NEWS
28/04/09. New assistant chief constables. Sussex Police Authority has announced the appointment of two new assistant chief constables. Nick Wilkinson, 47, who has been a temporary assistant chief constable since February, joined Sussex Police as a police constable in 1981 and most recently has been the East Sussex divisional commander. He has also served as superintendent crime and operations for East Sussex and head of the Road Policing Unit. Nick will be responsible for operational support, which includes communications, information services, the criminal justice department and he will also be the lead officer for the national Impact programme. Ch Supt Olivia Pinkney, 38, comes to Sussex from Avon and Somerset Constabulary. She joined as a PC in Taunton in 1991 and has served as the divisional commander for Bath and NE Somerset and head of Special Branch. Her rôle will have specific responsibility for protective services including the operations department. Laurie Bush, vice-chairman of Sussex Police Authority, said: "We interviewed six extremely talented and capable candidates and we are confident that, in Nick and Olivia, we have appointed two outstanding new assistant chief constables who will support Chief Constable Martin Richards in his commitment to ''Serving Sussex'', the benefits of which are being felt by communities across the county."
08/04/09. Yellow Pages Delivery due to start the 29th of April. Click here for more information.
05.01.09. Home Office Advice. As part of a new Crime Prevention initiative being launched by the Home Office the below page takes you to the ' Home Office' Crime Prevention web pages and a new ' Home Security' survey.It is part of a new initiative from the Home Office regarding burglary but there is other information and advice which you may all find useful.
Web Page .... http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/how-you-can-prevent-crime/
James Joslin PCSO
20/01/09. Message from the Horsham Police District Commander.
I have now been at Horsham for six months and can rightfully say how proud
I am to lead your local policing team.
You will be pleased to hear Horsham remains a low crime district and overall
crime has been reduced by almost 4% from last year.
I have inherited an excellent team and we are intent on continuing to drive
down the numbers of crime, concentrate on those that affect you most and provide
a high quality service. We have been building on this success tackling the issues
that matter to you, for instance:
• Strengthening of Neighbourhood Policing Teams means that you will see more
officers dedicated to your neighbourhood than ever before. This year has seen
two additional Sergeants take up position to supplement those already in place.
• Setting up of Neighbourhood Panels whose purpose is for residents and workers
to meet with their local officers to identify local priorities for the police.
• Setting up of a number of new Neighbourhood Watch Schemes.
• A multi-agency project is successfully reducing crime and improving community
confidence in Storrington and Sullington.
• Utilising Force resources to target criminals including the Automatic Number
Plate Recognition system Unit and Roads Policing Units.
• Local operations to tackle domestic abuse.
I would once again encourage you to contact your local officers and PCSO’s
to become involved in Neighbourhood Watch and Neighbourhood Panels. In addition
I would welcome anyone who wants to come into policing as a volunteer or Special
Constable to contact Claire Spiers at the following email address: claire.spiers@sussex.pnn.police.uk.
In the coming months we will be changing the way we deal with your calls asking for advice or where it is not urgent that we attend the same day; we will be introducing an appointments based service. I will keep you updated on that as it is introduced.
It has been a pleasure meeting so many of you and I look forward to working in partnership to continue to deliver and improve service that you expect and deserve.
CI Biglands District Commander
14/01/09. Horsham South Neighbourhood Policing has grown.
The area covers all south of the A272 with Billingshurst and Amberley on the
west border and Cowfold and Henfield on the East Border. The South Downs form
the Southern border to the area.
This area is dissected by the A24 which forms a nice split for the purposes
of the Horsham South NP structure.
The Sergeant responsible for the east side of the area is Sergeant Steve Boyes with Police Contable Dawn Ross and PCSOS James Josling (Henfield), Dani Suarez Mori (Cowfold), and the addition of new PCSOs Charlotte (Charlie) Whittaker for Steyning and Anna Giles for Beeding.
The Sergeant Responsible for the west side is Sergeant James Makepeace. with Police Contable Colin Parker and PCSOs Tracy Field and Carole Boniface (Storrington), Louisa Tilley and Adrian Bell (Billingshurst) and joining PCSO Neville Warner is Hannah Venus to assist in Pulborough.
Schools Liason staff are PC Angie Keeley and PCSO Natasha Denbeigh (Steyning Grammar).
Three of the five response teams work from Steyning and two from Pulborough. Also working from Pulborough is the Force Road Policing Ops Motorcycle Division Team, and the crash reduction Sergeant.
