible than the current levels.

"WMP has grown by 500 officers in my tenure, and I expect that the Chief Constable uses those resources to fight crime and improve public confidence in policing. The current PSPO is a civil order, and one Shropshire Council process the enforcement of. I am advised it is used."

Another issue raised was beggars coming to Shrewsbury from elsewhere. Mr Kawczynski said they "should be sent back to their own county for their respective councils to house/look after."

Mr Campion said: "I’m not certain this is a police matter."

Mr Kawczynski also called for "proper prosecutions in general for violent behaviour and persistent abusers".

Mr Campion responded: "Whilst it isn’t possible to detect and prosecute every act of violence, my expectation as PCC is that WMP receive and proportionately respond to reports of violence. If there are incidents when individuals don’t think that this is happening, I will happily pick it up with WMP."

He also insisted all residential burglaries are attended by police.

"WMP are seeing rising positive outcomes for residential burglary," he said. "The sentence they receive is a matter for the courts and follows sentencing guidelines. WMP are expected to keep victims of crime updated as to their crime, in line with Victim Code, and as a minimum every 28 days. Again, where this isn’t happening I am always keen to hear."

He added: "My commitment to Shrewsbury town centre is clear. I want the community to be safe and feel safe."