By T/Inspector Mark J Edwards
Mark Edwards here again folks and as I write this report it’s a pretty nice sunny morning in Newton Aycliffe, hopefully this is the build up to a glorious summer (if the reports are to be believed!).
Anti-Social Behaviour
I am sure many of you will have seen the recent media attention with regards to the Horndale area, with sensationalist comparisons been made to a certain fictitious televised housing estate. The issues highlighted consisted of anti-social behaviour, activities of unruly tenants, littering and rubbish disposal, amongst other things. I would like to take the opportunity this forum allows me to provide an update from a Policing perspective – a 20 second piece to camera on ‘Look North’ didn’t quite capture the full scale of work ongoing in the area.
Firstly, as the Neighbourhood Inspector for the Newton Aycliffe area, I do not underestimate the impact that the behaviour and issues described have on local residents. The Neighbourhood Policing Team have been engaged with our partners and local councillors for some time working to address the problems.
A multi-agency group was established – that I am part of, and meets regularly to discuss, implement, review and refine strategies and is made up of NPT Officers, representatives from ‘LIVIN’ Housing, Durham County Council, and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service. Community Walkabouts have taken place in the area, there has been enforcement action taken against those engaged in anti-social behaviour which has seen the imposition of a Criminal Behaviour Order against one youth, and another who was made subject of an anti-social behaviour order.
There are engagement events planned for the near future and details will be publicised very soon. In the meantime I would like to try and reassure residents that there is much work ongoing behind the scenes between partners and whilst – on the surface, it may seem little progress is being made, the reality of the situation is that many things are taking place.
I am not a lover of stats as a rule however I would like to add that anti-social behaviour levels for Newton Aycliffe as a whole in May so far have been significantly lower than in May last year. In fact – at this time, they are down by 27%, and the current figures for Greenfield and Middridge Ward are currently the greatest in terms of recorded incidents with a 46% reduction in comparison to last year. That’s the boring stats out of the way.
Crime and Community Safety
Crime and Community Safety was voted in as a priority for the Great Aycliffe and Middridge Partnership (GAMP) AAP to focus upon for the year 2016/2017. For those not in the know Area Action Partnerships (AAP’s) were set up to give people in County Durham a voice in influencing local matters. The local GAMP AAP board meets a number of times a year and consists of a number of elected members who discuss and review how the AAP is performing against identified priorities whilst managing spending through project approval and evaluation, and working with other partners – the board is made up of elected members from Durham County Council, the GATC, health, Fire, and Police.
Usually there are around 3 priorities identified per year for the AAP to address, with each one having its’ own Task group established as an ‘off-shoot’ from the main AAP board itself. At this time the local Neighbourhood Policing Team are working with several local educational establishments working to understand why many young people (who made up a large percentage of the votes) deem crime and community safety an issue.
The group will meet regularly to discuss local issues around this priority and to help implement projects within the area. If you have ideas for projects which relate to this priority, we would like to hear from you. To find out more about GAMP follow the link http://www.durham.gov.uk/gampaap or follow them on Facebook.
#respectyourstreet
Quite a punchy hashtag don’t you think? But it’s more than that – it’s Durham Constabulary’s awareness campaign in the arena of criminal damage. When we talk about volume crime, crimes of damage make up a significant percentage and – certainly from a Neighbourhood perspective, it’s important to us that we bring home the consequences of engaging in reckless acts.
A one-off reckless act when young (such as throwing a stone through a window) can have an impact later in life in terms of job opportunities, overseas holidays to countries with strict restrictions in terms of offending history. #respect your street hopes to heighten awareness and hammer home the impact that criminal damage has – education is key. This isn’t just specific to Newton Aycliffe – it’s County wide, so if you do the whole social media thing check out the hashtag on Twitter and get a flavour of where we’re coming from.
Think this report is quite a lengthy this time so I’ll bid you all goodbye now…until next time.
Mark J Edwards
Newton Aycliffe Neighbourhood Inspector