Sgt James Makepeace Pulborough.
For up to date information on police in your area click here. Ed
27/11/08. Change of name for Neighbourhood Teams. The names Sussex Police
use for district-based neighbourhood teams are changing, in order to reflect
better the roles they perform, and also to bring them in line with national
usage. With effect from Monday 1st December the names used will be: -
Neighbourhood Policing Teams - refers to dedicated local problem solving
teams (previously known as Neighbourhood Specialist Teams).
Neighbourhood Response Teams - refers to 24 hour district based response
teams (previously known as Neighbourhood Policing Teams).
The overarching name covering both of these resources will be: · Neighbourhood
Teams.
There may some potential for confusion initially, as the term Neighbourhood
Policing Team is already in use but will now refer to a different role. This
should be minimal, however, and outweighed by the benefits of having names that
clearly describe the role performed by those teams and are aligned with the
way the term 'Neighbourhood Policing' is generally used nationally.
Neville Warner PCSO
04/11/08. New Sergeant in Pulborough Police Station.
I would like to take this opportunity to say hello to you all. I am Sergeant James Makepeace from Pulborough Police Station. I have transferred from Bognor Regis where I worked for 3 1/2 years as a Neighbourhood Sergeant. Before that I was a PC in Worthing for 2 years, prior to that a Paramedic in Chichester for 6 years. We will be passing out messages of information from time to time. Any information from yourselves can come via contact with your district PCSO.
Regards, James Makepeace CM026
17/10/08. Message from the new Horsham Police District Commander.
I have just taken up the post of District Commander for Horsham and look forward to serving and meeting many of you in the near future. My mantra is simple; prevent crime, provide justice for all and provide reassure to all the communities we serve by being accessible and visible.
I am fortunate to take over from Chief Inspector Steve Black who I know has led on the delivery of real improvements in service and reductions in crime locally. I intend to build upon this performance and will encourage co-operation and problem solving to deliver solutions for the community of Horsham.
I will focus my team’s efforts on those crimes that have the most impact on the lives of the community we serve; you can help us do that most effectively by ensuring that you tell us about those things that effect you. You can contact us in a number of ways and I would encourage you to do that.
This is an exciting time for neighbourhood policing and I am pleased to be involved as we continue to build upon the principles of delivering local policing that meet the needs of the community. We will continually seek to keep you informed of what we and our partners are doing to meet our identified priorities. You now have access to a great deal of local crime information and I would ask you to look at this at the link below. The information gives a straight forward assessment of our local priorities and demonstrates whether we are achieving them or not:
http://www.sussex.police.uk/neighbourhood_policing/downloads/Horsham_localCrime.xls
I would ask that you encourage others amongst your friends and family to take as active an interest as yourselves in policing, particularly in relation to people putting themselves forward to be a part of our neighbourhood panels. My PCSO colleagues can tell you more on this.
If you have any information on crime being committed in your area then please tell us: drop into your local station, ring 0845 6070 999 or crime stoppers, which is an anonymous system, on 0800 555 111. If you have any feedback on the local policing response or ideas as to how services can be improved please feel free to contact me by e-Mail; steve.biglands@sussex.pnn.police.uk
Steve Biglands District Commander.
12/09/08. Message from the Horsham Police District Commander.
I want to take the opportunity to advise you all of a change in District Commander
for Horsham District. With effect from the 22nd September, I will be moving
to the role of Detective Chief Inspector, Headquarters, CID.
My replacement will be DCI Steve Biglands. Steve has served with Kent Police
for many years before transferring to Sussex. He is currently serving on the
Major Crime Branch.
I would like to thank all of you that I have had the good fortune to work with
during my time at Horsham.
I have valued the support and advice that people have provided. I know my replacement
will be keen to build upon this.
I am pleased to be leaving during a period of overall crime reduction and particularly
a 28% reduction in domestic burglary; this could not have been achieved without
the support of you all.
CI Steve Black District Commander
16/07/08. Bloggs. Sussex Police is very keen to promote the use of the
Neighbourhood Policing Website and increase the readership of PCSO's individual
blogs.
Did you know that there is a facility for individuals to 'sign up' to automatically
receive blogs when they are published? This is done by visiting the Sussex Police
Website at www.sussex.police.uk selecting the individual PCSO for your ward/neighbourhood
and click on the box 'Get your Updates by Email'. You then simply complete your
email details in order to receive regular blogs. This facility can be stopped
at any time.
