Newbury Business Today

Join the fight against crime

13th March 2008

Email: richard.maynard@newburynews.co.uk

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Business community needs to help police, NAGS and PCSOs carry out their jobs.

WHAT should police community support officers (PCSOs) and the action groups they work with focus on in order to help reduce crime in the community?
Last month, I talked about the priorities identified by our local business community: theft of/ from – and damage to – vehicles, burglary (of commercial properties), vandalism, criminal damage and other anti-social behaviour.
That’s fairly clear. In fact, there is a lot of common ground between these priorities for the business community, and the focus areas of the other Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) operating in the residential and retail parts of the community: young people and families, alcohol-related issues, burglary and theft.
Interestingly, these priorities aren’t necessarily focused on extremely serious types of crime.
However, issues like anti-social behaviour can easily lead to more serious issues, and that’s one reason why they are important. There are more instances of the lower levels of crime, of course, and that’s why communities rightly perceive these things to be important to tackle.
So, with priorities in place, how do we start doing something about it? The answers apply to us all, because fighting crime isn’t only a job for the police, NAGs and PCSOs. All of you need to be vigilant. Take note if there are unusual things going on near your business. In particular, take note if there are things you see that are unacceptable, and tell someone about it. Then the police or the NAG can ask why certain things are happening, ask more questions, find answers, and then get involved in creating solutions to problems.
The police, NAGs and PCSOs all use problem-solving tech-niques as part of their crime prevention work. But we can only be as good as the data we receive, and can therefore act on.
With your help, we can continue the good story on local crime.
We are seeing a real decrease in the numbers now, with fewer victims of crime. West Berkshire now also has the best crime-solving force in the Thames Valley.
However, there is still plenty to do.
As ever, I’m always available to come and talk to local businesses about crime and security issues, so please do get in touch. My e-mail address is Philip.Lewis@ thamesvalley. pnn.police.uk

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