Monday 16 June 2008

Crime is still falling says West Somerset police chief

THE number of crimes being committed across West Somerset has continued to fall, the district’s police chief, Inspector Carol Pearce, has claimed.
Inspector Pearce said there was a 25 per cent reduction in crime last year, and a further five per cent fall since April of this year.
She said: “It is all about keeping our community safe and enabling people to feel safe, whether on holiday or a resident.”
Inspector Pearce was speaking after a successful Operation Relentless initiative at the weekend in which officers visited alcohol-designated areas and licensed premises to detect licensing and drug offences and to seize alcohol.
The York House Inn, in Minehead, which is a Pub Watch member, took part in drug testing, working with police and the licensing department.
An Itemiser machine was used and 49 people were tested for controlled drugs - with none found to be positive.
The number of alcohol seizures was also well down on the previous such exercise, and Inspector Pearce said this type of prevention activity would be repeated by partners across West Somerset.
Inspector Pearce said: “This is a positive indication that police presence, and new orders, are having an impact on people’s behaviour.
“It shows that most of the time we have people in the right place at the right time.
“Police officers, PCSOs, and Special Constables are routinely checking alcohol-designated areas, seizing alcohol, and moving people on though a Section 27 Order where they may cause a nuisance.”
Inspector Pearce said people now understood the message that police were taking anti-social-behaviour and drugs abuse seriously.
However, she said it remained important for residents to keep the police informed about any problems they had in their area.
She said: “I make sure my patrols are in the areas we know they are needed.
“If people do not tell us about their problems, we do not always know they exist.”

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