It is acknowledged that these blogs will not effect the submission of usual
NHW Crime/Information Bulletins to street co-ordinators, but is a very useful
contact medium and promotes the use of the police website and increases PCSO
contact.
03/07/08. Frank McCourt case.The following West Sussex Police press
statement was agreed on 26 June. OUR neighbourhood teams are committed to working
with communities to tackle antisocial behaviour. Neighbourhood policing has
been welcomed in communities across Sussex and the Police Authority has invested
heavily to enable these teams to be enlarged and the neighbourhood approach
to be extended further during this year.
Sussex Police has shown its determination to deal robustly with ''yobbery''
and the bad behaviour that can blight estates and neighbourhoods. As early as
2005 we launched a Sussex-wide ''Enough Is Enough'' campaign targeting anti-social
behaviour often being committed by under-age youngsters with too easy access
to alcohol. This has continued more recently with our Operation Respect campaigns
in towns and neighbourhoods in many parts of Sussex.
Only this week Sussex Police’s robust approach to dealing with youth disorder
was highlighted by the Institute of Public Policy Research which reported a
90% increase in Sussex since 2002 in the number of children and youths being
convicted or cautioned.
However the circumstances in which officers found themselves in the incident
involving Mr McCourt were wholly exceptional. In detail, they were as follows:
On 18 February 2008 police were called to a report of a 10 year boy being ''lured''
into a house Beckett Lane, Crawley. A second call was received at the same time
from the boy''s mothers stating her son had been dragged into a house.
The police attended as an emergency. When we arrived the boy had been ''released''
and when he was spoken to he stated the man was trying to strangle him in his
struggle to drag him into the house.
The attending officers faced with those alleged facts made the correct decision
to arrest the man and continue the investigation.
In interview it became clear that the man concerned genuinely believed he was
making a ''citizen’s arrest'' because the 10 year old boy had been involved
with others in throwing mud and stones at his home.
A decision was made to charge Mr McCourt with Common Assault and he was bailed
to court.
Chief Supt Wayne Jones, who heads Sussex Police’s North Downs Division (which
covers Crawley) met with Mr McCourt and his wife last night (Wednesday 25 June)
and listened to his concerns. Mr McCourt agreed that the police officers acted
correctly when they attended his home in February and he had been dealt with
promptly when at the police station. He was very disappointed, though, that
he had been charged and had to attend Crawley Magistrates court until being
informed by letter that the charge had been dropped. Mr McCourt has not had
a history of problems with these boys although there had been an incident with
them for the first time the day before (17 February).
Mr Jones said: “I offered Mr and Mrs McCourt an apology. I am pleased, though,
that the CPS review process naturally picked up the initial charging decision
and stopped the prosecution.
“Mr and Mrs McCourt were pleased that we were prepared to apologise and are
very keen to work with us to develop a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme in the area.”
We will always give priority to incidents where families or individuals are
being targeted repeatedly.
Anyone who forcibly takes a child into their own home against the child’s will
are, to say the least, likely to be closely questioned about their action.
Nevertheless, following the decision not to proceed with a criminal prosecution
for assault, it is right that Sussex Police expresses its sincere regret for
the distress caused to Mr McCourt during the period that the threat of prosecution
was hanging over him.
02/07/08. Motorcycles. Sussex has once again this week seen a number
of motorcyclists seriously injured on the roads, and at least one rider is still
in a critical condition fighting for his life.
The good weather brings increased numbers of riders onto the roads and sadly
this seems to equate to a significant rise in casualties. We all have a responsibility
to take care on the roads and try to avoid being involved in a collision, whether
we are on two wheels or four.
We would urge riders to ride within the law and appropriately for the conditions.
Contravening the law and riding beyond your ability increases the chances of
being killed or seriously injured. We would also ask car drivers to pay extra
attention for motorcyclists, who are more difficult to see and often ride in
groups.
A number of riders have posted footage of their riding on the internet, which
is being investigated along with similar footage from car drivers, and we continue
to receive complaints from local residents in certain areas about anti-social
riding and driving.
Sussex Police will continue to target those road users who present the greatest
risk - including motorcyclists who blatantly disregard the law, thereby increasing
the likelihood of people being killed or seriously injured. We will use a range
of tactics, including education (through 'Bikesafe') and enforcement using both
marked and unmarked cars and bikes.
