NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING By NPT Sergeant Mark J Edwards
It’s been some time since I submitted my last report so here I am, back again. There’s been quite a lot of changes to the make-up of the Neighbourhood Policing Team since I last put finger to keypad with a number of Aycliffe’s finest having left for pastures new and several ‘newbies’ joining our ranks. Details as to which team members and their areas of geographical responsibility can be found on the Force website: www.durham.police.uk There’s a number of issues that have been affecting the town of late which the Team has been tackling along with our partners and the community. Over the last couple of months we have seen a surge in the number of reported fires caused by persons engaging in anti-social behaviour. Such behaviour has seen youths setting fires to rubbish – the Industrial Estate has been where a large percentage of these incidents has occurred.
My Team have been working closely with County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service and we have identified a number of local youths responsible. A number of interventions consisting of education and enforcement will follow – our colleagues in Fire and Rescue deliver some particularly hard hitting fire awareness sessions. I would respectfully request that local businesses do their utmost to keep rubbish to a minimum to prevent future instances. I would also like to appeal to those people involved in setting fires that whilst you may think it makes YOU look good in front of your peers, the consequences could potentially be catastrophic. YOU could be hurt and the knock on effect is that YOUR family could be hurt as a result. Could YOU live with that? The activities of those riding off-road bikes and quads has also become problematic of late and I fully appreciate – and share, the frustrations of the local community.
This is, again, something that the NPT is firmly focused on and committed to tackling. We have identified a number of individuals who we suspect are the main instigators (although not exclusive) of such behaviour and a number of ‘behind the scenes’ interventions are progressing. If used sensibly – and under the right circumstances at the right locations, off-road bikes, quads, and the like can be fun however many are unaware of the responsibilities that come with using such machines and how this can bring them into conflict with the law. All motorcycles, including quad bikes, scooters, mini motos etc have been classified as mechanically propelled vehicles meaning that if used on a highway they must comply with many of the same laws that apply to cars including MOT, insurance, excise duty, head wear etc. If used on private land the landowner must have given prior permission. These rules apply to all.
The NPT have received a lot of stock recently as part of our community engagement initiative funded via GAMP – look out for many freebies over the coming months as we approach summer which will be distributed across a number of the community events that we will be in attendance at. Details will be circulated via our social media forums (Facebook, Twitter etc). That’s all for now. Be safe everyone. Mark J Edwards NPT Sergeant
