ON MONDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2006
1 Welcome: The Chair (Martin Leather) welcomed all those present.
Martin Leather – Chairman
Sgt. Bill Hickson – Ripon Neighbourhood Policing Team
Sgt. Charles Petty – Knaresborough Police Station
PC Neil Waite – Ripon Neighbourhood Policing Team
Chris Turner – Green Hammerton Parish Council
H Gregory – Little Ouseburn Parish Council
Stuart Ede – Moor Monkton Parish Council
Mick Lofthouse – Marton cum Grafton Parish Council
G Metcalf – Hopperton
J Wilkinson – Boroughbridge Town Council
Robert Windass – Boroughbridge Town Council
Peter Phillips – Harrogate Borough Council
Jane Naylor – Dishforth Parish Council
Mike Fisher – Langthorpe Parish Council
Don Paton – Harrogate & District Neighbourhood Watch
Jenny Humphreys – Secretary
Martin introduced the new Secretary, Jenny Humphreys. It was suggested that a letter of thanks be sent to retiring Secretary Helen Astbury, in recognition of her service to the Group. A gift will also be purchased for her.
2 Apologies were received from: Rajinder Richards - North Yorkshire Police Authority
John Watson - North Yorkshire County Council, David Cornell – Rainton Parish Council, Jill Firth – Tockwith Parish Council.
3 Speaker – PC Chris Walker, Dog Handler.
PC Walker talked about the training and handling of the police dogs. He showed the meeting some of the training aids used to encourage the dog to attack and detain suspects. The dogs are also used to sniff out weapons, drugs and human remains. He explained that each dog handler works with his own dog all the time, which lives at home with the family. The dogs are so highly trained that they know when they are ‘on duty’, and the rest of the time are no danger to anyone. PC Walker then answered questions from the meeting.
4 Minutes of the meeting held on 4th September 2006 – It was agreed that the minutes were an accurate record of the meeting.
5 Matters Arising: There were no mattes arising.
6 Report of Tier 1 Meeting:
· The Chairman read out the crime figures for the Harrogate District from the Tier 1 meeting. Overall there was a reduction of 9% in all crime compared against the number of crimes recorded during the previous year to date. This accounts for 408 fewer victims across the Harrogate District.
· A review of the Neighbourhood Policing teams is currently being undertaken.
· Harrogate Borough Council and the HCSP are working together to develop the radio link scheme between CCTV and Pub / Bar door staff in Ripon and Knaresborough.
· A question was raised about the reserve levels of funds held by North Yorkshire Police Authority. It was stated that some of this money has now been allocated to rebuild /modernise the Police Stations in Harrogate and York. The next meeting will be held on 8th January 2007.
Following the report, questions were raised from the floor about the reserve funds being used to finance new buildings. A suggestion was made that the money would be better spent on recruiting more police officers, in order to put more police on the beat. A request was made that the Chairman takes this suggestion to the next Tier 1 meeting.
7. Police Related Matters:
a) Anti-social behaviour in Boroughbridge –PC Waite reported that Tuesday and Friday evenings were the worst times for problems with young people in the town. These are the nights when the Youth Club based at the primary school operates. Youngsters who purport to be attending the club spend their time instead hanging around outside, drinking alcohol and causing trouble. It was suggested that maybe the Youth Workers should be better trained to deal with this sort of behaviour. The children involved are now sometimes as young as 11 or 12 years old.
b)Neighbourhood and Policing Team update – Should Boroughbridge North and Boroughbridge South come under one Police Centre, either Ripon or Knaresborough?
it was acknowledged that the split has not worked. The process has been reviewed, and changes will be made. As yet there is no information on what these changes will be, but there are no immediate plans to reverse the split. The feeling of the meeting was that Boroughbridge should all be policed as one area, based on the District Council Ward boundaries. A suggestion was made that the Chairman proposes this at the Tier 1 meeting next month. A show of hands resulted in all being in favour of this, with one abstention.
c) Sgt Hickson reported the following crime figures for the shown wards for the period
1/4/06 –1/12/06
Boroughbridge Newby Wathvale Ouseburn Claro Marston
Violence 16 3 11 6 7 3
Burglary Dwelling 5 5 5 2 2 2
Burglary Other 4 14 14 9 14 11
Theft 12 15 19 14 13 4
Autocrime 8 11 12 15 8 5
Criminal Damage 32 12 15 8 5 9
Other Crimes 12 6 7 1 2 3
Total 89 66 83 55 51 37
8. Neighbourhood Watch Report:
Don Paton reported that his Ringmaster system is now fully operational. He will be sending out a mailshot in January to update his membership list.
9. Any Other Business:
· Councillor Peter Phillips asked how an incident is dealt with when it has been reported to the police and an ‘incident number’ has been issued. Sgt Hickson replied that every reported incident is kept on file, and the file kept open until a satisfactory conclusion has been reached. They are dealt with by a priority grading system, with 999 calls obviously receiving an immediate response, and serious crimes and lesser crimes being investigated in order of urgency.
· A question was raised about valid road tax and insurance for Eastern European immigrants. Sgt Hickson said that if these are not in order they will be prosecuted like anybody else. If a car is brought in from abroad and the owner is taking up residency in the UK, the car must be re-registered with British plates. A certain amount of time is allowed for this to be done.
Key Points at meeting:
· Boroughbridge North and Boroughbridge South should come under one Police Centre.
· Extra Police Officers are needed in the district.
As there was no other business the meeting closed at 8.30pm. The next meeting will be held on Monday 5th March 2007 at the Boroughbridge Town Council Offices. This will be the Annual General meeting.
Agendas and minutes can be e-mailed to you. If you have an e-mail address please e-mail me at bill.humphreys2005@btinternet.com
For further information please contact the Secretary Jenny Humphreys on 01423 325719.