Inspector Marc Clothier, Sussex Road Policing Unit, said: "We will continue
to target our resources against those who present the greatest risk in order
to reduce the number of riders killed or injured on the roads of Sussex. We
have several education schemes in place across Sussex which focus on a number
of our priority groups, including motorcyclists and young drivers, to try and
improve driver/rider behaviour. Unfortunately there are still a number of road
users who think they can blatantly ignore the law and we will actively target
these people and deal with them appropriately."
26/06/08. Local Horsham South News
On the 21st May 2008, Horsham District took part in the National Operation Rouge Trader Day. The District held street briefings in Storrington and Pulborough and a stall was set up in Sainsbury’s in Horsham. The crime prevention officer attended a coffee morning at Age Concern providing advice on home security. Over 200 advice and information packs were distributed throughout the day. The message was clear, do not let cold callers into your home and do not employ tradesmen who approach you at home.
Thursday 5th June 2008 saw the launch of the Burglary Action Group for Horsham District. The multi-agency group set three objectives, reduction of burglaries, in particular those targeted at vulnerable people, the detection of offences and an increase in community intelligence. Those involved include a number of partners and shows a determination amongst all those involved with the Horsham Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership to reduce further the number of burglaries on the District. The focus of the meeting was Community Intelligence. The group agreed how to share information about burglary, so that those employed by partner agencies would be able to be the eyes and ears of the police. The first example of this was a CCTV image from a burglary in Horsham. This image has now been sent out via Horsham District Council asking if anyone can identify the suspect.
A generic e-mail account is being set up for information to be sent directly to the police. This could be anything from a vehicle seen in suspicious circumstances near a burglary to unusual property seen in someone’s home.
The last year has seen a 23.9% decrease in offences for our district making
Horsham a safer place to live. Horsham District Police Officers are working
hard to bring those responsible for these offences to justice.
Sussex Police is running an ON DISPLAY EASY PREY crime prevention, car crime
initiative campaign in which if we see on our foot patrols of our villages an
unattended vehicle with items of value on display which would tempt an offender,
we would check who the owner of the vehicle is and send them a letter to their
home address letting them know the dangers of doing so and how important it
is to prevent this with some crime prevention advice.
Horsham District Council is running through June and July a litter campaign
called YOUR DISTRICT YOUR CHOICE. This started on the 31st May during the Steyning
festival. The summer litter campaign, which is being run by Horsham District
Council across the whole Horsham District, will focus on education and communication,
along with some enforcement work provided by the Councils Street Scene Team
which can issue £75 on the spot fixed penalty notices to any person found to
be depositing litter. Sussex Police are running an operation called “RESPECT”
where SGTS, PCs, PCSOs, team up on certain dates going to hot spots tackling
Antisocial behaviour problems.
20/06/08. Cowfold, Partridge Green & West Grinstead.
In the Partridge Green area the fire brigade was called to stop a grass fire
at King George the V playing field. Shoplifting at the COOP store, and there
has been theft of fuel from commercial vehicles at Star Trading Estate.
In the West Grinstead area there has been a barn burglary and a garage broken
into in Park Lane.
In the Cowfold area reports of antisocial driving and parking on pavements at
Barleycroft, where a local resident was using the pavement as his own car repairs
company. This resident was issued with a fine. Also a burglary at Wineham Lane.
Residents have reported seeing vehicles with their drivers parked by the Eastlands
Lane allotments. One of these vehicles was seen wheel spinning on that road.
Index of these vehicles were taken and checked.The drivers of those vehicles
were warned of being issued with a section 59 warning if seen again driving
in an antisocial manner. Once a person is issued with a section 59 warning (which
lasts 12 months) if found driving in an antisocial manner again, then the vehicles
can be seized and it will cost a large amount of money to get them back.
Thanks to the partnership between residents, Horsham District Council, Street
Scene Wardens and Neighbourhood Wardens, shop keepers, Parish Clerks, Neighbourhood
Watch members, and Sussex Police we have found many positive solutions to problems
and concerns in our villages. This is the way that we will find solutions and
positive results, by working together.
A sign was put up at the COOP shop window IN Partridge Green, allowing only
two under 17 year olds at a time from 18.00-22.00 unless accompanied by an adult
family member. This has helped reducing vandalism and shoplifting in the store,
also reduced the loitering of youths there. Crime Prevention officers have visited
shops and companies giving them crime prevention advice. Being aware of your
security will help risks of burglary to a minimum.
28/06/08. The Chief Constable has written an article, which appeared recently in the Argus, explaining the changes to the Force''s performance targets, and why ''making the streets safe is more than a matter of statistics'' .....see below.
If you judge Sussex Police by those league tables that certain newspapers publish once a year, then the police force for which I'm responsible is doing pretty well.
If you judge us by the number of crimes that we solve, then the numbers are looking very good indeed. They have improved dramatically over the last couple of years with more offenders being arrested, record numbers of crimes being detected, and more offences being brought to justice than ever before.
So, with detection rates improving all the time, you may well ask why in my first full year as Chief Constable of Sussex I decided that now was the time to stop setting an overall target for detecting crime.
What sort of message does that send to people about my priorities and, more importantly, the priorities of the police officer who deals with you if you are unfortunate enough to become a victim of crime?
That is why I welcome this opportunity offered to me by the Argus to explain the changes I have made.
Sussex Police has achieved real and continuing performance improvements over
recent years. Not only have detection rates risen, but crime numbers have fallen.
More than 13,000 FEWER people became victims of crime in Sussex last year as
a result. Burglaries from people's homes have more than halved over the past
ten years, and are running at historically low levels.
Sussex Police Authority has invested heavily in our call handling arrangements and that means we are now better able to answer all your calls, not just the 999 emergencies, more efficiently than has been possible for a very long time.
So it is from a position of some strength that we are now able to look a little more closely at our performance culture and check that it doesnt sometimes get in the way of providing the service you want . . . and that we want to provide.
I have been widely quoted as saying that I don't want my staff to be chasing numbers for numbers sake. So what do I mean?
Well, the first thing to say is that crime detection still matters, and it matters to me a lot. It was because we wanted to catch criminals that I and many of my colleagues joined the police service in the first place. To catch criminals and to provide an outstanding public service.
So our Force targets this year still challenge us to improve our detection rate where it matters most. They are designed to encourage my staff not to be tempted to focus too much on what might be seen as easy detections, but to concentrate on the crimes that people really care about like burglary, domestic abuse, and serious violent and sexual offences.
They also challenge us to go on reducing levels of crime in Sussex all crime and to play our part in reducing the number of people that are killed or seriously injured on Sussex roads this year. Tackling anti-social behaviour remains high on our agenda too.
Our targets do something more. Like all professional organisations, public and private, we have increasingly sophisticated ways of measuring what people think of us and the service we provide. In policing, are people satisfied with the action we take when they call us to report a crime or emergency? Do we do enough to keep people informed about the progress of our inquiries afterwards? Most of all, do people have trust and confidence in our police service because we know that, if we were ever to lose it, we would be much very less effective in our work?
We look closely at all these targets too because the quality of the service we give is just as important as the quantity of the work that we get through in pursuit of what could sometimes be overly bureaucratic targets.
Here's an example. There are at least two ways of dealing with drunken and rowdy behaviour on the streets. One is to arrest every late-night reveller we come across who is clearly the worse for wear after a heavy night out on the town.
If we were so minded, we could focus all our efforts on handing out fixed penalty notices to them. All would count as crime detections and our detection rates would go through the roof. And there is obviously a place for robust police action whenever drunken behaviour becomes oppressive or there is a danger of disorder breaking out. But how much better for us to be working with licensees and door staff, not to mention bus and taxi companies and local authorities, to minimise the amount of late-night drunkenness. Officers out and about, using their discretion to nip problems in the bud and prevent ugly confrontations happening, can be so much more effective in helping make our town and city centres more welcoming places for all of us.
We will continue to fight crime and deal robustly with anti-social behaviour. But there must be a common-sense approach. I do not want my officers to be hamstrung by an over-zealous obsession with chasing numbers and performance targets.
Their service to you is what really counts, and I see it as my role as Chief Constable to provide them with the leadership and direction to do so. And part of this is to do what I can to remove any unnecessary and bureaucratic obstacles that stand in the way of their doing what remains a difficult, challenging and sometimes dangerous job to the very best of their ability.
We detect crime by thorough investigations that earn the confidence of the victims and witnesses we deal with. We reduce crime by tackling the criminals who harm our communities.
That's why catching criminals and cutting crime are two sides of the same coin. We must do both, because we want to keep Sussex safe, finding lasting solutions to local problems. And not because we are chasing statistics.
Martin Richards, Chief Constable Sussex Police